Days of Casseroles-Day 1: Baked Spaghetti...Plus Basic Honey White Bread

I talked to Kevin about trying to do a casserole a day for a year, and I think he's up for the challenge. I have so many different casserole recipes, both in my personal cookbooks and notebooks of recipes I've found over the years and from ones I've found on Pinterest and the Internet. I told him I'd mix it up, and not every casserole recipe will be a main dish for dinner. There will be side dishes and breakfast casseroles too. Either way, we'll get to try a bunch of new recipes and find some new favorites along the way. :)

For today's casserole recipe, I found this tasty one on Six Sisters' Stuff....lots of great recipes on this blog!

Baked Spaghetti

Ingredients:
1 16-ounce package spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 26-ounce jar meatless spaghetti sauce (I used homemade canned sauce)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt, optional
2 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups small-curd cottage cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce and seasoned salt, if using. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese and butter. Drain the spaghetti noodles. Add noodles to the egg mixture, and toss to coat.

Place half the spaghetti mixture in a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. Top with half the cottage cheese, meat sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers. Cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until the cheese is melted.

I haven't made homemade bread in a while, and since the loaf on the table was pretty low, I figured it was time. Travis likes plain white bread the best, despite my attempts to convert him to whole wheat, but this recipe is a tasty one, even if it is white bread! I did use my bread machine, but I've included instructions if you want to make it the traditional way :) P.S. The top looks "wet" as I always rub a stick of butter over the bread right when it comes out of the bread machine or oven.

Basic Honey White Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups bread flour**
2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons honey (I used local honey, unpasteurized)
1 1/4 cups warm water

If using a bread machine, add ingredients as directed by the machine manual. Select the basic/white setting, 2-pound setting. **When the bread is mixing, watch to make sure you don't need to add more flour. I did, as the dough was really wanting to stick to the sides of the machine. Add flour by tablespoons until it pulls away from the sides and kneads as it should.

Conventional Instructions:

Add all ingredients to the bowl of a large stand mixer. Using a dough hook, mix and knead dough for 5 to 8 minutes.

Put a little olive oil in a large bowl, and add the dough, turning once to coat the dough with oil. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm place to double in size for about one hour.

Punch down the dough, and shape into a loaf. Place dough in a well-greased 9 x 5 x 4-inch loaf pan. Cover the pan, and place it in a warm place to allow the dough to double, which should take about 30 minutes.

Bake in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown in color.

Yield:  One loaf