Tuna Noodle Casserole With Alternative to Using Condensed Soup

Looks are deceiving...It is PACKED with flavor!

Tonight I made a family favorite, Tuna Noodle Casserole.  I made it a little different this time, though.  I didn't use any Cream of Mushroom Soup or Milk in the base, which saves a ton on calories and stuff.  I used the new recipe I found for Cream of "Something" Soup Mix (click to go to the recipe) instead of canned soup.  The result was it had way more flavor than canned soup.  So much so, that from now on when I make it I am going to leave out the fried onions I always put in my tuna noodle (you know the kind in a can from Durkee?)  The Cream of "Something" Soup Mix has dried onions in it, and I think that would be plenty enough in the onion department.  No need to pack on more pounds when you don't need to!  So if you think you see some Durkee fried onions in the pic, you do.  But we are going to forget about those.
Also, I normally love peas in my tuna noodle.  But I don't add them in to the whole thing because not everyone in my family likes them.  I just heat some up and leave them on the side for those who want to add them in.  But tonight I didn't have any peas in my cupboard.  It was just fine without them, though.

My family always loved my "old" recipe for tuna noodle, but I always had leftovers that I threw out.  Tonight, every bit of it was eaten up. 

And the best change of all in this new recipe?  THERE IS NO BAKING!!!!  Nope, you cook the soup and the noodles and mix it all together and it's done!  A whole casserole in about 15 minutes.  You CANNOT beat that for a second!

Here's the easiest and most flavorful tuna noodle casserole you will ever have...

Ingredients:
3 small cans tuna packed in water
1 C Cream of "Something" Soup Mix
3 3/4 C water
2 C shredded cheese.  (I used "pizza blend" that had a mixture of white and yellow cheese.  Use whatever flavor of shredded cheese you like the best.  The "pizza blend", though, I think is my favorite.)
1 16oz package of medium width egg noodles.  (For an even healthier version, use some whole wheat pasta noodles.)

Directions:
1.  Get a large pot of water on to boil.  When it starts to boil, add noodles and set time according to the package directions.
2.  Put 1 C Cream of "Something" Soup Mix in a smaller pot with 3 3/4 C water and put over medium heat.  Stir occasionally while it comes up to a bubble and gets thick.
3.  Drain and flake the tuna in a large bowl.
4.  Measure out 2 C of shredded cheese and put in the bowl.
5.  When the noodles are done, drain them in a colander and then put them in the bowl.
6.  After it gets thick, dump the soup mixture into the bowl.
7.  Stir it all up and serve.

How incredibly easy is that?!?  The soup mix is pretty peppery, and there is plenty of salt from the bouillon, so you won't even need to add extra of those.

This recipe will serve 8 people with a 1 1/4 C serving.  The nutritional values are:
358 calories, 8.6g fat, 1g sat fat, 1g polyunsaturated fat, 2g monounsaturated fat, 98.8mg cholesterol, 869 mg sodium, 260mg potassium, 46.6g carbs, 2g fiber, 22.8g protein.  9 Points Plus.

This would also be great served with a nice crisp side salad.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe.  My family devoured it!
All the best,
Lisa
happyfairylove@live.com

Healthified Mac & Cheese, with a Nutritious Surprise Inside (Recipe, pics)

If you have kids I'm almost positive you have at least one box of Mac & Cheese in your cupboard.  And even if you don't have kids there's still a good chance you have some hanging around.  After all, mac & cheese is an American staple.  But it's SO completely laden with calories and carbs, it's unreal.  I'm looking at a store brand box of the stuff and it has per 1/2 C serving 200 calories, 25.5g carbs and 270mg sodium.  Those numbers are pretty high, if you ask me.  Definitely higher than the recipe I'm going to give you.

There's a nutritious mystery ingredient wrapped up in this recipe, and if you don't tell the kids, they'll most likely never know the difference.

Here's what you need:

6.5 oz whole wheat elbow macaroni
8 oz fresh or frozen cauliflower
1/4 C Italian bread crumbs
4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz shredded cheese, such as sharp cheddar or colby jack...whatever you like
4 oz fat free cream cheese
1/2 C 1% milk
dash salt
dash pepper
a little bit of dried parsley flakes, maybe 1 Tbsp

elbow macaroni

cauliflower

I just now realized that someone in this house bought 2% milk.  I always buy 1%, and the nutritional values in this recipe are calculated for 1% milk.  

 Here's what you do:

1.  Heat oven to 350F
2.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Reserve 1/2 C pasta water.  Drain the rest and set aside.
3.  While pasta is cooking, steam cauliflower (in a steamer or in the microwave with a smidge of water in the bowl), chop it up small and set aside.
4.  In a small dish mix together bread crumbs, 1 Tbsp parmesan, and parsley.  set aside.
5.  After you drain the macaroni, leave it in the colander.  In the same pot you cooked the macaroni, put in the shredded cheese, 3 Tbsp of the parmesan, the cream cheese, 1/2 C pasta water and milk on low heat.
6.  Stir until all the cheeses are melted and combined together and creamy.

7.  Add the macaroni back into the pot with the cheese.
8.  Add the cauliflower to the cheese.  Mix thoroughly until macaroni and cauliflower are completely covered in cheese.
9.  Dump into a sprayed baking dish and top with bread crumbs.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

Makes 10 servings of 1/2C each.

