Being married to a beef farmer, it comes to  no surprise that his favourite food is none other than...You guessed it. Beef.

Even our four year old daughter loves beef.

For Valentine's Day, I thought I was going to be whisked away to the Royal Michael's Bay Restaurant for a romantic dinner. Instead, we had an appointment with our accountant for tax season.  Granted, first thing in the morning, Hubby presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and some red velvet cupcakes with pink icing and candy hearts sprinkled all over them. I'm not a big fan of overly sweet things, so Hubby and Little One thoroughly enjoyed them.

Since I had to make dinner, I decided to make something I don't often make. Of course, to please the troops, it had to have beef as an ingredient. This is a recipe I saw when Hubs and I were watching The Phantom Gourmet a few years ago. You will soon see why I don't make this recipe often!

MAC & CHEESE STUFFED MEATLOAF WRAPPED IN BACON

See? I know it's comfort food on a cold Winter's day. Hubs says bacon-wrapped anything is a good thing. Not for your arteries and cholesterol level though. Anyway, this is always a crowd pleaser and the recipe resurfaces maybe once a year or so.

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:
2 lbs ground beef
1 c Italian breadcrumbs
1 to 2 eggs, beaten
black pepper (no salt, because the bacon has salt)

Mac & Cheese:
2 c macaroni noodles/elbow noodles (you can use whole wheat or rice pasta if you want)
butter, a couple of pats
2 c cheese (I used 2 kinds: grated marble cheese and goat cheese)
1-2 tbsp flour
milk

Bacon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, black pepper. Make sure to mix thoroughly. Set aside.
3. Boil macaroni/elbow noodles until al dente.
4. In a pan, melt butter and gradually add milk and flour to make your roux. Add shredded cheese and goat cheese and cook until you have a lovely thick and cheesy sauce.
5. Drain noodles and add to cheese mixture. Coat noodles in cheese mixture, making sure to coat everything evenly. 
6. Add some black pepper to taste. Little One loves this homemade mac and cheese.
7. Line a loaf pan with strips of bacon side by side (not lengthwise). Make sure to leave a bit of an overhang on each end. 
8. Add a layer of meatloaf mixture to cover the bottom of the pan (over the bacon) and the sides.
9. Add a good layer of mac and cheese over the layer of meatloaf mixture.
10. Cover mac and cheese layer with remaining meatloaf mixture.
11. Pull bacon overhang over (it won't completely cover the meatloaf. It'll cover maybe an inch or 2 on each side. Add a few strips of bacon lengthwise to cover the top of the meatloaf. If the bacon is too long, just tuck it into the sides.
12. Bake in oven for 60 minutes.

Serve with salad and lots and lots of veggies! You don't need a side of mashed potato, pasta salad or rice, since there's already pasta in the meatloaf.

I couldn't find the recipe from the episode of The Phantom Gourmet, so I used the idea of the stuffed mac and cheese meatloaf wrapped in bacon and used my own recipe.
 Little One requested leftovers for her school lunch the next day. I have her 1/2 a piece of meatloaf, cucumber salad, carrot & celery sticks, an apple, grapes, a yogurt, and her Thermos with water. My kid is not a sandwich eater. I often wonder what her classmates think of her unconventional school lunches.