Mini-Cheese Stuffed Meatloaves

I decided to try a new twist to the Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf.  I made them into individual loaves and instead of stuffing with shredded mozzarella cheese I used mozzarella cheese sticks or "string cheese" as it is known by at my house.  Let's see if my experiment worked??

Mini-Cheese Stuffed Meatloaves
Use the original recipe for Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf.
Changing the following ingredients:
Substitute 3 mozzarella cheese sticks for the 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella. Cut each stick in half.
Divide meat mixture into 6 parts.
Flatten out a bit and place one half cheese stick in the middle.

(The counter was cleaned and sanitized before I did this!)

Roll meat mixture around the stick. Making sure to seal all ends well.

Place on cookie sheet.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and drain grease.  Place loaves together and pour the remainingg spaghetti sauce on top.  Sprinkle with 1/2 -1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes.

The finished product.  It actually turned out really well.  The cheese stayed on the inside and the kids loved having their "own" loaf.  We served it over lightly buttered noodles.

There are a couple of things I will do different next time though:

1. Separate the meat mixture into 7 or 8 loaves.  The loaves were a little big for my kids.

2. Use a 13 x 9  casserole dish to bake in. (That is if the loaves will all fit.) 

 It will make it easier with the sauce.

3. I used light mozzarella sticks and next time will use the real deal.  The light cheese does not melt as well. 

Other than that it was a hit and I will be making it this way again.  MMMMM...I think it would make a great freezer meal.

Check out Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for other great recipes.