St. John's Lutheran Ladies Marvelous Meatloaf

This very simple but delicious meat dish is a staple, served by the ladies at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waltz, Michigan for most of their big group functions.  My dear friend, Elsie, one of the many hard-working ladies that volunteer to cook at funerals, dinners and other such events, gave me a copy of the recipe that they use. I had to convert it from 100 servings to a reasonable 6-8 servings.  This tried and true recipe is the only meatloaf my big brother Bob will eat (and he’s a very persnickety eater.)  Thank you St. John's for many good friends, all the great memories, (and this delicious recipe.)

1½ lbs. lean ground beef

½ lb. ground pork

2 eggs

1½ cups tomato juice

1 cup oatmeal

4 tsp. dried onions

3 dashes pepper

1½ tsp. salt

Directions: Mix all the ingredients; form into a loaf, place into a loaf pan and spread the top generously with ketchup, the cover with foil. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 350° F. Remove foil for the last 20 minutes of baking time.