More More Casserole

I'll admit, this meal is much better than it looks! THIS is More More Casserole. It's one I used to have when I was little and now I feed it to my kids. It has a bunch of stuff in it that they will eat and they really like it. :) I served it without a side because I was totally out of "side" ingredients. That's ok though. It has everything in it we need to be healthy, right? So I can still chalk it up to a full meal.

More More Casserole

1 c. spaghetti noodles, broken into 1/2" pieces

1 lb. ground beef

1 (12 oz) can whole kernel corn

1/4 c. green peppers, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce

3/4 t. chili powder

1 c. mild chedder cheese, grated

Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until tender (10 min). Brown ground beef with onion and green pepper. Drain fat. Drain noodles and corn. Add all ingredients together except cheese. Stir well. Pour into casserole dish and top with cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

What I did differently:

I substituted the ground beef with 3 cups of cooked red beans. I just sauteed the onions and green peppers together in a pan until they were soft and added them to the mixture.

Here is what the finished product looked like - just out of the oven. TASTY!

Eggplant Parmesan

I tried making eggplant parmesan for the first time because I received an eggplant in my bountiful basket and I didn't quite know what to do with it. What a nice surprise! This was so good! It did take me about an hour and a half to make the whole dinner because I made everything from scratch - even the bread crumbs. It would have gone a lot quicker with bottled marinara sauce and store bought breadcrumbs, but I'm glad I did it from scratch. So worth it. :) The salad is simply carrots, mushrooms, green leaf lettuce, and spinach leaves.

Eggplant Parmesan

3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced

2 eggs, beaten
4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

This is what my finished product looked like. I did only use 1 eggplant and about 2 cups of breadcrumbs. I got 19 slices out of it which was plenty for our family for this meal and one meal of leftovers. I then served it over angel hair pasta. It actually looks a little burnt because it WAS. I fell asleep on the couch for a little bit while it was cooking and then I woke up and looked at the clock and "Oh NO!!!" It cooked about 5-6 minutes past the desired time. It still was really good and to be honest, I liked the toasted cheese.

This was my first experience with eggplant and I thought it was really weird that it can be mistaken as meat. My kids kept thinking they were eating meat and I reminded them of that big purple vegetable I showed them. They did ask if we could have this meal again sometime, so that means it really WAS a hit. I'll include a recipe for the homemade breadcrumbs, which I doubled to make sure I'd have enough. I made them for super cheap!

Italian Breadcrumbs
1 cup plain breadcrumbs (I dried out wheat bread in the oven)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

OK, I call this spaghetti because of the sauce, but I rarely use spaghetti noodles. They are just so messy for kids! One of our favorites is called Wacky Mac. It's at Walmart for about $1.50.

Spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite things to make because you can experiment with it so much, and it really doesn't matter what you throw in, the kids will still eat it! That's a win-win. LOL

Tonight's sauce was a real winner so I for sure have to write it down. I think it was one of the best I've made. I'll list how I made it. If you don't have everything I put in, several items can be omitted and it would still taste great.

Spaghetti Sauce
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/3 onion, chopped
1 carrot, pureed
3 cloves garlic
1 qt. home canned tomatoes
3 Tbsp. ground bean flour
fresh oregano
fresh thyme
spinach
salt
pepper

Put olive oil, onion, pressed garlic, and pureed carrots in a saucepan and turn to medium. Cook together until onions start to soften. Then add pureed tomatoes and bean flour. Finely mince the oregano, thyme, and spinach. Add to sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let sauce simmer for about 20 minutes while you prepare the pasta.

What I do:

• I use my magic bullet blender to puree the carrots and tomatoes. The carrots help to thicken the sauce. If you don't have bottled tomatoes, use 1 8oz can of tomato sauce and 1 1/2 cans of water.
• If you don't have bean flour, just omit it. It adds protein and helps to thicken the sauce if you use it. To prevent lumps, I put the bean flour in a separate bowl and add a little sauce at a time to the flour and mix it together. When I get it to pouring consistency, I pour it back into the saucepan and mix it all together with my spaghetti sauce.
• If you don't have fresh herbs, use dried ones out of your cupboard. :) Spinach can be omitted if you don't have it on hand as well.
• I use my wheat grinder to grind navy beans into flour. Then I add it into recipes as a thickening agent.

The best way (in my opinion) to serve spaghetti is like this:

Put noodles on the plate and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top, so it melts a little.

Then add the warm sauce. It melts the cheese a lot.

Last, top with parmesan cheese.