I was going to name this “Healthy Tuna Casserole” but that sounded boring, “Mighty” is a much cooler word and I think it sort of means the same thing.  If you are healthy you are also mighty, that’s just a fact.  Okay, moving on…I love me some tuna casserole for dinner and I had been craving it for weeks, the stars finally aligned and the rest is history (wow, I’m getting pretty dramatic over this casserole already…I can’t help it.)

This dish is what you should eat before going to battle at the DMV or the Social Security office…it will sustain you.  Here’s why…

1 pound – whole wheat shell pasta
2 cans – cream of celery soup
2 – 12 oz. cans of tuna in water
1 bag – frozen peas
1 cup (2 small cans) – canned mushrooms
8 oz – shredded cheese (optional)
5 slices cheese (optional)
1/2 cup – bread crumbs
olive oil
salt and pepper

This is one of those “dump it all in a bowl and stir” recipes…I LOVE those.  This recipe also feeds like 10 people no joke, so cut it down by half if you want to.

Start by boiling the water for the pasta…

I used whole wheat pasta for this because I felt like it, and because I’ve done it before and it works well in this dish.  I ran into a small hiccup when I went looking for my whole wheat shells in the pantry but could not locate them, this was strange because I had bought them earlier that day and specifically remember putting them in the pantry.  I looked everywhere, scanning every shelf (of my very small pantry).  I then enlisted the help of my husband, he knows that I have a gift for not being able to see things that are right in front of my face.  So he looked…still no shells.  Now I knew they weren’t in that pantry…but where the heck did they go!  I was super annoyed, so I poured myself a glass of chardonnay which helped to bring my annoyance level down (slightly).  I scoured the kitchen, even checking the fridge multiple times…finally I threw my hands up and asked the sky (sort of loudly) “where are the damn shells?!”.  My oldest must have heard my cries for help because he yelled from the playroom that he knew where they were.  I went back there and he pointed to a large bin that holds balls and other random crap…here is the bin…

See anything weird in there?  I didn’t even have to ask who the culprit was, my two year old was to blame.  Of course he was no where to be found, I’m guessing he was hiding in a corner somewhere laughing at me.

Anyway, back to the casserole.  When the water is boiling throw in some salt and then the pasta.  Cook it for about 7 minutes and then drain it and throw it in a large bowl.

Now throw in two cans of cream of celery soup…I used this stuff.

It’s not condensed and it only had 2 grams of fat per serving…and it tasted good!  

You can totally use the old fashioned campbell’s condensed soup, just add a half can of milk for each can of soup if you do that.

Now add a bag of frozen peas, the mushrooms, and 2 cups of shredded cheese (optional!)  I actually don’t usually put cheese IN the casserole but I had a block that was burning a hole in my fridge so I threw it in.

I stir that all together and then add the tuna last.  I do this so that the tuna doesn’t break down too much…however this albacore I got at whole foods looked like one big slice of tuna!

This is a very good thing but it goes against my theory of why it needs to go in last…I had to work to get this all distributed!  Obviously it’s going to depend on what you buy…you’ll figure it out.

So after everything is incorporated, taste it and then add salt and pepper to your liking.  I added about 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.  

Then dump the whole thing into a buttered 9 X 13 glass dish.

Then top it with some cheese (optional!)…I like to stay true to my roots on this part and use american slices like my mom used to.  You can buy american cheese that is actually real cheese at whole foods, that’s what I did…

But Kraft works too, or any other sliced yellow cheese for that matter.

Now lay the slices down in a pretty geometric pattern, see…

Or just plop them on…and then cover the cheese with the bread crumbs.  If you’re forgoing the cheese, just put the bread crumbs on top of your casserole.

Then drizzle some olive oil over the whole thing, you can also use dollops of butter if you’re going for decadence.

