Italian Bake Aka Lazy Lazagna

a YUMMY cheap & easy alternative to lasagna, my family LOVES this & it works well as a freeze ahead dish too

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs ground beef or 1 1⁄2 lbs turkey
• 2 (8 ounce) jars  pasta sauce
• 2  teaspoons garlic powder
•  pepper
• 1  teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1⁄4 cup  grape jelly (makes the sauce darker, richer & that combined with the pepper flakes give it a sweet & spicy flavor)
• 1 (14 1/2ounce) box pasta, of your choice (we like medium shells or rotini & half white & half whole wheat pasta)
• 1  medium onion, finely chopped
• 1  lb  shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. brown ground beef/turkey with onion & 1 tsp of the garlic powder.
2. while meat is cooking boil water for pasta & cook it til still chewy, as it will cook more in the oven.
3. when meat is done drain & rinse with hot water to remove as much grease as possible, put back in pan & add jelly & half the pasta sauce, cook til jelly disolves into meat & sauce.
4. take all ingredients(except cheese) & place in 9X11 in casserole.
5. mix thoroughly.
6. toss 1/4 of the cheese in with other ingredients & mix.
7. then sprinkle rest of cheese on top, bake @ 375 til golden & bubbly & enjoy!
8. As for Once a Month Cooking -- this is how I do it --
9. I double, triple or quadruple the recipe except when it comes to the step to place it in the casserole dish I instead place it in large round ice cream buckets I've sprayed with cooking spray, place some plastic wrap on top then place lid & freeze. Then on the day you want to cook it, get it out of freezer in the morning, run bucket under water to loosen a bit. then take contents out (in one huge lump) & put in large round crockpot, it fits perfectly! Set on low, come back 5-6 hours later & voila dinner! You can also use the ice cream bucket method for other casseroles & soups & stews.