Old School Recipe = Awesome!

This recipe is so "old school" that I actually last ate it when I was in like 2nd grade...that is until tonight!  If your mom is like mine then she probably went through phases in her cooking where she would do a bunch of casseroles and then she'd switch to meat and potatoes and then we had the health food craze and then there was that year she was doing Weight Watchers and we all had to eat the food on her diet...you get my drift! 

Well, in the casserole phase my mom made this awesome casserole that just kinda stuck in my mind and periodically I would try to describe it to her and ask her if she still had the recipe.  She would look through some of her cookbooks but then she wouldn't find it so she'd give up.  Just recently I brought it up again and she looked in her "favorites" notebook which is a little recipe notebook that is absolutely busting at the seams with all her favorite handwritten recipes and lo and behold...there's the recipe in her own handwriting...Crunchy Hamburger Casserole, circa 1984!  Yay! 

I snapped that little card up and promptly got the ingredients and whipped up a nice little casserole tonight...and it did not disappoint!  Three out of 4 Cohee's liked it...the 17-month old was the only one who turned it away.  And one Cohee had to go back for 2nd's and then he may or may not have just warmed up another bowl of it!  So here I share it with you...it's easy and I think it's pretty darn good.  Sorry I don't have a picture...but I forgot to get one before it vanished!

Crunchy Hamburger Casserole
2 cups uncooked noodles
1 pound ground beef
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp of seasoning salt)
1 can (2.8 oz.) French-fried onions

Cook the noodles according to package directions.  Drain well.  In a nonstick skillet, brown the meat.  Drain off excess fat.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the noodles, beef, soup, tomatoes, cheese, and green pepper.  Add salt and pepper to taste and/or seasoning salt.  Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Cover and bake for 40 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle the onions on top.  Bake for an additional 5 minutes.  Serve hot.