car show mondays!!

During the summer, Mondays become one of my favorite days of the week. That's because my town hosts the cool car show on Monday evenings!! It happens in the town square and there are food vendors, live music, free snowcones and popcorn, and a bounce house for the kids. Not to mention a fountain that keeps my kids occupied for hours and lots of open space so they can run around and tire themselves out. :) In addition, this year they also added a Farmer's Market! So we walk up to town, have some dinner and spend quality family time together. It's also pretty social, as we inevitably meet several friends who are doing the same. Fun times.

I have a local friend whose 3 boys are close in age to my boys and sometimes we head to the cool car show together. 2 adults versus 5 boys...it's always crazy when we get together!! Last week, we brought dinner over and the boys played and ate before the show. This recipe is always a hit with the kidlets!

recipe: Cheeseburger Meatloaf
source: my friend K

2 pounds ground beef (you can also use ground turkey)
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons ground black pepper
2.5 cups shredded heddar cheese
ketchup (or tomato sauce) and mustard to drizzle on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the meat, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, eggs, salt and pepper, and mix well. Pat out meat mixture into a rectangle on a piece of wax paper. Spread cheese over the meat, leaving a 3/4 inch border around the edges. Roll up jelly roll fashion to enclose the filling and form a pinwheel loaf. Press meat in on both ends to enclose the cheese. Place in a 10x15 inch baking dish.
Bake in the preheated oven 1 hour, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). You can drizzle ketchup and mustard on top for the last 10-15 minutes of baking, or serve it on the side for dipping. My kids love this!

Here's to the cool car show making summer Mondays memorable!