A few weeks ago I shared about our family's opportunity to visit a local farm. It was such a neat experience and both my kids and I loved it. I also shared an incredibly delicious recipe for Chocolate Dipped Bacon Pretzels. They. Were. Amazing! If you haven't had a chance to check them out, I highly recommend you do so right here. Don't worry, I'll wait...today I want to share a fun little experiment I did after our farm adventure plus our family's favorite Homemade Baked Ziti recipe! This recipe is so yummy plus it makes an incredible freezer meal! Seriously! You will definitely love this recipe!

This recipe is the perfect amount of saucey, cheesey goodness! It is delicious. I am really excited to be able to share this family recipe with you today. A big thanks to Indiana Family Of Farmers for making this post possible today.

Before I share the recipe, I want to tell you a little bit about an experiment I did. I had the opportunity to head to three different grocery stores with the farmer whose farm I visited and a local registered dietician. She took a little time to share what foods were good and what were not. The good news is that there are so many healthy food options at every grocery store. And most foods are ok in moderation.

And then we went shopping for all the ingredients we needed to make one of our family's favorite meals. I choose my Homemade Baked Ziti. It is such a yummy recipe, my whole family loves it.

We went to Kroger, Earth Fare and WalMart. I bought nearly the same groceries at every store although I did have to buy different brands. The only spice I bought was basil because everything else I keep in my home regularly. And at Earth Fare I did not get the onions because they didn't have any.

I was in shock at the price difference between these three stores. I expected to pay more at some stores than others, but I never would have guessed how BIG the price difference really was. I will share the details in a bit...right now, here is our recipe:

Homemade Baked Ziti Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef
¼ cup Chopped Onions (frozen or fresh)
32 oz Jarred Marinara Sauce
3 cups Water
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Clove Garlic, minced
⅛ teaspoon Pepper
¼ teaspoon Salt
1 lb Ziti or Rotini Noodles
2-3 cups Shredded Mozzarella

Directions:

Cook ground beef and chopped onions over the stove until onions are soft and beef is fully cooked. Drain.
Add the remaining ingredients except the mozzarella into the ground beef mixture.
Bring mixture to a simmer.
Simmer for 20-30 minutes until noodles are tender.
Pour mixture into a 9x13 pan and top with cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until cheese is melted and it is heated throughout.
If you would like to freeze this, stop after step 5, cover and put in the freezer. When you are ready to eat it, bake as directed in step 6. When cooking from frozen it will take about 45-60 minutes. Do not thaw before cooking.

This is truly one of our favorite recipes! Here is the printable version:

Homemade Baked Ziti Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Beef
¼ cup Chopped Onions, frozen or fresh
32 oz Jarred Marinara Sauce
3 cups Water
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Clove Garlic, minced
⅛ teaspoon Pepper
¼ teaspoon Salt
1 lb Ziti or Rotini Noodles
2-3 cups Shredded Mozzarella

Instructions

Cook ground beef and chopped onions over the stove until onions are soft and beef is fully cooked. Drain.
Add the remaining ingredients except the mozzarella into the ground beef mixture.
Bring mixture to a simmer.
Simmer for 20-30 minutes until noodles are tender.
Pour mixture into a 9x13 pan and top with cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until cheese is melted and it is heated throughout.
If you would like to freeze this, stop after step 5, cover and put in the freezer. When you are ready to eat it, bake as directed in step 6. When cooking from frozen it will take about 45-60 minutes. Do not thaw before cooking.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

And because it makes so much food, I usually freeze half of it for another time. This is awesome because I end up getting two meals out of one so it is cost effective, time saving, filling and delicious!

Are you ready for the cost break down?? Here are a couple things to keep in mind:

This cost includes a loaf of bread to serve it with, I did not buy minced garlic, salt or pepper, those are staples I always have at home. I did buy the basil. I don't love cutting onions, I prefer buying them already chopped and frozen. I could not find these at Earth Fare so that price does not include onions. I did not use all of the cheese (I bought 4 cups at each store), marinara sauce or onions, so I had a bit of food left over. Whew. Ok....ready!?!?!

Earth Fare = $30.13

Kroger = $22.64

Walmart = $18.78

Can you believe it?!?! There is nearly a $12 difference between two stores!