My youngest sister and her 6 kiddos- aged 13 to 3 – were here for some very fun-filled days recently.

Having that many extra bodies around made for a full house and a full table at meal times!

Every meal became an adventure as we tried to figure out how much food we needed to make to fill those hungry bellies.

Some meals we nailed – others meals we didn’t!

One meal we overshot was spaghetti. We ended up with an entire ice cream bucket full of left-over noodles!

I determined it would not go to waste. So as soon as our guests left, I started to plan.

Meal #1 Ham Alfredo (with spaghetti noodles)

I made a simple Alfredo sauce, added diced ham (left-over from another meal) and tossed in left-over spaghetti noodles just before serving. Delicious.

Meal #2 Spaghetti Pie

I took some of the left-over spaghetti and mixed it with a beaten egg, some melted butter (at east 1/4 cup but could have added more) and at least 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

I layered this in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan.

A nice layer of cottage cheese was put over the noodles, followed by a thick layer of spaghetti sauce.

Then I added browned meat – I used sausage but could have used hamburger, venison, ham, or even pepperoni. The finally layer was cheese – a nice coating of mozzarella and a generous sprinkle of Parmesan.

This could be baked right away at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, or refrigerated for use within 24 hours, or frozen to be used within a week or two.

I actually froze this one and served it to more company a week later. It got rave reviews!

Meal #3 Hot Buttered Noodles and Grilled Hamburgers

I put the rest of the spaghetti in boiling water for just a few seconds to reheat it, then drained it, added melted butter, Parmesan cheese and a touch of garlic and served it as a side dish with grilled burgers and a green salad.

So with a little creative the mistake became the backbone for 3 more meals.

And nothing went ot waste -whew!