Pizza Casserole

By now, you have probably realized I like simple easy recipes and use a lot of beef! I love chicken but since it hasn't been on sale lately, I've been cooking with a lot of beef. This is a recipe I found in a magazine a few years ago.

Pizza Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups egg noodles
2 tsp vegetable oil

1 pound ground beef

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, finely chopped ( I substitute garlic powder when I don't have garlic)

1 ts oregano (I use about 2 ts)

(I also add about 1/2 ts Italian seasoning)

1/2 ts salt

1 can condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350. Cook noodles following package directions. Drain and reserve. (I like the steam in this picture!)

Meanwhile, heat oil on medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet. Add ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat for 6 minutes until beef is no longer pink. Drain off excess liquid. Stir in oregano, salt, soup, 1/3 cup water, and noddles. (Isn't this can of soup cute? Pink!!!!)


Take off the heat and add half of the cheese. Spoon into a 11x7 inch baking dish (or whatever size you have!) and sprinkle remaining cheese on the top. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes until bubbly. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up... or Stromboli in my case

I tried a new recipe that I found on the Kraft Foods website tonight. Dusty gave it two thumbs up. I thought it could use some type of dipping sauce - like salsa or a pesto marinara. It was super easy - not exactly healthy. But you could make a big salad to go with it!

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up

1 lb hamburger meat
4 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 cup, small onion, chopped
1/2 lb Velveeta cheese (or 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese)
1 pkg. refrigerated pizza crust

Preheat oven to 400. Cook ground beef, bacon, and onion in large skillet. You might put the bacon in first to get it cooked a little more before adding the beef. Cook on med-high heat until browned. Drain fat and return to heat. Add Velveeta; cook until completely melted, stirring frequently. Cool 10 minutes. (I didn't put the Velveeta in. Instead, I spread the shredded cheese on the rolled out pizza dough before layering the beef mixture on it. )

Unroll pizza dough onto greased baking sheet. My dough came out of the container with some major issues - here is the mutilated dough that I had to attempt to fix. Press into 15 x 8 inch rectangular. I didn't have my measuring tape handy so I just winged the measurements. Top evenly with meat mixture. (I put the shredded cheese on first) Roll up dough, starting on one of the long sides. Since I had a lot of problems with my mutilated dough, I just pulled up the sides and sealed it so it was more like a Stromboli instead of a roll.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown (not dark brown like mine - don't follow my example!). Cut and serve.

Chili's for dinner!

Thought I'd post what we had for dinner last night - a Spicy Chili! Yum! Dusty couldn't wait for it to cold enough this year so I'd make this. It's super easy - when I worked at SF, I'd brown the meat and put everything in the Crock pot on my lunch break. It was nice to come home to the savory aroma of dinner. If you want it extra hot, use the hot Rotel. I've done that before and it was great!

Spicy Chili
1 lb hamburger meat
1/2 onion
1 can Rotel
2 cans ranch style beans
2 small cans tomato sauce
1/2 package of chili seasoning
1/2 T chili powder

I know the instructions aren't really needed, but here they are.
Brown hamburger meat with chopped onion. Drain fat. Add remaining ingredients. Let heat through or simmer. Can simmer for several hours for great flavor!