Mom's Meat Loaf

The name of this recipe is Mom's Meat Loaf, but don't be fooled. It is NOT my mom's meatloaf recipe. My mom makes a great meat loaf. Whenever it's my birthday I ask her to make it. I have made meatloaf by her recipe and it doesn't taste the same when I make it (even using her recipe). I think it may be because #1 she uses different BBQ sauce than me and #2 I just like it when she makes the meatloaf. It is not my birthday if I don't have my meatloaf (hmmm maybe this could be a method of not aging?). My mom says it may also be because I use hamburger that is too lean, and for a good meatloaf you need burger that's a bit more fatty, so it stays moist. So with that in mind I used 85% lean hamburger instead of my usual 90% for this recipe. I figured I might as well try this meatloaf recipe since I can't duplicate my mom's. Gonna try a whole new thing, and make it my own, dawg. This one is from Simple & Delicious also.

Mom's Meat Loaf (but not Monika's mom's meatloaf)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (5.5 oz) V8 juice (you cannot buy just one can this size @ the Walmart. I now have 7 more cans of this under the cupboard...if anyone wants to have one to try this recipe, let me know!!)
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/3 cup ketchup

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except hamburger, then crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Pat into an ungreased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake, uncovered, @ 350 x 30 minutes. Spread ketchup over top; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until no pink remains and meat thermometer reads 160 (this took like 15-20 minutes longer after I added the ketchup). 8 servings.

We had this with mashed potatoes. The kids all ate this so I count that as a success. I thought it was quite salty, I guess that's to be expected with V8 juice and onion soup mix as ingredients. I suppose once I use up my 7 remaining cans of V8 juice, I could buy the low-sodium kind next time. But that will be in like 5 years and I'll probably have forgotten by then. Anyway I did find this meatloaf to be yummy and moist. So I'll keep it to have in the months that my birthday is not, and let my mom do it in November =0)