Summer Time Saver

While I love the summer, it's probably the least productive season for me, writing-wise. With my kids home full time, it's just impossible to get in the writing I can accomplish when they are at school all day. So I want to use every spare second I have to get some wordage in. Which means I'm always on the lookout for fast and easy recipes that I can throw together quickly so I can dive right back into my current WIP :)

One of the favorites in my house is what my mom calls Lasagna-In-A-Pot. It came about one night when she had planned to make lasagna for dinner only to realize she didn't have any lasagna noodles. She did, however, have rotini noodles (those cool corkscrew ones). So she tossed all the ingredients in the pot with the rotini noodles and ta-dah! Lasagna-In-A-Pot. It became our preferred way to eat this tasty dinner. And you can make it in half the time because it doesn't need to bake. Win!

Here's what you need (please note this recipe is never anything my mom wrote down. It's sort of an "eye-ball it" recipe so the amounts listed below are approximately what I use. Feel free to change according to your preference):

Ingredients:

1 pound ground hamburger

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 cups cottage cheese

shredded mozerella cheese (probably about 2 cups, though honestly I just toss it in 'til it looks good) :)

1 package rotini noodles

Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic salt, italian seasonings - to taste

Directions:

Cook noodles according to directions on package; drain 

In a skillet: Brown hamburger (add seasonings to taste)

Drain and put in a pot that will be large enough to hold the entire dish

Stir in cottage cheese (this needs to be added to the meat before the sauce or it won't incorporate right)

Stir in noodles and sauce

Stir in mozerella cheese until nice and melted

Enjoy!