Now cover your casserole with foil being careful not to let the cheese meet the foil or it will stick to it and that’s a crime.  Then use your muscles to get that dish full of goodness into a 350°F oven.  Cook it for 45 minutes and then remove the foil and let the top get nice and golden.

This is good stuff right here folks!

I know you’re all thinking that there’s no way this could be healthy but really it is…I actually did a little calculation on this and one serving has about 4 grams of fat, which means you should eat 3 servings…kidding!  I eat the leftovers for lunch throughout the week and it still tastes amazing reheated.  

I know that tuna casserole isn’t the most popular dish among kids but my boys devour this stuff!!!  If you haven’t made this in a while (or ever) give this easy recipe a shot!  I have to go because my kid just peed on our cat in the tub…don’t ask.

Cheers!

The Good Cooker

And then add a dash of milk…

Now mix that together with a fork…

Add some salt and pepper, maybe even a little shredded cheese…and then nuke it for 30 seconds.  Take it out and shake the bowl around a little to redistribute the runny part and then put it back in for another 15 seconds.

It’s done…

You might need a spoon to help it release from the edge of the bowl…

And here is your round egg piece, suck it McDonald’s!

For today’s breakfast, I took half of a sprouted grain bagel and topped it with veggie cream cheese, then put my egg on it, then added some thin sliced tomato and avocado.  I finished it off with some salt, pepper, and dried basil.

I am a BIG fan of this combo…you can’t go wrong with some protein in the morning, am I right?!  I would love to hear how you guys like your eggs!  Or maybe you want to talk about something else?  Who likes the movie Frozen?  I saw it for the first time yesterday…I’ve now seen it 62 times, I think it’s pretty good however now I’m belting out the songs and I can’t stop…”because for the first time in forever!!!!”…my family wants to kill me.

Cheers!

The Good Cooker

I have been making lasagna for a very long time now, I’ve done it a million ways and it always turns out great (it is lasagna afterall).  This recipe is the culmination of everything that works in a lasagna, if I were going to enter a lasagna cooking contest I would use this recipe…ok, you get the picture.

I love making lasagna, it’s relatively simple to throw together and then you just pop it in the oven and magic happens.  Kids love lasagna too, even if it’s stuffed with spinach!

This lasagna also has meat in it but you can always leave it out, the lasagna will still be great.   

ok, here are the ingredients…

1 pound – italian style turkey or chicken sausage
1 box – lasagna noodles
1 jar – favorite pasta sauce
1 – 10 oz. box frozen spinach (thawed and drained well)
2 cups – part skim ricotta
1 cup – reduced fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup – grated parmesan 
12 oz. – shredded mozzarella
1 egg
salt and pepper
dried oregano

Start with the meat (if you’re using it)…I just got four Italian style chicken sausage links at the deli counter.

Get some olive oil going in a pan over medium low heat…

Squeeze the meat out of the casing with your hands (sorry, no photo of this)…and break it up in the pan with a metal spatula.

Now start boiling your water…you need a large pot.  When it’s starts boiling, throw in some salt and then add the noodles.  You need 12-noodles for this if you’re using the standard 9×13 pan but I just make them all because a few will end up tearing and my kids will eat the leftover noodles anyway…what is it with kids and plain noodles?  I watched my two year old stuff an entire lasagna noodle in his mouth and then refuse to spit it out.  I tried to get it from him but he ran away (with a mouth full of pasta)…he was eventually able to get it down, or it’s in a corner somewhere…either way he survived.

Anyway, when you get the noodles in the pot use a spoon to push them down so they are covered.  

Cook them for about 7 minutes or so and then drain and rinse the noodles with cold water. Then lay them flat on a plate so they’re easy to grab when you start assembling the lasagna.

While the pasta is going and the meat is browning, add the following ingredients to a large bowl: ricotta, cottage cheese, parmesan, spinach (make sure you’ve squeezed all the water out of it with a towel), and egg.

Now mix it all together with a spoon…

You can also add a little bit of the shredded mozzarella if you want, I wanted to…

Now taste it and then add salt and pepper to your liking.

