Cheeseburger Spaghetti Noodle Casserole

A version of this recipe* has been 'living' here since 1993...

Below:  Side view of baked casserole still in dish, just before serving... 

 

I didn't intend to make this casserole today, ............that is,...........until Granddaughter Melissa and her little two-year-old Mason came over while her hubby's at work, and her other son is in school.  Melissa and Gramps went to the woods for a few things while little Mason stayed in the house with me-- he offered, "I can help you!"   And,..........help, he did.  Alone,  he transferred the combination of scrub cloths/rags from the washer to the dryer.  He was so happy about what he could do, and so was I.  Thanks!, Mason.

At one point, Mason said to me, "These are hard to pull!", but he poured on some extra muscle and out they came......................

 And,..................into the dryer, they go...............................

 Knowing this is a quick 'fix it/bake it', I made today's posting of Cheeseburger Spaghetti Noodle Casserole for our lunch.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup uncooked spaghetti noodles, cooked one minute less than directions indicate.
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I used mix of green, yellow and red peppers.)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 15-16 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar (this is to reduce any stronger 'acid' taste from sauce)
• 1/4 cup catsup
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound THINLY sliced cheddar cheese (OR, you could use layers of grated cheese.)
• Refrigerated biscuits in a can, or use your own favorite biscuit recipe for this.

DIRECTIONS:

• Cook spaghetti according to package directions, but one minute 'less'.
• Brown beef with green pepper and onion in skillet.  Drain off fat.
• Add tomato sauce, catsup, water, and pepper, heat through.
• Stir in cooked spaghetti noodles, and mix together.

• Alternate meat mixture and cheese slices in lightly greased/sprayed casserole dish. (I put one cup of meat mixture in bottom of 3-quart sprayed casserole dish, then layer of cheese slices-- repeating until finishing with meat mixture on top.)
• Cover casserole and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven for next step.
• Arrange biscuits around edge of dish. (For convenience, I used trans fat-free jumbo flaky biscuits which I cut through their layers to make two.
• Bake at 400-degrees for about 15 minutes or until biscuits are as brown as you wish.



Below:  When Melissa and her Grandpa came back from the woods, in time for lunch, Mason wanted to make sure Grandpa would be sticking around for a while.  He insisted the gloves come off, "Here, Grandpa, take your gloves off!"  Mason helped that along!

It's time to eat...

And, we did.......

 

Mason voted, and...................... this casserole was a hit! 
And, then,................

it was time for a nap with Great-grandpa while his mommy worked on a project out in the shed.  Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z....................................

*Although I decided to add spaghetti noodles to this casserole and make other little changes, the 'base' recipe for this dish was submitted by Cindy Alger and is found in the Thorp Centennial Christian Women's Cookbook (1893 - 1993).  This is a thick 520 page recipe book and so full of  'GOOD'ness with recipes for cooking, baking, canning, freezing, pickling, jelly-making, etc.  I found this book in 1993 through a write-up with a sampling of its recipes printed in our weekly AGRI-VIEW farm paper-- it sounded like a winner at $15, so I ordered it through the mail, and it is that,...............a winner!