Doesn't everyone need a good macaroni and meat type recipe? Unless you are a vegetarian the answer would be yes. I grew up in North Carolina but spent a lot of time in Florida where my grandma lived. We always looked forward to our trips to the beach. Lots of the good memory I have of childhood revolves around my time spend down in Florida with the family that we had there. I will always and forever have a special place in my heart for that state. In fact I tell my husband all the time that I wouldn't at all be disappointed if we just HAD to move there for some reason, jokingly of course. Okay, okay, I'm not really joking when I say that. Anyways, you are probably wondering what Florida and macaroni have in common. Well, those car trips from N.C. to Florida where about 9 hours or so. We would usually leave our house super early in the morning and make it there just in time for dinner. My good old GRAM would usually have this macaroni and meat type dish ready for us to chow down on along with some kind of canned fruit like pears. I've never tried to recreate it for myself but I do have my own version here with this dish. This is a very family friendly casserole is a great way to incorporate more vegetables into my children's food. I use whole wheat noodles for extra nutrition and there is a fair share of bone building calcium in every serving. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and who knows, maybe someday I will be a grandma making this for my grandkids when they come to visit.


Beef, Cheese, and Noodle Bake
adapted from myrecipes.com

1 (8oz) package of whole grain shell macaroni
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, shredded or chopped very finely
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb lean ground sirloin or lean ground turkey
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Cheese Sauce

1 cup fat free milk
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups 2% shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain; lightly coat pasta with cooking spray.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and carrots, saute for 4 minutes. Add garlic; saute for 1 minute. Add ground sirloin; cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Add tomato sauce, spices, salt and pepper. Cook for a couple minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates.

Add pasta to beef mixture in pan, stirring to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into a 9x13 baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Place milk, flour, nutmeg, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt in medium saucepan; stir with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add 1 cup of cheese, stirring until smooth. Pour cheese sauce mixture over pasta mixture; stir.

Top evenly with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 F. for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Do you ever have a day when you don't feel like putting too much thought or work into dinner. I know I do every so often, especially when I am short on time. I have a few go to recipes for nights such as these. This is one of them. This is so easy to throw together last minute and it is actually pretty healthy which is a double bonus. This casserole is versatile too. You could use ground beef in place of the turkey. You could substitute frozen corn or your favorite frozen vegetable mix for the peas and carrots. You could also use crescent dinner rolls in the place of the biscuits. I've made it before with a cornbread topping too and it turned out great. Sometimes I leave out the Velveeta because it's not something that I usually buy or substitute shredded cheddar cheese. Do what you want with it.

Turkey & Vegetable Bake
adapted from Kraft Foods

1 lb lean ground turkey meat
1 8oz package sliced mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
2 cups frozen peas and carrots
1 can (10 3/4 oz) reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 oz Velveeta 2% milk pasteurized cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can (10 count) refrigerated biscuits

Heat oven to 375 F. Brown meat in a large skillet. Add mushrooms and onions; cook 8-10 minutes or until liquid from mushrooms evaporates, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas and carrots and soup; bring to boil. Sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper. Add Velveeta; stir. Remove from heat. Transfer mixture to 8x8 baking dish or pie plate.

Unroll the biscuits. Working with one biscuit at a time; roll between hands to for a snake like shape. Coil around in a circle and place on the casserole. Continue with the rest of the biscuits until all 10 are evenly spaced on top of the turkey mixture.


