Stacey Green’s unapologetically hilarious approach to family cooking proves that a little swearing, a lot of humour and a tray of mini meatloaf muffins might be the secret to making everyone at the table happy.

Let's take a pause here to appreciate the comedic genius of Will Ferrell in Wedding Crashers, and also cross our fingers that your kids will love these meatloaf muffins but not enough to never move outta the basement. And don’t bother telling your kids you’re having meatloaf for dinner; all you’ll hear is complaints. Whoever named this shit “meatloaf” deserves to be fired, because nothing could sound more unappetizing than that. Instead, tell your kids that you’re having mini meaty muffins, serve them these and find yourself elevated to hero status. I don’t know what it is with kids and mini things, but they’re suckers for anything tiny, and we will take full advantage of that. These babies also come smothered in ketchup, and you know that kids and ketchup go together like…kids and ketchup.

Ingredients for Ma! The Meatloaf! Mini Meatloaf Muffins

Muffins

1 lb of lean ground beef

1 small onion, grated (about 1/2 cup)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup of ketchup

1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs

1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp of oregano

1 cup of cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes

1 tsp of salt 1 tsp of black pepper

Cooking spray or oil for greasing

Glaze

1/2 cup of ketchup

2 tbsp of brown sugar

2 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tsp of Dijon mustard

Directions for Ma! The Meatloaf! Mini Meatloaf Muffins

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bust out the old muffin tin you rarely use and spray each cup with cooking spray. We don’t fuck around with clean-up; the spray ensures nothing sticks to the pan, so use it liberally.

In a large bowl, combine all your ingredients except the cheese. Really get in there and get your fucking hands dirty. Once you have a flavour-packed mound of meat (sounds delish, right?), add cheese to the bowl, and gently work the cubes into the mixture. Evenly fill each muffin cup with a scoop of the mixture. We’re not going to be measuring, so just use your eyeballs. I believe in you.

In a smaller bowl, combine glaze ingredients and stir until brown sugar dissolves. Spoon this glaze on top of each meat muffin. Now we’re on our way to fucking flavour country!

Bake until cooked through, approximately 40 min, or when internal temperature reaches 160°F. Serve the mini muffins to your mini mongrels.

Excerpted from You'll Eat It and You'll Like It, available on staceygreenliving.com.