Pizza Casserole

Yes, that's right. A CASSEROLE from the Kesler Kitchen. For those of you who don't know...in my 8 years of marriage, my husband has REFUSED to eat casserole, of any shape, flavor, or kind. If it was casserole...he would not eat it. (childhood of nasty chicken and rice casseroles ruined him).

We were camping this weekend, and one of our family members made this for her meal. It happened to be our anniversary, so while we were eating Filet Mignon at the delish Sidestreet Bistro in Florence OR, our kiddos were gobbling this stuff down like food would not exist after the meal. Matt (hubby) tried it and said...."oooohhhhh. That's goooood". The rest is history! Today flung open the door of hope for casseroles in my family! I made 2 batches of this today, it's really easy, and gave one to a sickie preggo I know, for her family.

Pizza Casserole

1 Box of "Deluxe" Macaroni and Cheese Dinner (the kind with a sauce pouch, not powder mix, like velveeta, Kraft, I bought the Safeway brand)

1 Cup of prepared red pasta/pizza sauce

1/2 lb ground beef (browned)

1/2 lb of ground italian sausage (browned)

1/2 lb of mozzerella cheese, shredded (make sure to reserve some for the topping)

1 Cup of colby jack, shredded (I used parmesan instead, it was what I had-note, Cheddar would be pretty greasy)(again, reserve a bit for topping)

3-4 ounces of pepperoni, chopped up

1 ounce of pepperoni slices to go on top of finished casserole

Prepare Macaroni to package directions. Add in meats (except some pepperonis for the topping), and pasta sauce. Then add shredded cheeses, making sure to reserve some cheese for the topping. Put into 13x9 Baking pan. Spread the last of your cheese on top and add some more pepperoni slices to the top, like a pizza.

Not so low fat, but yummy and belly filling! All 3 of my boys ate and ate this stuff! Next time I will probably use Turkey Pepperoni, it tastes no different but is a whole lot less greasy. It was actually easier to make a double batch, I think. I used one whole jar of pasta sauce and 1 lb of ground beef and 1 lb of sausage...it was just easier proportions. It would be easy to freeze one pan, or take it someone in need of a meal.