Ground Beef Casserole II

I had thawed out some nice bone-in ribeyes tonight, courtesy of my Angel Food box, but ended up just cooking hub's for him because I wasn't in the mood for a steak. I know... crazy, huh?

No, instead, me ... I wanted some comfort food tonight, and to me tonight that meant a casserole! (Besides, hubs can eat that for dinner tomorrow too.)

Anyway, the first time that I made this casserole dish I used a box of macaroni and cheese that had been in one of my Angel Food boxes. This time, I didn't have any boxed mac and cheese, but I did have some macaroni from a previous Angel Food box, and some Velvetta leftover from when I made the Queso Dip, so I figured I could make that work!

I made a few other tweaks too, one of which was that this time I used a can of Rotel tomatoes instead of plain diced tomatoes, so if you don't like spicy, just stick with the regular diced instead because Rotel definitely provides for a pretty hefty kick.

Check out my Online Cookbook for some other casseroles, ground beef dishes and more!

Ground Beef Casserole II
Posted at http://deepsouthdish.com

1-1/2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni
Salt for the macaroni pot
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 of a yellow onion, chopped
1/4 of a medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 of a medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
1 pound ground sirloin
1 T. chili powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1 t. seasoned salt
1 (10 ounce) can original Rotel tomatoes
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
4 ounces of Velvetta
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
4 slices of Provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil for the macaroni noodles, adding two large pinches of kosher salt. Boil according to package directions, drain and set aside.

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion, green and red pepper and sauté until tender. Toss in garlic and sauté just a bit longer, but to avoid bitterness, do not scorch. Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as you go. Drain off any fat from meat mixture, if necessary, and then return it to the pan.

Stir in chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and seasoned salt. Add the Rotel tomatoes, the tomato sauce and the Velvetta to the meat mixture, stir until mixed thoroughly, add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Spray a 9 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and pour meat and pasta mixture in. Lay the 4 slices of provolone on top, cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Angel Food Recipe Ingredient - Elbow macaroni