Way back at the beginning of quarantine, I put it up to vote for what my next DiS1972 (from the 1973 series) dinner would be.
Your choices were:
I really thought that Frosted Meat Loaf (or Cheese Nugget Spaghetti) would win the contest, but somehow it eventually lost out to 123. Eggplant-Hamburger Sandwich.
But Frosted Meat Loaf’s time has come.
I pared down this dinner significantly–we didn’t need sundaes or butterflake rolls (whatever those are) or pecan cookies. I just stuck with the pears, which weren’t pears, because I had apples. I stuffed them with some crumbled biscuit (I made Bisquick biscuits earlier that day), brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. To cook them, I put them in a bowl with a bit of water and steamed it in the microwave. I then placed them in the oven with the loaf during the “browning phase.”
Quick notes on the loaf: I added some Poultry Seasoning to the mix and subbed marjoram for thyme. I substituted Greek yogurt for sour cream. Used 2 tbsp fresh onion. Also I nixed the sprouts and paired it with baby broccoli.
Side note: what is with the dried minced onion? Is it that hard to mince onion? Or is there some sort of quality that a dried onion gives you that a fresh one does not? Can someone tell me?
Another note: I only had a pound of ground beef so I was afraid that the mix would be too wet since I didn’t really adjust the amount of the other ingredients. (Turns out this did not end up being an issue–the meat was fine). 
Judge me: I really dig fake mashies.
I must say that it’s kind of genius–putting a loaded baked potato directly on top of the meatloaf. Seriously–just add some bacon bits.
The leftovers were good. Similar to a Salisbury Steak sans the brown gravy.
With Frosted Meat Loaf now behind me, I think I need to tackle the Cheese Nugget Spaghetti next.
I suspet that onions were not always available everywhere? I mean, even now, they are in stores all the time, but they go bad SO fast in spring. Minced dried onion lasts forever. Also one of my best friends really has texture issues with onion, but likes the flavor. I like onion, but things went wrong with onion today.
I am totally going to buy some.
Your loaf looks much more delicious than the one on the card! I have absolutely no judgement on fake mashies. I find them comforting because when I was little, the majority of mashed potatoes that I had were in the cafeteria lunches at school and those were from a (giant) box. My mom thought baked potatoes were healthier, so mashed made an appearance in our house maybe once every few years.
Now dehydrated onion flakes were another story — we always had a jar of those in the cupboard. They were a big deal in “vintage” Weight Watchers recipes of the 60s and 70s. My mom also made a hot triple onion dip with those, green onion, red onion, sour cream, cream cheese, some herbs and spices, and a little sherry. Sometimes canned shrimp or crab would also join the dip party. Definitely NOT a WW recipe. ; )
Hot triple onion dip sounds deeeelish. So just sour cream and cream cheese???
Simple, but oh so good. The sour cream (and the sherry — woo hoo!) thinned out the cream cheese to get to a good dipping consistency.
I use dried minced onion because fresh tends to upset my digestive system in ways that dried doesn’t, for some reason, unless I go really crazy with it. I’m sure old recipes had a different reason for using it, though. Maybe to avoid onion tears? Maybe so the pieces will be too small for the kids to know there are any veggies?
I like all of your ideas.
The thing with dried onions is 2-fold – 1) they don’t add moisture but rather absorb it, so they can help in situations where you need to avoid things getting too soupy 2) they have a different texture, which is sometimes what you want. They’re a bit chewier. Rehydrated onions are what they use on McDonald’s burgers. They’re nice on meatloaf if you want noticeable onion bits because they won’t break down into the mix.
They’re also really convenient when you only need, like, a tablespoon and don’t want to break into a whole onion for that.
And now I need to buy some–if not just to put on hamburgers.