Beef Noodle Bake

This is recipe is a lot like lasagna, but quicker and easier. It's comfort food that I wouldn't mind serving to company!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 (12oz.) can mushrooms, drained
1 clove garlic, crushed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
4 oz. whole wheat noodles, uncooked
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 (8 oz.) pkg. reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup reduced-fat dairy sour cream
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Directions:
Cook and stir ground beef in 10" skillet until lightly browned.


Add mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar and tomato sauce. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.


Cook noodles by package directions and drain. Chop onions, using some of the green tops, and combine with cream cheese and sour cream. Blend well.


Grease a 2-qt. casserole and assemble the casserole components:


Evenly spread about half of the noodles; top with half of the ground beef mixture. Spread about half of the cream cheese mixture over top. Repeat.


Top with Cheddar cheese.


Bake at 350° until bubbling hot in center, about 50 minutes if chilled, 30 to 35 minutes if not chilled. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Options:

• Instead of layering the ingredients, just mix them all together.
• Try using part skim ricotta or low-fat cottage cheese instead of the cream cheese and sour cream.
• Try adding 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning to the hamburger mixture.

Serving suggestions:

• Garlic bread or Golden Focaccia
• Garden salad
• Fresh fruit salad