Tuna Noodle Casserole

I am on a quest to use up the ungodly amount of food in my pantry (actually, I have several) and freezer. I have adapted somewhat to buying/cooking for just one person old habits die hard and sometimes I buy a 3-pack of something where I really only needed a single item.

Anyway. Welcome to my childhood in the 70s.

Makes: 6-8 servings depending how hungry you are

Ingredients:
1 pkg (340 grams) of broad egg noodles
2 cans of condensed cream soup (your choice – mushroom is standard)
a few cups of frozen peas (I use a LOT)
400 grams shredded old cheddar cheese
2 cans of flaked tuna in water (not oil) OR a whatever protein you like (chicken, ham, etc.)
2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cook the noodles until they’re nearly done. Toss in the frozen peas and stir around until the peas are thawed.
3. Drain the noodles and the peas. Dump everything into a very large bowl.
4. Open the tuna (or turkey, chicken, ham) or chop up some cooked chicken/turkey, and throw it into the bowl with the noodles.
5. Open the 2 cans of soup and throw them into the bowl too.
6. Add in about 3/4 of the shredded cheese (the rest will go on top of the casserole while it bakes).
7. Add in about 1.5 tablespoons of Italian seasoning (the rest will go on top of the casserole).
8. Add in some black pepper if you like it.
9. Mix everything together very well. Put it all into a casserole dish. I don’t butter mine, but you can if you want. Totally up to you.
10. Top with the remaining cheese and Italian seasoning.
11. Put the casserole, uncovered, into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes – until the cheese is melted, everything is hot, and you can’t possibly wait any longer because you’re very, very hungry.
12. Leftovers are delicious reheated in the microwave.

Notes:
I recently made this with 1 can of tuna and about 3/4 cup of diced, precooked, seasoned chicken breast that I had left over. It was spectacular.

Instant Pot Mac n’ Cheez

No photo at the moment (I’ll update next time I make the recipe, though). Whenever a friend buys an Instant Pot, this is the recipe that I suggest they try first – it’s easy, has minimal ingredients, and always turns out perfectly.

Makes: approximately 6 servings, depending on what you consider a reasonable amount of pasta to eat.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups water
• 1 can evaporated milk (plus extra milk if you want it creamier)
• 2 cups (or more) shredded cheddar cheese (or marble)
• Parmesan if you like it

Directions:

1. Add macaroni, butter, mustard, hot sauce, salt, and water into the instant pot. Stir well.
2. Secure the lid on IP and make sure the valve on top is set to “pressure”. Hit the “manual” button, then set to 4 minutes. Release the valve (“quick release”) when finished.
3. Leave it on “keep warm” and stir in cheese and milk(s), alternating, until you reach the consistency you prefer – saucy, gooey, whatever!
4. Eat the mac and cheez.

Optional:

• Add black pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, or other random spices to the water in the pot before cooking.
• After cooking, add in pre-cooked bacon, or other meat (chicken, turkey, etc), for additional protein.
• After cooking, transfer to a casserole dish, top with bread crumbs and cheese, and briefly broil in the oven for a crunchy top.

Slightly Spicy Singapore Fried Vermicelli

I am trying to eat more vegetables and I am trying to cook more often. This recipe turned out SO GOOD that I ate two servings and, if I had any room left in my stomach, I would have eaten an additional two. Absolutely satisfied my craving for take-out noodles and veg.

Makes 4 to 6 servings, depending how hungry you are….

Ingredients:

5 cloves of garlic (or more)
5 oz mushrooms (your choice)
5 green onions
1 fresh red Thai chili (or more, if you like heat)
1 large bunch of broccolini
2 baby bok choy (or 1 regular bok choy) – about 3.5 oz
1 large carrot
1 red bell pepper
8oz dried rice vermicelli
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used Braggs)
2 teaspoons curry powder (I used mild)
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons water
salt, pepper to taste
1 lime, or the equivalent in juice

Instructions:

1. Peel and dice/grate the garlic. Thinly slice the mushrooms. Chop up the red chili, removing the seeds if you don’t want much spice. Put all of this in a small bowl.
2. Chop the brocolini into 3/4 inch pieces. Slice the green onions (including the green parts). Trim the bok choy, separate all the leaves, and, if needed, slice any exceedingly large leaves in half. Peel the carrot, then use the same peeler to make long, thin ribbons of carrot. Cut the bell pepper into thin strips. This can all go into one medium bowl.
3. Mix soy sauce, sugar, and curry powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Prepare the vermicelli noodles according to the package. Drain, rinse with cold water, drain again, and set aside.
5. Put a wok onto high heat and add 1/4 cup of oil. When wok is really hot, add in the garlic, mushrooms and red chili. Stir fry for about 30 seconds to a minute.
6. Add the rest of the vegetables into the wok. Stir a few times, then add in the soy/sugar/curry powder sauce. Stir fry for about 3 minutes.
7. Add the noodles. Add a few tablespoons of water. Stir everything around, coating the noodles in the sauce.
8. Season with salt and pepper + the juice of one lime. Add more chopped chili peppers as a garnish if you want additional heat.

Vegan Pad Thai

I made this and was feeling a bit ‘meh’ about it until the next day. I reheated some leftovers and it had improved significantly. I can’t explain it. I’ll make this recipe again (and again, and again..) and see if it needs something tweaked, but it’s possible this is just one of those things I’ll make and not eat immediately. Pad Thai is one of my favourite foods of all time, so having a few servings in the fridge for a quick lunch is absolutely a-okay with me.

Makes 4 large servings.

