Ground Chuck, Spinach and Alfredo with Pasta--

I rarely let myself be faced with the dilemma of what to cook for dinner. I pride myself on preparing a weekly menu and shopping within my budget and of course utilizing coupons and store deals but today was one of those "I can't believe I didn't do that" day.

Loving my Husband as I do, I eagerly fix him warm filling meals for his dinner and rarely do we eat out or have dinner from the box to the microwave. Fixing him satisfying meals is just one of the ways I show him that I love and respect him as my partner.

Not wanting to show my desperations and complete mental blankness of what I was going to fix for dinner I begin searching around the refrigerator while chatting with my husband about his day as usual. The only thing I could find in the freezer that I could conceive could be concocted into some sort of dinner efficiently was the 2 pds of frozen ground chuck.

Frozen, the key word. Frozen ground chuck can not quickly become burgers or a meatloaf but suddenly I put my brain into overdrive and made my own recipe with ingredients I had in the pantry and freezer and within an hour, I was getting amazing praises and hugs from my husband.

• 2 pds ground chuck
• 2 10 oz boxes of frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
• 2 jars of Alfredo
• 1 bag large shell noodles (steamed and drained)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• Ground red pepper to taste

I cooked down the ground beef with the onion, garlic, salt and pepper and crushed/ground red pepper. While the meat was cooking, I steamed the large shell noodles. Quickly thawed the spinach and drained off the excess water.

After the ground beef was cooked, I added the spinach, Alfredo sauce and the Parmesan cheese. Mixing these items together completely I slowly added the noodles and lightly mixed to the burger mixture. Adding the spices to taste to finish off the dish.

I took the entire mixture and placed in an ovenproof dish and placed a few extra noodles on the top with thin slabs of butter covering the top of the casserole--Sprinkled a bit more crushed red pepper on top and broiled until it was a beautiful brown--about 8 minutes.

I have to say, I was proud of myself, it was an amazing dish--Completely satisfying--and the raves from my husband were amazing.