Now that school is going full throttle as well as all the after school activities it has been my mission to find quick, easy, and healthy meals that I can make for my family.  I have been doing a lot in crockpot lately so I decided it was time change it up a little bit and try a casserole.  The challenge was that it has to be ready in a limited amount of time.  By the time we get home from activities we have about 1 to 2 hours to finish homework, give the kids a bath, eat supper, do devotions, and spend a few minutes together before the kids hit the bed.  The schedule is tight therefore dinner needs to be ready on time.

Hamburger Pasta Bake

• 1 pound lean Ground Beef
• 16 oz Pasta (I used Bow Tie pasta, but any will work)
• 1 can Spaghetti Sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese (I used a mix blend of cheese, but you could use just mozzarella)
• 1/2 cup Pepperoni – optional
• 1/2 cup Mushrooms – optional

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray 9 x 13 a pyrex casserole dish.  Boil the pasta in a large pot until pasta is tender.  Brown hamburger in a skillet.  Drain pasta and place into casserole dish.  Add the spaghetti sauce, meat, pepperoni, mushrooms, and stir.  Top with shredded cheese and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Our family loved this recipe.  The only thing we added to it after trying it once was the pepperoni and mushrooms for extra flavor.  It tastes awesome either way just add what your family likes to eat (or have on hand) and enjoy.

Tips to help make dinner prep more efficient when you have tight evening schedule:

Ground Hamburger – cook up your ground hamburger in advance and freeze it cooked in measured out portions.  My favorite way to cook it is to get a large pack of hamburger (several pounds) put it in the crockpot and heat it on low stirring occasionally to break up the meat.  Once it is cooked pour the hamburger into a strainer (over a bowl) drain, and blot with a paper towel.  Allow it to cool them put into baggies or containers.  I typically do between 2 to 4 cups per bag which is approximately 1 to 2 pounds of hamburger.  This allows you to pull the meat out prior to dinner and make your meal.  Cooking the hamburger in advance eliminates a lot of time, prep,  and mess.

Cook the Noodles – if I will not have time to cook the noodles right before dinner I will cook them the night before or earlier in the day so they are done and ready to go.

Assemble in Advance – when it is going to be a busy evening schedule I will often put together the entire casserole in advance and store it in the fridge until it is ready to go into the oven. If I am really prepared when I make up a batch I put one in the fridge to bake that night and do another one to stick in the freezer for a later day when we are really tight on time.

When you have an section of the day that has a really tight schedule like ours the key is to utilize the parts of the day when you can prep for dinner.  If you have a few extra minutes in the morning or after the kids are in bed for the evening prep for the next day.  Lay out any items that you know you will need and do what you can to make sure those tight schedule times go as smoothly as possible.