Ingredients:

1/4 block of extra-firm tofu (or more, if you really like it)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup vegetable oil
9 ounces of dried rice noodles (wide and flat, ideally)
1/2 yellow onion
5 cloves of garlic (more or less, depending on your preferences)
1 fresh Thai red chili
1 large carrot
3 1/2 ounces of bean sprouts
1/2 of a lime (or the equivalent in juice)
1/4 cup soy sauce or Braggs (I did half-and-half)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon sugar (white, brown, palm, whatever you prefer)
2 tablespoons tamarind paste
1 tablespoon Thai sweet chili sauce
Water

Garnish:
2 green onions
Lime wedges
Chili flakes
Chopped peanuts (about 1/2 cup)
Thai sweet chili sauce
Sriracha sauce

Instructions:

1. Press the tofu for at least 30 minutes to remove as much liquid as possible. (Use 2 plates + a clean kitchen towel – wrap the tofu in the towel, put between the 2 plates, and put a weight on top.)
2. Mix the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Peel and chop the garlic and onion. Remove the stem from the chili and chop it up – remove all of the seeds if you don’t want some kick to your food.
4. Peel the carrot and julienne it (or cut into match stick-sized slices).
5. Cook the rice noodles according to the package – possibly a bit shorter of a time so they stay a bit firm (they’re going to be stir-fried to finish cooking them). Rinse, drain, and set aside.
6. When tofu is pressed, chop into 1 inch cubes. Put them in a small ziploc bag, add the cornstarch, gently shake to coat.
7. Heat wok over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the tofu and immediately drop the temperature to medium. Gently stir the tofu until all sides of cubes are browned. Remove to a plate.
8. Bump the heat back up to high, add 2 more tablespoons of oil. Cook the garlic, onion, and chili pepper for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the carrot and keep cooking for another 2 minutes.
9. Add the noodles, sauce, and continue stirring – add water as-needed to keep things from drying out or sticking, but not enough to make it soupy.
10. When the vegetables are tender, add the tofu back into the wok. Add the bean sprouts. Add the juice from 1/2 of a lime (or the equivalent). Add soy sauce.
11. When vegetables are slightly soft, remove wok from heat. Add more soy sauce or chili sauce, depending on your taste preferences.
12. Slice the green onion into long strips. Chop up the peanuts. Cut limes into chunks for garnish.
13. Divide the pad Thai into 4 bowls and garnish with green onions, peanuts, lime wedges. Serve with chili sauce and/or sriracha if you like.

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups.

My middle son has declared that this is his favourite dinner. I am pretty sure that he’s made that same declaration about a few other foods. At any rate, the entire family enjoys this and we usually only have a roll or two left when we’re finished.

Spinach! Lasagna! Roll-up!

For a long time I was ridiculously afraid to use the lasagna noodles that you need to boil – I always bought the “oven ready” kind. This meant that I didn’t experiment with recipes like this one. I regret all those years – now I have to make up for it by eating this recipe at least once a month.

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

Makes one large 9×13″ pan of roll-ups!

Ingredients:
1 pkg lasagna noodles (I like the spinach ones best)
2 small containers of ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 eggs
2 bricks of frozen spinach, thawed and drained (microwave!)
6 cups of your favourite pasta sauce
pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add the full package of lasagna noodles and cook them until they’re soft – not mushy! Drain them, rinse quickly with cold water, and set aside.
2. While the noodles are cooking, combine the thawed spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, pepper, and parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Mix! Stir! Combine!
3. Preheat the oven to 400F. Spray the inside of a 9×13″ pan with some non-stick spray.
4. Take one cooked noodle and lay it flat on the counter. Coat it nicely with the filling, then roll it up! Place in the pan. Repeat for all as many other noodles as you can fit into the pan.
5. Pour the pasta sauce over the noodles – use a spoon to make sure all the surfaces are covered.
6. Cover the dish in tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, discard tin foil, allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
I make this based on this recipe – we like our filling to be extra, uh, filling, so we doubled the original and added extra mozzarella cheese for good measure. I also use more sauce on top to prevent the noodles from drying out.

Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese.

I  love jalapeños.

I love macaroni.

I love cheese.

I do not love the way any of the photos I took of this dinner turned out, so you’ll have to use your imagination.  Picture a bowl filled with perfectly cooked pasta, coated in a creamy sauce, dotted with jalapeños. Imagine eating something that has the flavour of a deep fried jalapeño popper, but without the deep frying.

The recipe can be tweaked depending on your personal preferences for heat. Add more, or substract some, of the jalapeños. Use regular shredded mozzarella in place of the habanero cheese if you want to tone down the heat!  We use low-fat or “light” versions of the ingredients whenever possible – the recipe turns out just fine with low fat and with the full-fat ingredients, so use whatever you prefer. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.

Here’s the recipe:

Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese

Makes enough for about 12 servings for normal people – or one dinner plus a bit left over for our family of hungry wolves.

Ingredients:

• 24 oz. uncooked whole wheat elbow macaroni
• 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups milk (we use 1%)
• 8 oz. cream cheese (light)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan (light)
• 1 cup sour cream (light)
• 8 oz can sliced jalapeños, drained and diced (or leave them large if you prefer)
• 2 cups shredded habanero pepper cheese (or your preference)

Instructions:

1. Cook your pasta in a big pot of boiling water.
2. While the pasta is cooking, grab a second pot and prepare your sauce. Heat the vegetable oil up, add garlic, and stir it around for a minute or two. Add the milk, cream cheese, and parmesan – use a whisk to get everything well-mixed.
3. Once the cream cheese has fully melted and the mixture is hot, turn the heat to low and add the sour cream.
4. Add the jalapeños into the sauce, stirring to combine and warm them.
5. Drain the cooked pasta and return to the pot (remove from heat). Pour the sauce onto the noodles, stir until well mixed, then add the shredded cheese and stir until melted.