Simply Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella Cheese, divided
1 (15 ounce) container Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten
1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1 1/4 cups mozzarella, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan, parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
Drain meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add 1 cup water to empty sauce jar; cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture; stir until well blended. Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce and cheeses. Cover with greased foil.
Bake 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 min. Let stand 15 min. before cutting to serve.

**This is a very good lasagna recipe. The cheeses are the most expensive ingredients. The recipe is a little time consuming though. I only recommend it if you are able to give yourself plenty of time to make it. You can prep this the night before, so you can just throw it in the oven the next evening.

Cheeseburger Pie

1 can crescent rolls
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped onion, OR 1 teaspoon onion powder
1/3 cup chopped dill pickle slices
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups shredded American cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 375°.
Unroll crescent rolls and press into the bottom and up the sides of an 8 inch pie pan.
Cook ground beef in a skillet until browned. Drain well.
Stir in onion, chopped pickle, ketchup and mustard.
Sprinkle with flour and add pickle juice and milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Remove from heat and add 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Pour into the prepared crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until edges of crust are golden brown.

Top with 1 cup of cheese and place back into oven for a few minutes longer until cheese is melted.
Serves 4-6

**This recipe was surprisingly good. I didn't think it would turn out at first. My kids didn't mind eating it even with the much hated onions in it...lol. I didn't have shredded cheese so I just used a few slices of cheese. I also used a can of biscuits instead of crescent rolls.  I will definitely make this again and again. It really tasted like a cheeseburger. This is good served with french fries and a vegetable of your choice.
      ~I have made this several times now and we have loved it every time.

Pizza Casserole

This recipe tastes just like the boxed pizza pasta home-style bake you can get at the store.

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage
16 ounces pizza sauce
4 tablespoons milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cook noodles according to package directions.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic and green bell pepper. Drain excess fat. Stir in the noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce and milk, and mix well. Pour this mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, top with the cheese, then bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.
Servings 4-6

**When I made this, I only had elbow noodles and I didn't have any pepperoni. I omitted the pepperoni and used 2 cups cooked elbow macaroni. It turned out pretty well. We liked it a lot.