Pioneer Woman Success Story | Sour Cream Noodle Bake

If you follow my blog you know that I cook via inspiration.  A good amount of inspiration come from my cooking 'heroes' one of which happens to be the Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond.

Okay ... so there is my shameless plug about a woman I idealize who had no idea that I love everything she does.  One of the things that I love about her recipes, (and her, let's be honest here) is the ability to really cook meals that a family will love.  I have other cooking heroes, however a lot of their recipes I would love to say I could duplicate ... but sadly I just am not there yet.  Someday ... someday.

In the meantime I'll continue working to find and prepare meals that my family will love, are not too hard to prepare and actually meals that I will incorporate into my weekly meal planning.  

Low and behold ... the Sour Cream Noodle Bake from the Pioneer Woman.  One of the reasons I love her is that she is a blogger at heart like I am.  She loves to prepare meals for her loving family, as I do and ... she is a pure success story and living every blogger's dream: her own tv show on the Food Network, multiple cookbooks and more.

Alright, alright ... I'll stop gushing now and putting in my shameless plugs.  On to the goods!!

Starting out with the essentials:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 package of egg-free extra-wide egg noodles
• Sour cream
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 package of shredded cheese
• 1 bunch of green onions

Now, if you have read through the PW's recipe for this you will know I've omitted the cottage cheese.  Confession #26 I am not a lover of cottage cheese.  I also, (and if she were to ever see this she would probably drive form Oklahoma to Kansas City and explain why this is SO very wrong, but I used prepared shredded cheese instead of grating my own.  *hiding in the corner*

As with any recipe - that's where the creativity comes in.  Feel free to add/subtract or substitute as your taste buds and/or budget kick in.  I love the power of cooking.

So here we go.  I was really hoping for the best as I wanted a success story so I will admit I was a little nervous, however I overcame my initial fears and pushed on through.

Start by browning your ground beef.  I season mine with salt and pepper and cook until browned.  Then, add your can of tomato sauce.

Here is one other variation to my recipe, (and also takes it off the healthy meal plan idea for the week).  I added about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese.  My husband has a very picky stomach when it come to acid/red sauce so I try to cut that acidity with cream cheese to help mellow out the acid from the red sauce.  I mixed this in and you will notice it gives the sauce a creamer color.

We want this to simmer and come together nicely - that's your goal for any sauce.  At this point I sprinkled in a little Italian Seasoning and some of my new found Tastefully Simple, Garlic Garlic seasoning.  (a little goes a long way with it)  Put a lid on and allowed to simmer.

Now on to the noodles.  Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Get your pasta water to a nice boil, add in some salt to flavor your pasta and then add in your extra-wide egg free noodles.  Cook until al dente.  

Next, prepare your baking dish - spray lightly with Extra Virgin Olive Oil cooking spray to help with sticking during cooking.

Once the noodles are done, drain and then put back in your pot, (heat off).  Add with diced green onions and your sour cream.  I used about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the sour cream.  

Combine it all together.  Seriously ... add a dash or two of salt and wow - can you say side dish?  A quality check was completed at this point.  After my thumbs up it was time to continue on.

Now that we are 'prepped' it's time for assembly.  Take half of your sour cream/onion mixture and do a layer in the bottom of your baking dish.

Top with about half of your meat/tomato sauce mixture.

Top this with about half of your shredded cheese.

And here is layer #1.  We want to do the second layer just as the first.

Mmm, this is looking SO amazing right now I could hardly contain my excitement.  *I may have done a short, but very funky happy dance*

Pop in the oven for about 5-7 minutes.  For the last 3-5 minutes I threw my oven onto Broil and then watched carefully.  Broil is a very fickle lady - too short; not the look you want.  Too long and well ... you may have to start all over.  

Can I get a drum roll please??  Gooey, cheesy, meaty goodness.  Heaven in a baking dish.  

I kept it from my husband until serving it - I wanted to surprise him so I quickly plated it all up.

I could not WAIT to dig in!!  Now, my older children love meat, cheese and noodles - so no worries about picky eating from them on this.  My 3 1/2 year old does more of a deconstructed version.  Meat, noodles with a little Parmesan cheese and applesauce.  She isn't enjoying the full effect, but no worries, as she grows so will her little picky eating habits.

I obviously can't take credit for the recipe, (that goes to my hero, Pioneer Woman) but I will take the credit for pulling it off and getting rave reviews!! 

This meal will go into the weekly rotations and was super easy to prepare and great on the budget.  Try this one today!!  And if you talk to Ree Drummond, please let her know that she has a huge place in my kitchen and always a seat saved for her.  ;)

*Entire cost of the meal: $9.50 - it made 4 servings, (could have squeezed out 5) so that makes it $2.38 a serving. 

~Cheers!

Jacqui