Sure, it's not the intense shade of radioactive yellow as you get with a box of Kraft, but it is creamy, cheesy and delicious...and much better nutrition-wise.

Here's how the numbers break down for 1/2C:  158.3 calories, 4.6g fat, 3g saturated fat, .25g polyunsaturated fat, .39g monounsaturated fat, 14.5g cholesterol, 195.8mg sodium, 192.8mg potassium, 19.9g carb, 2.6g fiber, 9.2g protein. (4 Points Plus) To further reduce the calories and fat you could use reduced fat cheddar instead of the regular cheese I used in this recipe.  You could also lower a few calories and carbs by eliminating the bread crumbs on top.

I got this recipe off Pinterest from Eat Yourself Skinny, but I didn't like their original recipe.  It was very dry, and they added a whole box of pasta (2x what I did here) and it was enough to feed a bleeping army.  Most of it went into the trash because there was just too much.  So to make it cheesier and creamier I kept the same amount of everything except cut the pasta in half.  I really liked the way it turned out tonight.  I think this page in my recipe book will get used quite a lot.  My mom made me a blank cook book with spiral binding and a personalized cover, and I get to fill it in with all my favorite recipes.  It's pretty awesome, except it's getting full really quickly.  I'm going to need another one.  Christmas is coming. ;)  Anyways, you can always tell the recipes I use a lot because they have stains on the pages from my splatters and spills.

I really recommend you try this recipe.  It's very delicious, and with the cauliflower it's a nice spin on the standard American fare.

Eat Happy!
Lisa
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happyfairylove@live.com

Creamy Turkey Spinach Pasta Bake (Recipe, Pics)

I don't use a lot of turkey.  I don't know why.  I love it at Thanksgiving time, and have a field day with all the leftovers.  But it seems that's the only time of year I ever make it.  I should have it more often.  I came across this recipe on Diabetic Living Online, and it looked and sounded really tasty.  I was a little skeptical of making it because it has quite a few ingredients, and I was afraid it wouldn't be simple.  It really wasn't bad, though.

Here's what you need:

4 ounces dry whole wheat angel hair pasta or thin spaghetti
1 8 ounce package of reduced fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
3/4 cup refrigerated egg substitute (or you can use 3 eggs)
1/2 C light dairy sour cream
1/4 C snipped fresh basil or 1 Tbsp dried, crushed basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
10 oz chopped cooked turkey breast (I bought packaged pre-cooked)
1 10oz package frozen spinach, thawed, squeeze-drained and shredded apart.
1 C Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/3 C bottled roasted red sweet peppers, chopped

Measure out your dry pasta first.

Here's what you do next:

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Coat a 9 inch deep pie plate or a 2 quart square baking dish (I used a 9x13 glass pan) with cooking spray, set aside.
2.  Cook pasta according to package.  Drain well, set aside.
3.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until smooth.
4.  Gradually beat in eggs and sour cream.
5.  Stir in basil, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper.

6.  Stir in spinach until evenly mixed throughout.
7.  Stir in cooked pasta, turkey, cheese and roasted red pepper.
8.  Spread mixture evenly in baking dish.

9.  Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes or until edges are slightly puffed and golden and center is heated through.
10.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Cut into 6 portions and serve.

Matthew and I dipped a finger in the sauce before we cooked it, and he thought it tasted like one of the pasta sauces on the buffet line at Souper Salad.  It tasted pretty dang good.  He wanted to eat it just like it was. lol  But we waited for the cooked version.  Matthew and I thought Sara was a little weird because she thought it tasted like spaghetti and meatballs.  We were confused, because it doesn't taste anything like spaghetti and meatballs.  The sauce is all creams and cheeses...no tomatoes whatsover.  But, whatever, she ate it.  We all thought it was very tasty.  It was filling, too.  Jeff stopped himself with only 2 servings instead of his normal 3 or 4 lol.  Wait, now that I think about it, he came into the kitchen just a little while later and had another serving made into a sandwich.  So, yeah, he still had 3 servings.  hehehe

Tonight Sami was sick and she was alseep during dinner, so I didn't have to worry about adapting hers to vegetarian.  However, next time it will be super simple.  All I have to do is scoop a little out for her into another little baking dish without the turkey, and then mix the turkey in for the rest of us.

Here are the nutritional stats for this dish (serves 6):  335.6 calories, 37.6g fat, 11.7g saturated fat, 77.5mg cholesterol, the sodium was out the roof, and it mostly came from the fact that I used pre-packaged turkey.  Use freshly cooked turkey (ground turkey would work, too) and the sodium will be much lower, 171.6mg potassium, 22.7g carb, 2.25g fiber, 22g protein. (14 Points Plus)

Considering how many ingredients there are in this recipe, it went together fairly easily.  It was a nice change from regular pasta.  There was only 4 oz in the whole thing, but it seemed like plenty per serving to cure a pasta craving.  It was deceiving, I think, because of how filling the rest of the dish was.  It was super creamy, but had a lightness to it...not too heavy.  Overall it was very good, and we will be having this at our house again.  I hope you try this for your family...I think you'll like it!

I made this for dinner with the Mock Baklava for dessert.  Dinner and dessert BOTH only came to 48.7g carbs...pretty good!

Enjoy!

Lisa
PS  Hover over the black bar on the right to pull out more options for my blog.
happyfairylove@live.com