Tuna Noodle Casserole

This was a lunchtime quick cook for me. The recipe was super easy, but after skimming the reviews I made a few changes to it to ensure some more flavor since I tend to enjoy my food more seasoned.

I found the recipe at All Recipes.com which is one of the sites I come across a lot when I'm searching around for some dinner (or in this case lunchtime) ideas.

In the reviews, someone suggested doubling the sauce portion (the milk, butter, flour) as well as the tuna (two cans instead of one), which I did. I also combined a few ingredients from another recipe I'd come across while searching for a tuna casserole recipe (thyme and onion powder just to taste - I really should learn to measure if I want to blog). The recipe also called for cheddar cheese which I didn't have handy, so I put a bit of Parmesan cheese in instead.

After I'd mixed all the ingredients and poured it into the casserole dish, I topped the dish with a bit more Parmesan and some plain bread crumbs.

Quick Tip: I put bread crumbs in a seasoning shaker (a small plastic one like parsley, oregano and most herbs come in). This helps me spread the bread crumbs more easily over the entire dish.

I then cooked the casserole at 350F for 30 minutes as the recipe said, but then turned on the broiler for another 5 minutes to brown up the bread crumbs a bit more.

I have to say, it turned out delicious. This is definitely a recipe I would like to make again, and one I'll consider approved for company. The only change I would make next time would be to use less peas or substitute frozen peas for canned. I'm just not a huge fan of canned peas though, so I'm a bit biased.

While not a fancy meal, this casserole was incredibly tasty and very easy to whip up in less than an hour.  If you'd like to try it, the link is below or can be found on allrecipes.com under "Tuna Noodle Casserole I".
Recipe Link

Here are a few pictures of the final dish:

Chicken Adventures

A little while ago a friend of mine made a whole chicken for a dinner party she had at her house. It was absolutely delicious. Of course, said friend is also extremely talented in the kitchen, so I naturally assumed it was something too grand for me to take on. But I kept thinking about that delicious chicken, and well I've become a bit obsessed with the thought of trying it. I asked my friend about cooking chicken and she said it's super easy. She was even kind enough to tell me the recipe for how she made hers, but I have to admit that it went in one ear and out the other.

Nonetheless, I found myself in the meat aisle of my neighborhood grocery store staring down a 5lb chicken. I can do this.... right? Well I think I can. So here we go. I'm a bit too embarrassed to tell my friend I forgot all the chicken wisdom she passed on to me, so I looked up a few recipes online. I went with a recipe for herb roasted chicken based on nothing really more than the fact that I had all the necessary herbs in my house already and it was the lowest calories per serving. Hey, a cooking girl's gotta watch her figure!

Operation chicken commence in One, Two, Three GO!!!

Here is the finished product. I have to say, coming out of the oven it was lookin' mighty fine. Taste-wise it was pretty good too, but I think it could have been a bit more moist and maybe had some more flavor. 

The next time I decide to make a chicken I think I will try adding some garlic. I've made Cornish game hens before, and they were basted with a mix of chicken broth and a little bit of olive oil. That might work for a whole chicken to keep it more moist.

If you'd like to try the recipe for yourself, it's on spark recipes under "Whole Herb Roasted Chicken". Here is the link: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=177658

First Day

I've never really thought of keeping a blog before. I have friends who keep them, but for me... well I've never really felt as I had anything all that important to say. But recently it seems I've been asked by about a million and a half people (ok maybe not that many, but at least pretty much every guy I've gone on a date with as well as a few friends) whether or not I can cook.

Hmmm.... that's an interesting thought. Can I cook? Sure I can throw together the occasional meal. I've even had some fairly wowzer successes in the kitchen. But would I say, "Yes, I can cook!" I'm not so sure. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking of cooking to impress some guy. Psssshhhhh I can think of way better things to do than try to impress someone, but cooking is a skill that is so close to our daily lives. And that got me to thinking.

The ability to cook and cook well can have so many benefits. Of course, there are health benefits from learning how to make fresh meals from fresh products and avoid all the overly-processed non-sense that's put in front of us day after day by restaurants and the giant food corporations. Then there's the ol' pocketbook benefits. If I can whip up a filet mignot  at home I'm going to pay far less for it and, if I'm good, enjoy it just as much, as at an expensive restaurant.

Then there's bragging rights. Ah bragging rights. What can I say, I want to be able to say, "I'm an awesome cook." And I want to be able to back it up. Not that I'm necessarily going to cook a meal for any guy, maybe he should be cooking for me, but if I do happen to feel like impressing in the kitchen, I want to be able to do it.

So here we go, day one of Kitchen Kindergarten. Time to let go of the to-go box and pick up a spatula!