Tuna Noodle Casserole

I have officially met someone who loves sauces as much as I do. But if you've ever cooked for someone who loves sauce, you know that they will dip anything into the sauce, while it is cooking, thus lessening the quantity of the sauce. Now, I don't mind company in the kitchen, so the idea that I am cooking with someone to talk to is so very nice. It is just a little comical to see Triscuits, dive into the sauce. Bread slices, dive into the sauce. Tortilla chips, dive. Spoons, dipped. Cooked egg noodles, dunked. The sauce being smuggled last night, the homemade cream of mushroom that was then tossed with the noodles and tuna.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Egg Noodles, cooked (about half a bag)

Preheat oven to 350.

2 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 T flour
2 cups milk
1 can tuna
1 cup frozen peas
parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Melt butter until bubbly, then cook onion. Add garlic and mushroom and cook until mushrooms give off their juices. Stir in flour and brown. Whisk in milk, and cook until thickened, salting and peppering to taste (this is when the sauce starts to disappear...sauce gnomes). Add tuna and peas. Toss with noodles, and add parmesan cheese. Dump into casserole dish, and dust the top with more cheese. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then uncover for 10 more.
Serves about 4...normal people. We also had a salad, and I had about 1 serving leftover of the casserole.

I swear I will bring my camera to work tomorrow with all of these lovely pictures I keep taking.

Pictures Coming Soon!!

I got a great deal on a canon digital camera yesterday. It was an early morning impulse buy, but it is for the good of Foodie Nation that I can take photos of my creations. (rhymed)

Last night was comfort food night. It was a cozy 62 degrees in my house when I got home, and soup and macaroni and cheese certainly sounded good!

Brocolli and Potato Soup (5-6 servings)
1 small onion chopped
1 smaller carrot peeled and chopped small
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 brocolli stalk, chopped
2 T butter
chicken broth to cover, about 3.5 cups
1 cup milk
1/3 cup Half and Half
1 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

In a pot, melt butter, and add onion and carrot, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook until softened. Add potato, brocolli, and broth (I did not add salt and pepper here, but you probably should). Simmer until potatoes are softened. Then cover for about 10 minutes over low heat. While simmering, take about 1/4 cup of the milk, and mix with 1/4 cup of flour; this is The Agent, the thickening agent.

Uncover the soup and add the milk, The Agent, and the cream. Bring to a simmer; let it simmer until it creams up. Add the cheese.

With soups, I just prefer to salt to my personal taste when I eat it. This was a little under salted upon serving, but I prefer it that way!

Second Course: Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Ham (6 servings)
2 cups dry elbow macaroni
1 can Fat Free Evaporated Milk
1 cup milk
3 T butter
1/3 cup flour
1.5-2 cups shredded cheese (I used white cheddar and swiss. Just use up what you have!)
1/2 cup deli ham chopped
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

Cook the macaroni.
Melt the butter, add the flour (The Agent), then whisk in the milk. Once creamy, add the Evaporated Milk. Mix in shredded cheeses. Once thick and looking like heaven, add the ham and bacon. Stir in macaroni. Turn into a buttered round casserole dish and bake at 375 until bubbly goodah.

Notes:
-I am NOT a breadcrumb topping kinda gal, so you won't see a topping on the mac.
-Block cheese, shreddeed on your cheese grater, melts the best.
-If you eat the soup first, it will fill you up more, and you will not need as much of the super rich mac and cheese.

Creamy Chicken Bake...they're not kidding!!

This is Ca-Reamy. And I have discovered the word "creamy" could be never spoken again and I'd be happy with that.

In the future, I would: cut the first four ingredients in HALF. Up the chicken. And perhaps add a brocolli layer or something. I ate this with a side of brussel sprouts, and if you like dipping your veggies, the cream is good for that. The weird part: there is a cream layer, and a sauce layer. Sauce layer is like a chicken gravy.

Here is the recipe:
Chicken Bake from Cooking Light:
cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup light cream cheese
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
1/2 cup nonfat mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons margarine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup skim milk
1 (10 1/2-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Dash of garlic powder
6 cooked lasagna noodles
Vegetable cooking spray
3 cups diced cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; beat at high speed of a mixer until well-blended. Stir in onion, bell pepper, and 1/4 cup parsley; set aside.

Melt the margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Gradually add milk and broth, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Remove from heat; set sauce aside.

Arrange 3 noodles in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; top with half of cottage cheese mixture, half of chicken, and half of sauce. Repeat layers, ending with sauce.

Combine breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons parsley, and paprika; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 321(24% from fat); FAT 8.4g (sat 2.9g,mono 3.1g,poly 1.7g); PROTEIN 26.1g; CHOLESTEROL 50mg; CALCIUM 91mg; SODIUM 618mg; FIBER 1.4g; IRON 2.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.2g