Meatloaf in Half the Time
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 4:00AM 
By Joanne Lamb Hayes
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families
Meatloaf has always been one of my family’s favorites, but as our schedule got busier and busier, the one-hour baking time made it scarce on the menu. When I discovered this easy trick, everyone was delighted to have meatloaf back on our table and looking a lot cuter.
I can’t take credit for the idea of baking meatloaf in cupcake pans; I must have seen it in a magazine somewhere. But I added another touch: pre-cooking the onion and carrots and then heating them with the salsa. Once I added the vegetables and salsa hot to the meat mixture, these little loaves cooked in 5 to 7 minutes less time than when everything was mixed in cold. And that made it a lot easier to have dinner on the table on time.