Cake for Dinner? April Fool's!

Cake and juice for dinner.....or is it? April fool's! This is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and jell-o. Can I fool the kids?

Meatloaf Cake Recipe

Ingredients 

1 egg

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers (such as RO*TEL®), undrained

1 sleeve buttery round crackers (such as Ritz®), crushed

1 teaspoon onion flakes (optional)

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, or to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons Tony Chachere's seasoning

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
Prepared mashed potatoes

Directions 

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. Beat the egg in a mixing bowl, then add the ground beef, tomatoes, and crushed crackers. Season with onion flakes, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper. Mix until evenly combined.
3. Pack into 2 (6 inch) round cake pans. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 35 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
4. Let cool slightly. Use your prepared mashed potatoes to "frost" the meatloaf just like you would a regular 2-layer cake. Serve immediately while warm.

Adapted from Allrecipes

The Results... 
It was fun to try to fool the kids. My little 2 yr. old ran to the dinner table screaming "CAAAKE!" She ate all the frosting (mashed potatoes) and left the cake (meatloaf). She does the same thing with real cake, too. :) She didn't seem disappointed that it wasn't really cake. My older kids figured this out pretty quickly. They're just too smart. The Jell-o drinks were a big hit. We rarely have Jell-o, so it was a real treat for the kids.

Unfortunately, the meatloaf wasn't a big hit around here. I knew my husband wasn't a meatloaf fan, but I wanted to know if the kids would like it. I've never made meatloaf for them. Turns out they aren't meatloaf fans, either. I thought it was okay. I did like the kick that the Ro-Tel and Tony Chachere seasoning gave it. I would give this recipe 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, but I don't plan on making it again since no one else cared for it. I'll try a different meatloaf recipe next time to see if I can find one that everyone will like.

Happy April Fool's Day! I hope you had some fun today. :)