Food Friday - American Chop Suey

American Chop Suey is "comfort food" for some people.  My early memories of having served at the school cafeteria.  For me, it was an okay tasting item, but it was mid-range for me.  I liked it, but would not want to go out of my way for it.

Years later, friends and family have made it for me.  I liked what they had all made much more than the school's version,  but each person's dish tasted somewhat different than another's.  The thing is, it can be made with various ingredients in varying amounts.  I made some recently are liked the results.  What I did is described below (I did take photo, but was hurried and the picture did not come out well, so I've deleted it).

Brown 1 pound of ground beef in large pan
Occasionally stir the pan contents gently until all is done
Add in 1 1/2 tablespoon of dried minced onion or one small fresh onion
Add in 3/4 tablespoon of paprika
Add a few pinches of black pepper or 1 chopped green pepper
Mix in contents from 24 ounce pasta sauce jar
Let simmer and continue to occasionally stir contents.
Cook al dente 12 ounces of elbow macaroni in separate pot of water
Drain pasta when it is cooked and mix it into the pan of simmering items.
After the pasta is mixed in, the American Chop Suey is ready to serve.
Serves about 4.