It’s football season again! I’ll admit I haven’t been much of a pro-ball (ie. NFL) fan in recent years though I will occasionally watch a Kansas City Chiefs game. College football? That’s a different story. Anyone who hangs around here much knows I’m a big OSU fan. *Ahem* That would be the REAL OSU–as in Oklahoma State (pistols firing!). NOT Ohio and not Oregon. I’ve also been known to root for OU (go Big Red) unless the Sooners are playing the Cowboys. This past weekend was a mixed bag. OSU beat #6 ranked Oregon on Satruday while OU fell to Michigan. With most games played on Saturday, and pro-games sprinkled through the week, finding a quick, easy and filling dish for game days is a touchdown!

Touchdown Casserole
Prep Time: 30-35 minutes
Bake Time: 25-30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (8-ounce) package of egg noodles
1 cup sour cream
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 large white onion, diced
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, plus more to taste

Directions
1 - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2 - Grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish with butter.
3 - Place a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4 - Add the ground beef to the skillet, cooking and stirring to break it up, until brown and crumbly, about 5-7 minutes.
5 - Drain the grease from the skillet.
6 - Stir the sugar, the salt, the garlic salt, and the tomato sauce into the browned beef.
7 - Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
8 - Turn off the heat and let the ground beef mixture cool to room temperature.
9 - Fill a large pot with salted water, and bring it to a boil on the stove-top.
10 - Add the egg noodles to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but still firm, about 5 minutes.
11 - Drain the liquid using a colander.
12 - In a large bowl, combine the sour cream, the cream cheese, and the diced onion.
13 - Arrange 1/2 of the egg noodles into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.
14 - Cover the egg noodles with 1/2 of the sour cream mixture.
15 - Layer on 1/2 of the ground beef mixture.
16 - Repeat the layering until all the ingredients are used.
17 -Top the casserole with the cheddar cheese.
18 - Bake the casserole until the cheese has browned and melted, about 25-30 minutes.
19 - Serve!

Not all of the members of the Hard Target team are Americans. If you mention football, several of them might start talking about Manchester United instead of the Miami Dolphins. That said, they are learning about American football and starting to apreciate the sport. Since they tend to hang out at Mother Goose’s Bar. Bear, the bartendcer, is also known for his bar snacks and other culinary skills. You can bet he whips up multiple pans of this easy dinner. It’s the one thing on game day that all the guys can agree on and the girls agree. If you want to find out more about the super-secret Black Ops Hard Target team, just click on a pic with covers. Before they were recruited by Mother Goose, some of the team were part of SEAL Team Atlantis. You can read about them in MOON SHOT. How they become Hard Target is told in DOUBLE CROSS. There’s a side story set in Roxanne St. Clair’s Barefoot Bay world, DOUBLE TROUBLE, and then in CROSSFIRE, you see the new team in serious action. Clicking on the pics will take you to Books2Read where you’ll land on the series page and can pick the title you want, follow that link to find the on-line sellter of your choice. And now for your question(s) of the day: College or pro football? Qhich team is yours?