Sausage Casserole - Mo'Betta style

My mother-in-law makes a sausage casserole that is pretty delicious.  Sausage, cheese, pasta...what's not to like?!  Well, saturated fat, calories, for starters.  So, I decided to give her recipe a makeover. 
taaa daaaaa

This is what I came up with.

It was very good, even the kids ate it!  Which is always a shocker - makes me get on the phone immediately and call my mom.  I wonder if she gets tired of hearing every little detail of mine and the kids life.  Does anyone else talk to their mom everyday?

So anyway---the recipe!  Original from my MIL, my changes are in italics

Sausage Casserole

1 lb. sausage      1/2 lb. Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat Sausage & 1/2 lb. ground turkey
*time saver tip - I cooked a pound of each, then used the other half  for pizza that I posted the other day!
1/2 c. chopped onion   *sometimes I add this, sometimes I don't
16 oz. tomato sauce
1/2 t. basil

2 c. cooked macaroni (I was confused by this, so I cooked 2 cups of macaroni - which ends up being like 6 cups!  But it worked out fine...) *Whole wheat macaroni

8 oz. mozzarella cheese *part-skim of course

Cook the sausage and ground turkey with onion if using, set aside.  Cook macaroni, drain.  Mix all the ingredients together, using half the cheese to top the casserole.  I baked it at 350 degrees until nice and bubbly.

YUM :-)  As you can see, I went all out on the side dishes....cut up carrots and store-bought Foccacia bread!  *Money saving tip - you can buy bread from the clearance rack in the bakery section and freeze it!  I took this foccacia loaf straight from the freezer, wrapped it in foil and let it warm in the oven...you never knew it was frozen!

Linking up with..... Taste and Tell

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