Pizza Casserole

I almost did not cook tonight. Almost. I have had headaches since Friday, but decided that I needed to cook after taking forever this morning to choose a recipe and then going out and buying all the ingredients. I even had an easy way out of cooking...Mum offered me some swordfish she was cooking. As much as I love seafood, fish is a dish that I need to be in the mood for and crave; if I don't it is very off-putting to me...much like yogurt. My weekend was filled to the brim, once again, with activities..it being Halloween and all.

Friday night it was the Scholarship Fundraiser Halloween party, where my friends and I dressed up as a white trash wedding party (though I think I more-so resembled a junkie hooker). Yesterday afternoon, I had a surprise 50th birthday party to cook for and attend. I made more Chipotle Shrimp cups, since I had a lot of ingredients left over for them, and I made a big Chili Cornbread Bake. Then, last night, I had another Halloween Fundraiser. I dressed as a witch and ended up winning a $100 gift certificate to a tattoo parlor in a raffle. Time to make that big decision soon (and yes mum, I am getting one eventually).

Today, I somewhat cleaned the apartment, went grocery shopping, took a nap, and made myself cook. I haven't dug into it yet, but Mum had a bite and said it was good. I will most likely take a break in the middle of all of this typing to eat.

.... right after I typed that, it just seemed like a good idea. The dish is very, very good. It reminds me more of an American Chop Suey Casserole rather than a pizza casserole, other than the little bites of pepperoni. Nonetheless, it's good. When making this, the recipe calls for using a medium skillet, but I recommend a larger skillet. Once all of the ingredients end up in it, it gets filled to the top. I was also very excited because I got to use my new casserole dish that not only was a bargain to begin with, but I got a discount thanks to my good friend Jaime, who's sister works at Christmas Tree Shop where I got it. Can't beat cheap (yet durable!) kitchen items.


Pizza Casserole

2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage
16 oz. pizza sauce
4 tbsp. milk
1 cup shredded cheddar

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.
2. In a medium (large) skillet over medium-high heat, brown the beef with the onion, garlic and pepper. Drain excess fat. Stir in the noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce, and milk; mix well. Pour this mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, top with cheese and bake for 5-10 more minutes.

*** edit: forgot to list the oven temp. It's 350.

Now, I am off to help mum purge her collection of Rachel Ray magazines. She has about 3 years worth, and we are ripping out any recipes we want to save and recycling the mags. This should keep me busy for some time. And though I find Rachel Ray annoying (Yum-O!), she has some pretty good recipes...and she's 10 times better than Giada "large-mouth bass" de Laurentiis.