American Chop Suey

This recipe is a great standby for me because I always have all of the ingredients on hand and it always goes over really well with my boys.

Here is what you need:

• 1lb ground turkey (or beef)
• Small chopped onion
• Chopped medium bell pepper
• Sprinkle garlic powder
• Sprinkle paprika 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of cheese
• 1 can tomato poaste
• 1 can diced or crushed tomatoes (15oz)
• 2 cups cooked macaroni

And here's what you do with all of it:

1. Gather all of your ingredients

2. Chop your onions and bell peppers. I LOVE buying frozen bell pepper strips because this way I always have them on hand, they are just as good as fresh, and I can get more flavor variety. In this recipe I grab a handful of green, yellow and red and throw them in my mini food processor with the onion.

3. Brown and drain your meat, add onions and bell peppers as well as spices. I don't really measure on the spices I just sprinkle them right over the meat as it's cooking. I suppose it's probably around a teaspoon each except for the salt (which I usually leave out because of the garlic salt) and pepper which I just sprinkle a few taps of.

4. Add the meat mixture to your crock pot and pour on the tomato paste and the diced/crushed tomatoes. You can used diced or crushed, I've had it both ways - I do prefer the diced, but I was out when I made this. The recipe really is versatile that way which is why I love it!  And don't forget your crock pot liner - this one isn't fun to clean up without it.

5. Add a cup of cheese. Save the rest to top it when it's ready to serve.

6. Mix it all together and cook on low for 5-6 hours, longer if you need to, I've had it in there for up to 8 hours once and it didn't seem to hurt anything.

When you get home and you're ready to serve this, just boil your noodles, drain and add them right in to the sauce and dish it up. The boys really like extra cheese on top, but I don't add it to mine (who needs those extra calories!). Sorry I didn't get to take a picture of the completed plate - it was gone too fast!

I am linking up with: Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, and Real Food Wednesday! Thanks to all of these wonderful bloggers for hosting these - in my opinion there is no better way to find new recipes than to scroll through these at the end of the day!!!

Let me know if you try this!

Love and Luck to you,

The Packet Queen