I’ll be honest.. I hate following recipes to the T. I follow my mom’s and grandma’s examples and barely measure anything.. I just put in what looks or smells good. I do follow exact measurements for baking, though. I’ve had some messed up cookies before!
I found this recipe from Paula Deen, but considering it’s a Friday night and didn’t want to spend almost 2 hours cooking after working out, I decided to check out what Betty Crocker had to say. This recipe is a mix of both of those, plus a few added touches (like spinach). I’m not used to writing my recipes down (just like my mother!) so bear with me.
What you’ll need:
About 2/3 lb. ground beef (I separated my 1.6 lbs into three parts for separate meals)
One can diced tomatoes, any kind
One can tomato sauce (or you could use Ragu, whatever you have in your pantry)
Half a medium onion
Half a green pepper
A generous handful of spinach
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
Seasonings of your choice (I used onion salt, Mrs. Dash, crushed red pepper, black pepper and a couple bay leaves)
Two eggs
About 4 oz. uncooked spaghetti (I use whole wheat, and you really could use a different kind of noodle.. whatever you have on hand)
One 8 oz. package mozzarella cheese (I also had a little feta left.. I incorporated that too)
1/4 c. milk
Okay. So. As you can see, I just use whatever sounds good, and whatever I have on hand. I did shop for this meal, but sometimes you have to improvise.
Instructions:
1. Cook ground beef in skillet. I bought 97% lean, so there was no grease. Add onion and garlic (we had a few mushrooms left so I added those too). Preheat oven to 350.
2. Add chopped green pepper.
3. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.
4. Cut up spinach (I use kitchen scissors) and add to sauce. Add seasonings. Mix together and let simmer over low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes.
5. In the meantime, spray 8×8 glass pan. Break uncooked spaghetti noodles in half and place on bottom of pan. About a quarter size is what you need.
6. Mix together eggs, cheese and milk in separate bowl. If you don’t have mozzarella, you could use ricotta or even cottage cheese.
7. Spread cheese mix over noodles in pan.
8. Add sauce mixture on top and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
9. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes.
mercies per mile 