Finals week is stressful and when I get stressed I tend to forget to eat. My brain is always worried about the tests I have to take, and how much I need to study. My way of thinking is, “If I finish this one thing, I can go eat” then when I don’t finish the task I get frustrated and punish myself. I’ll continue to work until I’m forced to take a break. My point is that breaks are necessary for success, and burnout is real. Why cause yourself more stress by making a complicated recipe? 

This dish takes very little brain power to make, and it is still delicious. The recipe did not season the meat but I recommend seasoning it. All you have to do is cook the ground beef in a separate pan, then just throw it in a baking dish with some red sauce, add cheese and let it bake for half an hour. No stress required, take a break from work while this cooks, or don’t (that’s what I do). The aroma that comes from the oven will make you lose your mind, so working is useless. Take that break. 

Ingredients: 

16 ounces rotini noodles, uncooked

3 ½ cups of spaghetti sauce 

2 ½ cups water 

½ pound of cooked ground beef/turkey 

1 ½ cups grated mozzarella cheese (you can use more)

Parsley (optional) 

Ground onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper for seasoning the meat

Instructions: 

1. Cook the ground beef until brown, add minced garlic, ground onion, salt and pepper to the meat. Cook until all the water has evaporated, then set aside.
2. Stir the spaghetti sauce into the meat. Add about a cup of water into the sauce mixture, this will make sure your sauce isn’t too thick.
3.  Place uncooked pasta noodles in a 13×9 baking dish.
4. Pour your sauce mixture into the dish, make sure the sauce is evenly distributed on top of the uncooked pasta. 
5. Sprinkle cheese and parsley on top.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until the noodles are Al Dente. Remove the foil and bake for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.