Simple Spaghetti Bake

1. I did housework today.
2. I baked two casseroles. One for a friend and one maybe to freeze.
3. I went for a walk with Smiles.
4. I had a nice long nap this morning.
5. I allowed Smiles and Bear to play for a long time after school at the playground.

I realized that in the following recipe I will not state amounts for any of my ingredients. The reason why is because I do not cook that way. When I am making my tiramasu then I will very carefully follow amounts and ingredients, but for a meal bah, amounts are for those who are chicken when it comes to a frying pan.

Okay cooking utensils needed are casserole dish, long spoons (wooden or plastic), a can opener, 2 large pots, a cutting board, a sharp knife and a colander.

Ingredients.

hamburger or ground meat
cans of tomato sauce
cans of tomato paste
cans of diced or crushed tomatos
onions
garlic
celery
carrots
peppers (your preference of hot or mild - oh and what colours)
mushrooms
spices (whatever you would use for a regular spaghetti; oregano, paprika, basil, thyme, rosemary, etc....)
spaghetti noodles
butter or oil
Parmesan (optional)
Cheese Cheddar or Mozzarella (also optional)

Step 1:
Cut up onions and garlic. Place in large pot to saute with some butter or oil. Butter is my preference. I just love the smell of onions cooking in butter. Mmmm Mmmm.

Step 2:
When the onions and garlic are see through but not about to brown add the ground meat. Cook thoroughly.

Step 3:
While the meat is cooking cut up the rest of the vegetables and open the cans of tomato things (sauce, paste or diced....).

Step 4:
When the meat is done add all the ingredients from Step 3.

Step 5:
Add the spices. You see I can not tell you what spices to add because whenever I start spaghetti my husband always comes in at this point and takes over. It is like a territorial thing for him and his way of still saying he made the spaghetti. "I have spiced. I am man!"

Step 6:
While the spaghetti sauce is cooking (I prefer minimum or low heat to avoid burning. This way I can leave the lid on and still get lots of heat in the pot. Just make sure you stir it often!) put the pot of water on for the spaghetti noodles. Cook the noodles to desired doneness and drain.
Hint - My husband found a trick that I like and one I am recommending here. If you don't want to over cheese with the Parmesan mix it into the noodles at this stage.

Step 7:
Get out your casserole dish and place a layer of spaghetti noodles on the bottom. If you haven't put Parmesan directly onto your noodles then you can add a sprinkling onto the noodles now.

Step 8:
Place a layer of sauce over the noodles trying to completely cover them, but hey we're all human aren't we? I don't think it matters if you miss a few in the corners. Then if you desire you may repeat steps 7 and 8 until your casserole dish is almost full.

Step 9:
Cover the last layer with the Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese (grated or sliced) and place in oven for 30 - 45 mins at 375 degrees.

Voila an easy or Simple Spaghetti Bake. I will admit this is just a variant on the Super Cheesy Spaghetti Casserole from early this month, but hey this one can be cheese or dairy free for those lactose intolerant people. Or you can skip the cans and just use store bought spaghetti sauces, but they are no fun! Plus I absolutely love garlic and think that is what makes any good spaghetti. You see a trick I learned from Raven is to mince half your garlic and cut the other half into large pieces. This way you get the minced garlic infusing its flavor into the sauce and yet you still get the bites of garlic when you come across a larger piece. So yeah Star and Cosmic I hope you like garlic!