The Imaginative One has very bland tastes. When we have spaghetti, he likes to eat only plain noodles. He does not like to eat the sauce on his noodles at all! I usually accommodate him by putting some of the noodles to the side for him. When I cooked this dish, I decided not to accommodate him.

He gave me such a dirty look when I told him it was either the baked spaghetti or nothing. Hubby talked with him about how lucky he was to have a mommy who not only cooked but who cooked great food. The Imaginative One bucked up and tried the baked spaghetti. He ended up liking it!

This is an easy meal to put together. Add a salad on the side, and Italian bread or garlic bread on the side, and you have a whole meal. (We had a spinach salad with choose-your-own toppings. The Wee One chose bacon, sunflower seeds, mandarin oranges, and dried cranberries for his toppings. He did not want to have any dressing for his salad. The Imaginative One had spinach with his mandarin oranges on the side.)

Baked Spaghetti

Stars of the recipe:

• Half a box of spaghetti, cooked and drained.
• A pound of hamburger or sausage cooked, also drain off grease (I had cooked my ground beef about a month ago and then froze it, so I had to just warm it up.)
• a jar of spaghetti sauce or homemade sauce
• 1 c. of Italian cheese or mozzarella cheese

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the spaghetti and then drain. (I cooked it al dente.)
3. Spread a bit of sauce in an 8 by 10 or 9 by 13 pan.
4. Place the cooked spaghetti over the sauce.
5. Next, put the cooked hamburger or sausage over the spaghetti.
6. Cover with the rest of the spaghetti sauce.
7. Sprinkle mozzarella or Italian cheese over spaghetti sauce.
8. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

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