Ok, that part is done…now add your pasta sauce into the pan with the browned meat, I got this sauce on sale at WF and it’s my new favorite.  My kids don’t like mushrooms but they can’t tell when the shrooms are in a sauce….groovy.

Now stir it all together…

Now it’s time to assemble your masterpiece… but before you do that, get your oven going at 350 degrees.

Put a little bit of the sauce down in the bottom of your 9 x 13 dish.

Layer 4 lasagna noodles in the bottom of the dish, they will probably overlap a little.

Now divide your spinach/cheese mixture in half while it’s in the bowl.

Plop half of it down on top of the noodles, I do large dollops all over the lasagna and then use my clean hands to spread it around.  You can use a utensil if you don’t want to use your hands…good luck with that.

Now put about half of the sauce on top of that and use the spatula to even it out…

Now add 4 more noodles and repeat the process…I reserve a little bit of the sauce for the top of the lasagna, I’ll tell you why in a second.

Add your shredded mozzarella all over the top of the lasagna, I save some of the sauce and mix it in with the cheese because I think the moisture helps the cheese melt nicely…

The last thing I do is sprinkle dried oregano over the whole thing.

Now cover it with foil and pop that baby in the oven for about 50-60 minutes.  I remove the foil about 15 minutes before it’s done so the top can get nice and bubbly.

While that’s cooking, I usually cut up some crusty bread and also make a salad…like I’ve said before, a salad might help prevent you from eating 7 pounds of the lasagna…”might” is the key word there.

Here is the finished product…

The answer is yes, it does taste as amazing as it looks…

I ate a bunch of this last night and then I had it again for lunch…now it’s 3:00 PM and I want more!  I’ll be glad when it’s all gone, and sad…lasagna brings out so many emotions in me. This is a great dish for cold spring days.  I would have said cold winter days but it’s spring now and it’s still freezing outside, perhaps it will never warm up …excuse me, I have to go eat more lasagna.

Cheers!

The Good Cooker  

Well I had every intention of posting my Irish recipe on Sunday (the day before St. Patrick’s Day) but that obviously didn’t happen.  Then I had to go out of town for work on Monday and Tuesday so now here we are on Wednesday and I’m finally getting it out there.  I figure you will all want to make this during the hot summer months anyway…

Oh lordy this is a good one…corned beef and cabbage is so freaking easy to make that it almost annoys me that I don’t have mess with it more in order for it to taste amazing.  I had all the boys over and everyone loved it…then I went on the road and was served Papa John’s pizza and other disgusting food for two days.  They ordered us a new pizza called “the double cheeseburger” for lunch, instead of pizza sauce they use american cheese sauce.  Can you say GENIUS?!…someone is getting a promotion for sure.  There were also pickles on the pizza (I love pickles so I was sort of intrigued by that, not enough to eat that disgusting pizza though).


I was pretty happy this year because I was able to get my corned beef from Whole Foods where it isn’t laced with Nitrites and sodium benzoate…and it was on sale for $5.99 a pound, score!

I also knew this was good because it was the “First Cut”…I don’t know what that means but it sounded legit.  The drunk leprechaun in the right corner also had me sold.

There’s two ways to buy corned beef, this way which has the seasonings already in the package of meat…or the other way which has a seasoning packet that you add yourself.

Open the meat and put it down in the bottom of your stock pot or dutch oven…you need a LARGE pot for this if you’re feeding more that 4 people.  I was feeding 3 adult men, 3 child men, and me….so I had a 5.5 lb piece of meat.  I read somewhere that some people rinse the meat which is absolutely absurd but whatever.  I did remove some of the tough fat with a knife, I do this once it’s already in the pot (less mess).  Don’t worry, you can’t possibly trim all of the fat off this thing.

