Quick Cassaroles

Ok don't cringe when I say this but I made a tuna casserole upon my husbands begging for it and it was actually so good and I made it pretty healthy. I first carmelized a bunch of onion, and cooked some whole wheat noodles. I mixed reduced cal cream of mushroom with 2 small cans of tuna, the onion and noodles... got a snack size bag of potato chips and crumbled half of them on top and baked it. It was so freaking good I had to eat my words about a tuna casserole. Hardly even tasted like tuna. The whole huge casserole cost like 7 bucks to make, we both ate a bunch and we had left overs for the next day.

This isn't a casserole, but it's super quick, easy, and cheap... and feeds a lot. You might want to double this, and serve with a salad:

Box of Uncle Bens long grain and wild fast cooking rice ($2, 5 minutes)
1 LB beef sausage link ($3, 10 minutes)

Mix it together, and you're done. How easy is that?! I usually grill up some diced green peppers and onions just to give it a little extra. That recipe doubled, paired with a salad, you can feed about 8-10 people for $20

I'm making this for my kids this week (and it is my version of my mom's version of something, and probably nothing like the original--you can kind of do whatever you want with it, but this is what I do):

Brown ground beef (or turkey burger if you prefer) with a little worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, some onion, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cook 1 pound elbow macaroni (or shells, or something), drain.
Mix in large bowl:
Cooked pasta
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 to 1 cup fat free sour cream (I don't really measure it)
1-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar (I use more--I love cheese)
Cooked ground beef

Bake around 350 degrees in a covered dish until cheese is melted and casserole is hot. I sprinkle the top with a little more shredded cheese. You can also add other veggies (I love it with green beans, but I'm the only one who likes them here).

you can make a veggie heavy enchilada. I poach chicken with carrots, potatos, onions and spices. Drain and shred. Mix in light sour cream and green chili salsa. I put that and maybe some grilled red, yellow, green and red peppers in tortillas and roll up. All these veggies arent traditionally in enchiladas, but I stick em in where I can get away with it. Pour green chili verde salsa (You can buy green chili enchilda sauce but it's more expensive than cheap green salsa) over the rolled up tortillas, top with cheese and bake. Many people lay the tortillas flat and make an enchilada casserole, so you can cut squares out of it, it's easier. But I still roll mine beacause I use less cheese that way.

Pizza Casserole:

-1 lb. rotini noodles
-1 lb. ground beef/turkey
-1 jar spaghetti sauce
-1 pkg. pepperoni
-1 pkg. sliced mushrooms
-1/2 onion
-1 pkg. mozzarella cheese
-seasonings (garlic powder, italian seasoning, etc.)
-parmesan cheese

Cook pasta. While pasta cooks, brown beef and onion together. Once browned, add pasta sauce, mushrooms and pasta. Mix together on low heat. Place half of pasta mixture in 9 x 13 baking dish. Layer with pepperoni and cheese. Repeat on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Top with parmesan cheese. It takes all of 15 minutes to make and is a favorite of my son's! Enjoy!