American Chop Suey is made differently in almost every home. I find it to be a recipe that you grew up with that gets passed down with small tweaks. To be honest it was never one of my favorite meals since I don't eat hamburg so I always would take the noodles plain with some sauce before mixing it together. On the other hand it is one of my husbands FAVORITE meals and his mothers version is much different than my mothers version so I have learned to make her version over the past year. The one change that I made is that I add extra hamburg and Italian sausage since that is Scott's favorite part.
I start be removing the sausage from their casings (I use about 3 or 4) and adding them to about 1lb of hamburg in a large skillet. I combine them and cook until no longer pink. I then add a tablespoon or so of Basil, Italian Seasoning and garlic powder with salt and pepper to taste. Once mixed together I add 1/2 of a large sweet onion, 1/2 a green pepper (I used orange this time since that is what I had) and 1/2 a red pepper. I cover the pan and simmer until the veggies are tender.
Once they are tender I add in a box of pre-cooked elbows or shells (- the bowl i took out for myself!) and a jar of vidalia onion spaghetti sauce and mix together. I let this simmer for about 10 minutes and then it is ready to ENJOY!