Now pour a bottle of dark stout beer (Guinness works well) over the meat.  Our liquor store was out of Guinness (I’m serious) so Jason picked up this…

It has 10.5% alcohol…I drank one…it was fun.

If your bottle of beer doesn’t cover the meat entirely, add some water until it is covered. Put the lid on and put the pot over a medium flame.  Once it starts boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer and let it go for a few hours.  I do 45 minutes per pound of beef.

About an hour before the meat is ready, cut some red potatoes in half and throw them in…

and then chop some peeled carrots into 3 inch segments and throw those in.

Then about 15 minutes before it’s done I add a head of cabbage that’s been cut into wedges.

After I did that my pot was pretty full, I had to work a little to get the lid back on…

When the meat is done you need to get it out of the pot and let it rest for a little bit.  This is a bit tricky because all of the veggies are on top of the meat, see…

  

I removed some veggies and got the meat out and then dumped the veggies back in the pot…that’s called thinking on your feet.

Here is the meat resting comfortably…

While that is resting, slice up some fresh bread…WF was out of Irish soda bread so I got the old world rye.  This completely devastated my brother, it was a crushing blow…I guess he really wanted that soda bread, but who cares if your brother is pissed.

I also prepared some horseradish which isn’t really Irish but in this family, beef and horsey sauce go hand in hand…am I right Arby’s?!

This is two ingredients…horseradish and sour cream (and a little salt)

Now it’s time to cut the meat…you can cut the slices as thin or thick as you want, just make sure you cut against the grain.  For more on cutting against the grain…google it.

Now get the veggies out of the pot and arrange everything on a nice platter.  I take some of the sauce out of the pot and spoon that over everything.

Ok, it’s done…eat it now.

The men were pleased with the outcome, I’m such a good womanly servant…

Well, I’m really sorry that I didn’t get this post up earlier but being late is the story of my life.  Just save the recipe for next year, or make it this weekend…and then make someone else clean up the mess while you drink more of that beer.

Cheers!

The Good Cooker

There are really only two things you need for a successful frittata…eggs and milk.  The rest is completely up to you, I promise!

I make breakfast frittatas all the time, I usually make it on the weekend and what’s left over gets cut into squares and refrigerated.  For a quick yet delicious breakfast during the week I just pop a square into the microwave for 30 seconds and that’s breakfast.  Alone this is a great low carb meal but you can definitely put this between two pieces of bread, that’s heavenly.

Anyway, the only two must have ingredients are as follows…

1 dozen eggs
1 cup milk (whole, 2%, or skim)
plus salt and pepper but that doesn’t count


Now you just have to decide what else you want to throw in the mix…this is YOUR frittata.

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Start by cracking 12 eggs into a bowl…

I broke ONE yolk, I was pissed…because I have OCD.  You can’t see it in the photo on purpose.

Then add one cup of milk…I have used every level of milk fatness there is and they all work fine.

Mix that all together really well…

Now what else do you want to put in there?  What’s in your fridge?

I had some left over cubed ham and shredded cheese from the last meal I made so that was definitely going in.  I also had some chopped broccoli so you know that stuff was in.

I usually put mushrooms and onions in mine but the kids were eating it and I wasn’t in the mood to hear the never ending whine fest that ensues when they see mushrooms.

The only thing I ask of you is that when you choose to add a veggie, take a moment to decide whether it needs to be sauteed briefly before you add it.  I like to saute my mushrooms and onions before they go in because I think they need some extra cook time.  If you do saute something before you add it, make sure it cools before putting it in with the milk/egg mixture…we don’t want it cooking until it goes in the oven.

This time I didn’t have to saute anything so that made life extra easy.

If you’re wondering how much to add of each ingredient my advice is to use your best judgement…wow, that was annoying.  Just use anywhere from 1/2 cup (maybe for onions) and 1 1/2 cups (maybe for the broccoli).  You really can’t mess this up I swear.  

