Never in my life have I spent more time in ICU waiting rooms than I have this week. This week started off with an emergency visit to the ER and then ICU for one of my aunts (who comes home today!!) and then in the middle of the week, BigBear’s grandmother was whisked away to the ER and then placed into ICU. It’s been a whirlwind of a week. I feel like I’ve been spinning the tea cup ride at an amusement park all week. We’ve spent a few evenings (and all day yesterday) stuffed into ICU waiting rooms awaiting news from doctors and nurses. I thought yesterday was Tuesday until about 4 yesterday afternoon. (It was Thursday not Tuesday). geez
Seeing Big Bear’s grandmother in ICU made me have flash backs of my Nana all day yesterday and to be honest most of the day was a blur. Not too long ago, I lost my Nana in the same ICU only a few rooms down from where we gathered to spend time with BigBear’s grandmother. I won’t go into any type of personal details, but as of now there hasn’t been a change in her since last night.
Why share that bit of information? Well #1, because this is my blog. 🙂 and I’ve been absent this week from the blog and somewhat absent from social media. #2. My blog is my life… the good and the bad & #3. I need comfort food (and sleep_ I can’t think of a better time to dive head first into a huge dish of comfort food. Pasta is the #1 comfort food to me. Even last night my husband (BigBear) commented that I must have Italian blood running through my veins, as I was digging through the fridge for left over Spaghetti to reheat for dinner after a long and draining day at the hospital.
It’s just what I need right now.
Maybe you’re wondering as to why I’ve called this “Spaghetti Sandwich Bake”. Well, I called it that because that’s exactly what it is.
When I was little I use to always take my Spaghetti and stuff it into the rolls that were served with dinner in order to make Spaghetti Sandwiches. Ok.. Um… I still do that! My favorite way to make Spaghetti Sandwiches to to stuff those sweet King Hawaiian rolls with a heaping spoonful of Spaghetti!
Carbs, Carbs and MORE Carbs! I’m totally ok with this! I love the sweet from “sweet rolls” mixed with the saucy pasta noodles!
Why “Mom Approved – Spaghetti Sandwich Bake”? — because my mom approves haha. 😉 Mom always has to have bread with everything she eats! Yes, everything. Anytime we go out to eat or anytime I bring food to the office to share with her, she always follows up the “Thank you” with “Is there any bread?” haha.
This Spaghetti Sandwich Bake combined my need for Spaghetti Sandwiches and Mom’s need for bread with every meal! haha
I figured I’d just go the “Southern Route” and just throw both into a casserole dish and bake it up. Because you know, that’s what we do here in the South. We make casseroles! But…. mmm Spaghetti Sandwich Casserole sounds odd. “Spaghetti Sandwich Bake” sounded better than casserole to me, so that’s what I went with.
I made this with canned pasta sauce but if you’d rather have homemade, it’ll taste the same 🙂 I’d also give it a whirl with ground turkey or ground pork!
Mom Approved – Spaghetti Sandwich Bake
Mom Approved - Spaghetti Sandwich Bake
This Spaghetti Sandwich Bake combined my need for Spaghetti Sandwiches and Mom’s need for bread with every meal! haha
Ingredients
- 16 oz thin spaghetti
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 3 (24 oz each) jars of Spaghetti Sauce (I used the My Essentials Four Cheese Pasta Sauce)
- 3-4 cups mozzarella cheese
- Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (I used 1 pack + 1 Row from another pack for my 9x13 dish)
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
In a large pot of salted water, boil the spaghetti noodles for about 12 minutes or until done.
Drain the noodles and return them to the pot.
In a medium sauce pan add the ground beef and cook on medium heat until brown. Drain the beef and return it to the pan. Add 2 jars of sauce to the beef and stir.
Pour beef sauce into drained spaghetti and toss to coat.
Pour about 1/2 a cup of sauce from the 3rd jar into the bottom of a baking dish (I used a 9x13).
Carefully cut the Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls sweet rolls in half (like you were making a sandwich) and add the bottom layer to the baking dish.
Pile the spaghetti ,onto the bottom roll layer, into the baking dish. Top the spaghetti with the top parts of the sweet rolls. Pour the remaining sauce from the 3rd jar over the rolls.
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with mozzarella cheese. Place back into the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
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