Tuna Noodle Casserole

Last night we had a sort of Olympic Opening Ceremony party.  It wasn't a full party since we don't have TV, but we watched the festivities online...Cheryl, Jen, and I sat on the couch and starred at the laptop screen.  It was fun to spend the evening with friends.  We also had fun making (and eating) dinner together.  I am about to share with you one of my favorite meals.  Enjoy our version of Tuna Noodle Casserole...

The ingredients (I used more cheese than is pictured).

  

Mix the soup and tuna and other ingredients.

  

Meanwhile, boil the egg noodles until done (depending on your definition of "done").

  

Also meanwhile, continue mixing all the other ingredients.

  

Add the noodles to the other ingredients; mix well, then spread in 9x13 pan.

  

Sprinkle more cheese on top and more fried onions.

Cheryl is a great hand model/scooping model.  I never get a picture of the finished casserole because we always start eating before I remember to take one!

Such a yummy (and easy) dinner!

 Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 package (12 oz.) egg noodles
1/4 cup chopped onions (I use dried chopped onions because I'm usually too lazy to actually chop an onion - but either works)
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (I use any type of cheese I happen to have...usually a blend or mozzarella - I also use more than 2 cups...closer to 3)
1 cup frozen green peas (I often use a little more because I like peas)
2 cans (6 oz.) tuna, drained
2 cans (10.5 oz.) mushroom soup
1 can (4.5 oz.) mushrooms (I often omit this if I don't have any)
1 can (6 oz.) French's fried onions (the original recipe called for less, but who are we kidding?)

Directions:
-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta in boiling water for 8-10 minutes.  Drain.
-In a large bowl, thoroughly mix chopped onions, 1 cup cheese (I usually use 1 1/2 cups),  peas, tuna, soup, mushrooms, and half the can of fried onions.  Add noodles (let them cool for a couple minutes).
-Transfer mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish and top with remaining cheese (another 1 1/2 cups) and remaining fried onions.
-Bake in 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

   

Dirty dishes - not bad.  The casserole dish isn't pictured and it's usually the worst thing to wash because of all the stuck-on cheese.  But, since this meal is essentially made in one bowl, I'd say it's pretty good.  (If you chop the onions, you'd have a few more dirty dishes.)

 

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Taste: 5 out of 5

Dirty Dishes: 4 out of 5

Time/Effort: 5 out of 5

TOTAL: 14 out of 15

Week 30

July 24
We went to the mall, which is pretty normal for us on the weekend (the mall has good food and entertainment when you don't feel like spending much money). One thing that always bothers us in Panama is the parking. Most stores have little or no planned parking and drivers don't seem to care where they park. It is a huge problem and can be very annoying. Here is just one example...the lines are painted, but people just keep parking on the end of a row until there is practically no room to get around. One time, there was literally no room to get around and we had to backup and go another way!

July 25
I made tuna noodle casserole for dinner - it's one of my favorites. It was tasty and we ate WAY too much of it. We kept eating it the next two days too - delicious!

July 26
Homemade chocolate chip ice cream with brownies! So amazingly good!!

July 27
Our animals can be very needy. They just follow us around and stare at us sometimes. But, they're cute and we love them!

July 28
Peru's independence day - we celebrated by going out to a Peruvian restaurant. We enjoyed Aji de Gallina and Lomo Saltado and, of course, Inca Kola!

July 29
After a quick shopping trip, we stopped at the deli for lunch. Pasta salads, pesto sandwiches, and ceviche were a perfect lunch. We like Grand Deli Gourmet.

July 30
To celebrate Peru's independence (again), I made Peruvian food and invited a couple friends over. I forgot to take pictures of the food or of my friends! We had a good evening of tasty food and fun Peru memories/stories. I talked a lot and I'm grateful that Abby and Maggie pretended to be interested! At least I have a picture of my Peru coffee table books.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Its been pretty busy lately. We've been celebrating the New Year and enjoying lots of tasty food and fun adventures. Its also been great to have Peter here with us for the last few weeks (he left today and we are sad). Even though the holiday season demands its own special food, we were able to try a few recipes from the cookbook while Peter was here. The most recent one was Tuna Noodle Casserole. I have to admit that I make a pretty good Tuna Noodle Casserole, but the point of cooking through an entire cookbook is to cook all the recipes as they are written. So, I made the meal according to the recipe. The final verdict was: mine is better!

the recipe

I don't normally use green peppers, but I had to follow the recipe
a creamy, tasty tuna sauce

you have to have noodles

the topping was the best part: butter, bread crumbs, and cheese!

looks pretty good...(mine is better!)

Almost Thanksgiving...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I can't wait. I'm already starting to cook. My friend and I are hosting a big Thanksgiving dinner for a some of our friends and neighbors. We should have about 30 people. I have a lot to make...pies, casseroles, potatoes, rolls, etc. I already have the rolls in the fridge (they're rising) and I've made a pumpkin & pecan pie. Tomorrow I've got lots to do, but first I'm going to sleep in. I love holidays. And I especially love holidays that involve eating.

Since I have been cooking all evening...I didn't focus a lot of time or energy on dinner tonight. (I'm already thinking about tomorrow!) I decided something lite would be good - in order to save room for turkey. We used our leftover rolls from earlier in the week and made mini-tuna sandwiches. We even had a pickle on the side. It was good.

Leftovers Again

We have a lot of leftovers from last night's party so we have plenty of food in the house, but I didn't want to eat the same thing again...at least not tonight. I didn't want to have another repeat dinner. So, instead, I decided to reincarnate my leftovers. Since my fettuccine with chocolate sauce was not a hit yesterday, we had leftover noodles that needed another purpose in life. So, I made one of my favorite casseroles, Tuna Noodle Casserole. I don't usually use fettuccine, but hey, I'm spontaneous!! It was tasty and Bill and I each ate WAY too much!