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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Tired Gourmet: "Casserole De Crap"


People, I'm tired. You're tired. Let's face it--we have kids, and we are all tired. So, once in a while when we are especially beat, we need to make something for dinner that meets a few key requirements:

1) must be tasty
2) has to be liked by the kids
3) is embarrassingly easy to prepare

Well, that was how I felt on Monday, so I'm presenting the first installment in a new recipe segment I'm toying around with called "The Tired Gourmet." By the way, "casserole de crap" is based on a recipe my beloved Mom (RIP) concocted, and it's HER name for the dish, so if you think that "crap" is not a word that should ever be associated with anything you eat, you can just as easily tell your family you've made something called "pizza pasta." Heh. I use whole wheat pasta in this dish, and before you panic, you can't even tell.

Casserole De Crap
(my little niece: "thank you, thank you for making this, aunt karen!! hee hee)

1) 5 Cups uncooked rotini pasta (3 cups whole wheat rotini and 2 cups regular rotini)
2) small package lean ground beef (approx 0.4 kg, or 0.8 lb)
3) 700 ml jar of store brand pasta sauce (I try to choose the one with extra veg in it)
4) two cloves finely chopped garlic
5) one carrot finely grated on a cheese grater
6) tbsp dried oregano
7) tbsp dried basil
8) 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
9) 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a large sauce pan (or pan large enough to hold meat and sauce), at medium high heat, fry beef until browned. Drain fat into a heavy duty mug or old can (I use a turkey baster to suck the fat out while I'm browning meat--just be careful as you suck it up and 'spit' it out into the cup--very hot!!!). When meat is browned, toss in chopped garlic and simmer for a few more minutes at medium heat, while continuing to stir.

Dump in jarred sauce, and 1/2 jar of water. Add finely grated carrot, basil and oregano, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and cover with one of those things people put over their simmering spaghetti sauce so it doesn't splop all over the stove. Or, put a lid half over the pan. Or, go with the mess. Simmer for 1 to 2 hours--whatever, stirring every now and again.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta for 8 minutes. In the meantime, spritz some non-stick cooking oil on a large casserole dish, and grate cheddar cheese.

Drain pasta when 8 minutes are up, and dump into casserole dish. Pour in sauce, and add cheddar and parmesan cheeses. Mix well, until all pasta is totally covered. Cover with a piece of foil--dull side out. Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour. Serve with one of those yummy store-prepared salads. Marvel at the tastiness.

serves: 3 adults, two kids, one toddler (Jack only eats pb& j sandwiches at meals), and leaves enough for tired mom or dad to have for lunch the next day. Or, if you're not greedy, freeze the rest!


14 comments:

  1. sounds good,but i usually just send matt out for wendy's on the days i really feel like a zombie. [there are some tasty and healthy foods there,go figure]

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  2. Yes, I am a dutiful and caring husband. No doubt about it. Or, I suppose I could actually cook one day. ...other than omelettes!

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  3. Sounds good Karen but i have to use homemade sauce..hubby would so complain because 1. I don't work
    2. I can make it
    and three i used can once and him and Sam could so taste it right away. My boys are too spoiled.

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  4. but Pam, it's not canned sauce--it's in the glass jar. Also, it's not the name brands, which typically taste like store bought sauce. Trust me--nobody would know. That's what the garlic and spice embellishment is for, and then you can save your good homemade sauce for a meal that's less, well, crappy.
    Anyway, maybe this is a dish that is yummier to little kids who tend to be a tad fussy.
    And I have to say it again--it doesn't taste like "bought" sauce. Now I'm going to have to bug my sister to weigh in on this.

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  5. okay i believe you! I am going to try it. Actually i was thinking of using this glass jar sauce and adding your embelishments for lasagna? I find lasgna is such a pain to make but if i used this sauce it might make it less of a chore!

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  6. By the way, in that pic are you doing the peewee herman dance?

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  7. ha ha ha--that's a pic of me losing my mind packing for my LAST trip to the trailer a couple of years ago. It had an apron though, so either way I looked insane, yet domestic.

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  8. It's the store brand sauce that'll do it Pam--like, "Compliments" or "Great Value," for instance, and it'll usually just say something like "6 vegetable pasta sauce." The ones with more veggies in them taste more authentic. I would totally use it for lasagna. When there are that many other ingredients in it, who would know? However, with your Italian background, and love for cooking, perhaps you should just forget I posted this shabby little recipe!

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  9. It's the store brand sauce that'll do it Pam--like, "Compliments" or "Great Value," for instance, and it'll usually just say something like "6 vegetable pasta sauce." The ones with more veggies in them taste more authentic. I would totally use it for lasagna. When there are that many other ingredients in it, who would know? However, with your Italian background, and love for cooking, perhaps you should just forget I posted this shabby little recipe!

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  10. NO way Karen I'm glad you posted this! My cousin on my mom's side is a caterer and she uses all kinds of short cuts like this! Who cares anyways as long as it taste good and like you I am ALWAYS tired!

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  11. I ate it and I loved it and I tasted no "brand name sauce..." In fact, all I tasted was the goodness and the love that was used to prepare it. But not just any kind of love! LAZY love.... the best kind of love for a burned out, tired mum. :)

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  12. LAZY LOVE! Ah ha ha ha ha! I love it.

    Thanks Pam, there'll be more super lazy recipes to come.


    * actually, I forgot one little ingredient and have to edit the post! I grated a carrot in as well

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  13. I make something like this, but I legitimize it by saying "I got the RECIPE from". Like indicating that it's a real recipe from something makes it a non lazy mom dinner.

    Karen, my youngest son is a picky eater and this is my "I know he'll fill up on this dinner". Last time I made it I was in a hurry and there was more oil in the meat than I usually allow. At the end of dinner, my son looked at his plate with a huge smile and said "Mom, this grease is AWESOME!". sigh.

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  14. this grease is awesome?? Now that's funny. Are kids even pickier nowadays, or are there just as many picky kids...hmm...I liked nearly everything my mom made when I was a kid, but I wasn't too fussy on pork roast and meatloaf.

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