Today I want to bring you a great recipe recycling leftovers into a delicious new dish, but I also want to share my heart with you a little bit and I know you’ll indulge me like you always do.

For many of us, times are more difficult now than we can remember them ever being. Even if your lifestyle hasn’t changed the impact of others having changed so much is still there. This is something that weighs heavily on my heart because I see so many people filled with worry but on the same token, I also see so many positive changes coming about as a result.

You see, sometimes bad things only exist to pave the way for good things and these days, I feel that is just what is happening. It’s all in your perspective for the most part.

So maybe we have less. So maybe we eat at home more, as a family around a dinner table filled with something cooked from scratch by someone who loves us. Maybe we have a few less preservatives and Red Dye #40 and have a little more biscuits and milk gravy. Maybe we sit and drink our coffee at the breakfast table instead of in a paper cup handed to us through a drive in window.

So maybe we buy kids a few less toys. When I was little I had the best rocket ships, doll cradles, and telephone system around – all made from empty oatmeal canisters. I’d spend hours crafting them, gluing paper on them to cover up the labels and then designing the new look with crayons. Mama would give me old wash rags to use as blankets and then she and I would take scraps and sew little pillows by hand for my dolls (or astronauts) to use.

Folks would pay good money for that kind of entertainment for their kids these days and yet it still sits in the same place it has for generations, on the pantry shelf just waiting to offer up a nutritious breakfast and comfy nap space for dolly.

Sometimes we need to realize that something bad can come along to help us take our eyes off of something worse, and realize that what we have at the core of things is something really, really good.

I’m not saying we don’t appreciate the good things in life or that we’ve lost our sense of values, just that perhaps now that the glaring, beeping things before us have toned down a bit , in the silence it’s not quite so hard to hear when a child whispers your name or to see the expectant smile aimed in your direction.

I’m not saying I don’t hope that everyone gets more money and those without don’t become those with again. Of course I wish the best of the best for everyone. But chances are, there’s something pretty darn good right there with you now. It might even be waiting to curl up in your lap or for you to simply look up and take notice.

All my life I dreamed of having a family. I have two gorgeous, happy, and healthy kids and a husband who loves us all. Just because the price of groceries has gone up doesn’t make my dream any less realized.

I don’t know if I’m willing to go out on a limb as an authority and state that there is good in everything bad, but I can tell you there has been good in everything I’ve seen so far.

Today’s recipe is a delicious use for leftover meatloaf. Most folks I know just recycle it into meatloaf sandwiches but I’m a casserole person myself and this is a casserole my husband and I really enjoy with leftover sloppy joe meat so I decided to give it a go with meatloaf and meatloaf sauce instead. It was every bit as good as we hoped it would be and then some.

Very much like a meatloaf lasagna, ingredients include pasta, a blend of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, crumbled meatloaf, and sauce. An interesting and delicious twist that is sure to please.

You’ll need: small shell pasta, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and a can of meatloaf sauce. Y’all know I love this Hunts stuff, I could just about drink it from the can, but you can make your own if you like. You’ll need about two cups or so either way you go.

You’ll also need leftover meatloaf and it doesn’t matter how much or how little you have. I’d go for at least two cups of crumbled meatloaf.

Cook and drain your pasta according to directions. Place in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Combine your cheeses in a bowl and stir until they’re mixed up good.

Spread half of your cheese mixture over your pasta.

Top that with half the can of meatloaf sauce, spread it a little to make it go over the whole top.

Top that with all of your crumbled meatloaf. Yumm!

(My meatloaf was straight from the fridge, in case anyone is wondering)

Top that with the rest of your cheese mixture.

Spread remaining sauce over it.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for thirty minutes or until bubbly.

Hand a good serving of this out and watch your husband’s eyes bug out of his head!

Meatloaf Casserole

 

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Ingredients

• Leftover Meatloaf (2-4 cups, crumbled)
• 1 Can Meatloaf Sauce (Hunt's comes in a can of about 16 ounce size - you can also use your own meatloaf sauce)
• 2 Cups uncooked small shell pasta
• 2 Cups Ricotta Cheese
• 2 Cups mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Place in bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. In medium sized bowl, stir together cheeses until well combined. Top pasta with half of cheese mixture. Spread half the meatloaf sauce over the top. Top with crumbled meatloaf. Add remaining cheese and top with remaining sauce, spreading to cover the top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for thirty minutes, or until bubbly.

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Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.

~Jane Howard. Submit your quote here.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go wrangle up some oatmeal canisters…

Gratefully,

Christy 🙂