Contrary to popular opinion, Real Food does not have to be complicated, time-consuming, or expensive. And there is no reason you can’t adapt your well-loved comfort food recipes into something that will nourish your body, as well as your soul.
And, let’s face it: March is all about comfort food. It is cold, dreary, and it makes you feel like winter will never, EVER end.
Growing up, especially during Lent, Tuna Noodle Casserole was a Friday night staple. I actually never learned my mom’s recipe… because even in college I was pretty sure that cream of mushroom soup and canned dolphin tuna did not fall under the heading of Healthy Dinner.
Fast forward to yesterday evening.
I had forgotten to start the dishwasher after breakfast… so there were very few clean dishes, and almost no counter space.
I wanted to get the kids fed, read to, and put away for the evening so I could watch Downton Abbey.
I was feeling like it had been too long since we’d had fish and/or anything that wasn’t soup or stew. (My husband is still traveling, and he’s usually the fish-cooker around here.)
What I really wanted was for someone else to make dinner. The Boy offered, but I thought we might aim just a little higher than toast with butter and blueberry jam.
As you may have guessed, this was not supposed to be a blog post. This was supposed to be dinner, plain and simple. And, as I was setting bowls on the table the Boy looked at me, aghast, and said, “Aren’t you going to take a picture???!”
Ahhh… the life of the child of a Real Food Blogger. No meal can be eaten without first being photographed to death.
So, more to please him than anything else, I plunked the bowl on the table, double-checked that there weren’t any crumbs, crayons, or stray bits of anything else in my picture frame, and snapped two pictures. One of which was blurry.
Actually steamy.
And then my children promptly informed me that this dinner was the Best Dinner Ever. Yeah, okay, they might have just been trying to secure an extra 15 minutes of reading… but it was pretty darn tasty. And surprisingly reminiscent of my mommy’s Tuna Noodle Casserole.
And seriously, I mean seriously easy to make. The Boy’s cooking skills may be about to extend past toast. 😉
Tuna Noodle NOT Casserole
The amounts listed here made enough for three people, one of whom is a ten-year-old boy. You may need to adjust accordingly
Start noodles or pasta (preferably organic).
Place 8 ounces of frozen peas in some water and heat through.
While the noodles and peas are cooking, cut up about 12 ounces of mushrooms and saute them in plenty of good butter (I like Kerrygold). I use my cast iron pan
When the mushrooms are done, and starting to get firm, remove them, add more butter, and saute an onion, chopped fine.
When the onions are nicely browned, remove them, add more butter, and add a can of tuna fish. (I buy Wild Planet Tuna). Cook the tuna in the butter, breaking up the lumps, until it is warm. Return the mushrooms and onions to the pan. Add the drained peas. And stir to combine.
When the noodles are done, drain them and, if necessary, add butter to keep them from sticking together, and divide into bowls. Spoon the tuna-vegetable mixture over the noodles, and serve. Sprinkle with sea salt, to taste.
See? It was almost too easy to write about.
By the way, I don’t have anything against cream of mushroom soup — just the canned kind. If you find that you just cannot exist without cream of mushroom soup (or just want a bowl of it, because it looks really tasty), be sure to check out Attainable Sustainable’s Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup.
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The photos in this post were edited with PicMonkey.
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My children wanted pasta one day and I couldn’t figure out what to put on it. There are dairy allergies in our house, so things like cream of whatever soup aren’t an option. I made noodles, added some broken up canned meat (I can my own meat), stirred in a pint of creamed-style corn and a bit of milk. It was a hit, with no leftovers. In fact, your post reminded me that I should make it tonight for dinner.
Oh, that sounds yummy! 🙂
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