Comfort Foods- Tuna Noodle Casserole

I love comfort food. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. Macaroni and cheese (from that blue box.. awful I know!), something comforting and familiar after a really bad day. Or just something to give you that cozy feeling on a cold or rainy afternoon. One of my all time favorites has always been tuna noodle casserole. Since I like to make everything my own, I've tinkered with a basic, bare bones recipe and made it into something we really look forward to.

Tuna Noodle Casserole:

Preheat oven to 325 F

I bag of wide egg noodles
1 large cream of chicken soup**
2 cream of celery soup**
2 small or one large can chunk tuna in water, drained and flaked
Peas, and / or carrots (This is optional. I make it with and without veggies, sometimes with just carrots, or peas- but fresh or frozen work best if you add veggies)


Spice It Up:
salt
pepper
Lawry's
onion salt
butter

Boil egg noodles in butter, salt and Lawry's. Drain, toss back in the pot. Add 1-2 tsp butter, tuna, soups, and seasonings (just a dash of each will do you.) Mix together until noodles are coated, pour into a casserole dish- I usually grab a 9x13. Cover with foil and cook in a 350 F oven for 35-45 mins.

Voila! It's warm, it's delicious and it's not hard to make. Kids generally love it, and if yours aren't too picky, replace one can of the cream of celery with a can of cheddar cheese soup. **

This is a favorite in our house- maybe it will become a favorite in yours!

Kitchen Confession:
** I only use Campbell's soups. They have a much richer texture and flavor. No skimping on the soups- it makes all the difference in the world!

Breakfast Bread

I love baking. I really do. I like the smell of it, the excitement the kids get from grabbing beaters and bowl to "clean up" after....I just really, really love to bake. And I especially love any recipe where I can cut some sugar and sneak in a little healthy sweetness. This bread lets me do that, and it tastes so, so good! This would also be great with a little less cinnamon and some blueberries.

Breakfast Bread:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease your loaf pan! **I used one pan, but you could easily use two**

1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 tbs softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp cinnamon sugar, to taste (which means a taste of this yummy batter!)

Combine first five ingredients well, then add flour,baking soda, cinnamon and cinnamon sugar. Pour into greased loaf p[an and bake 40-50 mins. Do not over bake or this will become a very dry bread- watch closely after 40 mins. I learned this the hard way, first time around! LOL

Great warmed with butter or just plain.

Welcome to My Kitchen

I am still under construction, but I wanted to take a second and welcome all of you to my kitchen! I can't promise you any five course, five star gourmet dishes, but I CAN promise you lots of fun, friends and food! And probably some messes, too! Some things to remember, here in the kitchen:

I cook without measuring. When I bake, I follow directions to the letter. But in cooking, anything goes. I do everything to taste, spice wise. I like to experiment, and really enjoy finding out what works for this picky bunch- what I can tweak from other recipes, and what I can sneak in when they aren't looking!

So, bear with me as I'm getting this blog off the ground. It's a journey, and I'm thrilled to have you all joining me at my table. Hope you're hungry!