ITALIAN SAUSAGE BAKE
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, (no casings)
1 small Vidalia Onion, chopped
2 large Yukon potatoes, chopped
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 can diced tomatoes with herbs
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning mix
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Brown sausage and onion. Drain off grease.
• Place sausage in the bottom of a 9×9 casserole.
• Drain tomatoes, reserving juice.
• Toss together the potatoes and carrots and layer over the sausage and onion mix.
• Top with the tomatoes.
• Whisk together the tomato juice, ricotta cheese and seasoning
• Pour over top of everything.
• Top with mozzarella cheese.
• Bake 45 minutes or until potatoes are done.

For some reason hubby loves Hamburger helper. Must be left over from his bachelor days. Now I can’t have pre-prepared foods so I made him a substitute recipe that tastes even better. I make in advance too which makes a great weeknight casserole ready to pop in the oven when you get home. Hubby likes the texture of Velveeta, but I find it a bit rubbery. So I tried Land of Lakes American cheese and it slices great while still giving you that smooth creamy cheese texture when it melts.

BACON CHEESEBURGER HAMBURGER HELPER NOT!!**
6 bacon strips cooked crisp and crumbled
1 1/2 pounds hamburger
1 small Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cups green giant frozen corn, thawed
2 large Yukon potatoes, sliced
Land o’ Lakes American Cheese Slices

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Toss bacon and corn together.
• Layer potatoes over top.
• Generously salt and pepper the potatoes.
• Place a thin layer of cheese slices over potatoes.
• Brown hamburger and onions together. Salt and pepper well while meat is browning. Drain off fat.
• Layer over the potatoes and top with another layer of potatoes.
• Salt and pepper again and layer with another layer of cheese.
• Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
• Uncover and bake another 15 minutes.

**I like to make these back to back (that way I also have 2 meals ready to go with half the mess) so the left over bits of browned sausage and caramelized onion add flavor to the hamburger.
If you like to play along, please add a link to this post on your post and sign Mr. Linky. Be sure to include your recipe in parenthesis following your name. Thanks and have fun.