Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Casserole

First of all, let's talk real quick about my new background/layout. Tomorrow is the first "official" day of fall (although Florida weather will choose to ignore that until probably Halloween or so...), so I intended to make my background something fall-ish inspired, or at least some fall colors. But then I found this purple polka-dotted beauty, and knew I had to do it. I mean those colors are perfect, right? And the whole thing is just so ME. And the colors match my new button perfectly. Check it out...see how good these colors go together? I'm loving it :)

And now...Pinterest recipe #2 (in just two short weeks) was debuted at my house last night! I've always loved cooking, and I'm so glad when I get a chance to do it for my family! So last night I made this glorious creation. It combined two of my favorites (PIZZA & PASTA!), so what's not to love?

The original recipe can be found here at this link, but I will be sharing it all here as well, because today I'm feeling a little less lazy than when I shared my fajita recipe the last time.This is a super easy recipe, so if you like pizza and pasta (if you don't, I'm sure we can't be friends anymore...), then try this for yourself, and tell me all about it!

Ingredients
2 pounds of ground beef (I actually used ground turkey though)
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced (I used garlic powder because we didn't have fresh)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
16 oz. Rotini noodles (cooked first and then drained)
4 cups Shredded mozzarella cheese (family size bag)
Pepperoni

Directions
Saute beef/turkey in skillet with diced onions, garlic and seasoning. Then drain.
In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, meat, sauce, and half of cheese.
Place mixture in a Pam-sprayed casserole dish. (I put this in one big one, and one medium sized one)
Sprinkle remainder of cheese generously on top, and add pepperoni's on top of cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is nice and melty!

We ate it with a simple iceberg salad and some garlic bread. And this stuff was a hit. At least in my book it was :) My family actually requested that we just use ground beef next time instead of turkey, but turkey is healthier, so whatever. So, I think you should hop on into your kitchen and give this one a go. It's a huge recipe though, so don't plan to cook it for yourself unless you want it for the next two weeks or so. We had seven people eating for dinner though, so it worked out great for us. And let me know what you think guys!

Also, I got crazy and made dessert too. We had three bananas that were on the verge of rotten, so I decided to make some banana bread. I'd never done it before, but it turned out great as well! And I used my great-grandmother's recipe. Wow! Think about how many times that same recipe has been made in my family. So crazy and so awesome! I love things like that - being able to use a family recipe that's been around for sooo many generations. So awesome!

Today after work I'll be making the drive over to St. Augustine to spend the weekend with some of my favorites for some girl time. I can't wait to go to the beach, and paint our nails, and play games, and shop downtown, and hold hands (Jenni & Kaley), and laugh so much we cry. I love these girls, and I'm so ready to see them!! Yay!

HAPPY FRIDAY! HOORAY! And Happy Almost-Officially-Fall.

(And today I'm linking up with Oh So Amelia as part of the Friday Chaos Blog Hop and also at AunnieSauce for Just Because Fridays!)