Bake for 12-15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

This post is linked to At Home with Haley

Not everyone is a fan of casseroles. Our family happens to love them so I do make them quite often. I found this recipe in a Cooking with Paula Deen magazine and thought that it sounded good. It was the mushrooms that caught my eye. I am a huge fan of mushrooms so almost anything with that ingredient sounds good to me. You might notice that something is missing from my version of this. I left out the poppy seeds, only because I didn't have any. I'm not sure that it would have changed the flavor any but I will assure you that it was very good without them. Next time I make it I will add them and see if there is a difference. Now I know Paula Deen is famous for her unhealthy obsession with butter, lots and lots of butter. I don't share that same obsession with her. I wish I could have the same care free attitude but I take my health and my families health to seriously. This recipe has a total of 4 Tbsp of butter in it which actually isn't that bad, for our friend Paula. I was able to cut down the amount of butter that is mixed with the cracker topping without compromising on taste. You can follow suit or be a little more care free like Paula and use the whole amount. The recipe below is the original. You can cut it in half if you don't have a lot of people to feed. I hope you enjoy!


Poppy Seed Chicken
Cooking with Paula Deen

1 Tbsp butter
2 (8oz) packages sliced portobella mushrooms
7 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream (I used light)
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
3 Tbsp butter, melted
2 cups crushed butter-flavored crackers like Ritz Crackers
Hot cooked white or brown rice

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a 13x9 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat; add mushrooms and saute for 7-8 minutes or until browned. Remove from heat.
In a large mixing bowl, combine mushrooms, chicken, chicken soup, sour cream, almonds, and poppy seeds. Pour chicken mixture into prepared baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine melted butter and crackers; sprinkle over chicken mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer until bubbly. Serve over rice.

Ahhhhh...Baked Spaghetti! This stuff is well known in the Gilliam family. I grew up eating this a lot as it was in my mom's regular rotation of meals. This is comfort food at the max to me. Eating it takes me back to when I was a youngster living at home back in my childhood home. I can still see two big 9x13's full of this stuff sitting on the kitchen counter ready to be scooped up by all of us hungry kids. Can I just say it? I LOVE Baked Spaghetti!! This is an excellent meal to make for company. Just add a salad and some garlic bread and you have a complete dinner. I took my breadsticks from yesterday, split them in half, buttered them, and threw them under the broiler. You can also make this dish ahead of time and just cover it in the fridge until ready to bake. So here you go. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does. By the way, the leftovers are so good. I think I like it the second day better.


Baked Spaghetti

7-8 oz of spaghetti (I used whole grain)
1/2 to 1 lb of ground beef, depending on how much meat you like (I always use lean ground turkey in mine)
1 can of you favorite marinara sauce or homemade marinara sauce
1/2  large onion, diced
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup canned Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cook spaghetti according to package directions, drain, and set aside. Meanwhile brown your ground meat and onions until meat is cooked through. Drain grease from pan (if desired) and pour in your marinara sauce. Heat through.

Grease a 9 inch square baking dish. Take a big scoop of the spaghetti noodles and lay them on the bottom on the dish.


Next take 1/3 of your marinara mixture and layer that over the noodles.


Next take 1/2 of the cream of mushroom soup and spread it evenly over the marinara sauce.


Now take 1/2 your cheeses and layer them over the mushroom soup.


This is the first of the layering. Repeat again the more noodles, sauce, soup, and cheese. Now take the last of your noodles and spread them evenly over the top of the whole thing. Take the rest of the cheese and sprinkle it over the top. Add as much cheese as you want. We're not big cheese fans so I don't put as much on.

I have to admit, this just isn't near as pretty as my sugar cookies from yesterday but I assure you it is a very easy and delicious meal to serve for you family. It is actually pretty healthy too. I like to make up names for healthy foods to entice my kids to eat them. Sometimes it really works. We call black beans "Super Magic Power Beans" and they get all excited and gobble them up.

I have a chicken pot pie recipe that I use in our dinner rotations quite often and I though this was a nice change of pace. I made a few changes to the original recipe like replacing the ground beef with ground turkey. I also cut the recipe in half because our small family would be eating this for days if I had made the whole thing. Below I am posting the original recipe and if you have a small family like mine, just cut the whole recipe in half and bake for 25 minutes. I hope you enjoy!

Cowboy Dinner Mel's Kitchen Cafe


Beef Mixture
2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 cup frozen corn kernels (I used canned)
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounce) black, pinto, or white beans rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese