Cheeseburger casserole

Here is another one from Saving dinner. Again I modified it. I still found it to be lacking something though and I doubled the thyme. Maybe it was the spinach egg noodles the original recipe called for. I couldn't find those. I felt that the noodles needed something, and wanted a bit more flavor, but never could put my finger on exactly what it was. Maybe it just needed to simmer a bit (or cook in the oven) longer to blend the flavors or get a stronger flavor, I don't know. Here it is. I put it because I want to put all types of recipes. This wasn't bad, just not one of my favorites. Maybe a 2.5 star.


Ingredients

• 1 lb precooked beef
• 1 cup oats
• 1 onion
• 1 red pepper
• 2 carrots
• 1 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 8 oz egg noodles
• 1 cup cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350
Defrost precooked meat in microwave for 2 minutes.
Make noodles according to package directions.
Chop onion and red pepper in food processor. Change to grater attachment grate the carrot into the mix. (I have a large food processor and it has been my new friend. Had it forever, but just now using it - don't know what my problem was before.)
Add the ground beef to frying pan and warm. Stir in oats till well combined. Add onion, bell pepper and carrot and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Add noodles to meat mixture. Stir to combine. Pour into baking dish and top with cheese. Bake until cheese is hot and melted (about 15 minutes.)