After you add your chosen ingredients, throw about 3/4 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper in there…

So it took me a while to get this blog post up because I was having some technical difficulties, aka the cat chewed my computer charger cord.  I’ve already let him know that you are all angry with him for delaying the Split Pea Soup post…he doesn’t care, cats don’t care if you’re mad at them…he just gave me a dirty look and walked away, probably to go look for an iphone charger.

Split Pea Soup is one of my all time fav soups to make and to eat.  Why? 4 words…Easy, Cheap, Healthy, and DELICIOUS.  I’m trying to come up with an acronym for these four words because they sort of seem to be my mantra for cooking.  #CHED? #DECH?  I will keep working on it…This soup on its own is vegan but I swear it tastes like you’re eating the creamiest, most buttery thing in the world.  I put a ton of veggies in my soup but you can put in (or leave out) whatever you want (except for the peas, they’re sort of a must).

Here’s my ingredient list…

Veggies
1 – 16 oz. bag dry split peas
1 – yellow onion (chopped coarse)
3 – carrots (chopped coarse)
3 – stalks of celery (chopped coarse)
1- leek
1 – fennel bulb
1 – clove garlic (minced)

Spices
2 tsp – turmeric 
1 tbsp – herbs de provence 
2 tsp – salt
1 tsp – ground black pepper
2 bay leaves

Liquid
32 oz – vegetable stock
32 oz – water

You will also need an immersion blender or a regular blender in order to make this soup because it needs to be pureed at the end.

And here’s a pic of your veggies! (I like to take photos of vegetables)

Start by putting some extra virgin olive oil in a big stock pot over medium low heat and throw in your chopped onion.  You don’t have to chop any of these veggies to a specific size because it’s all going to get pulverized in the end…lazy chop will do just fine here.

Then throw in your garlic, carrots, and celery.

Let’s learn how to properly clean and cut the leek…

Cut off the dark part and discard…

Cut it lengthwise…

Turn it 1/4 and cut again…

Fan the thing out…

And rinse it under cold water to get the dirt out of it (they’re dirty)…

And then chop it up…

Now let’s learn how to properly clean and cut the fennel…

Start with cutting the end of the bulb off…

Then cut off the stalks and discard them…

Then discard the outer layer…

This fennel bulb was a little weird, usually you want to cut it in half at this point and remove the small hard core but this one didn’t have any stiff parts so I just chopped it up and threw it in…

You don’t have to use either of these veggies but I can’t see why you wouldn’t, both add fantastic flavor to the soup.  

Now add your spices…turmeric and herbs de provence.  

Two of my all time favorite spices right there.  Turmeric is used a lot in Indian cooking and thanks to Mrs. Soni I have a ton of it…and herbs de provence is a blend of spices that originated in Provence, you can read all about it here.  Also add those boring bay leaves (just kidding, they are also fascinating).

Now add your salt and pepper, your vegetable stock, and your water.  My vegetable stock looked like beef stock and I almost had a heart attack but it was just because this particular stock had some tomato in it…whatevs.

Now add your peas…

I got 2 pounds of organic split peas from the bulk section at Whole Food’s for $1.99…good times.

Make sure you rinse and drain them first…

Now stir everything together, put the pot on simmer, cover loosely with a lid, and then go make sure your cat isn’t chewing on something…or do whatever else.  Come back and check on the soup every 20 minutes or so and give it a good stir.  You will know when it’s done because the peas will get really soft, mine took about 2 hours before I was happy with it.

This is what it looks like after about an hour…

It’s time to get out your immersion blender and puree everything together.

If you are using a regular blender you may need to do this in a few batches because there’s a ton of soup here…and for goodness sakes be careful.


Guess what, it’s done!  Go ahead and taste it to see if you want to add more salt/pepper, my soup was on the thicker side but I like it like that…you can always add more stock or water at the end if you think it’s too thick.

Now in order to trick my kids into eating something that is so jammed packed with vitamins and other nutritional goodness, I have to veer off the vegan path.

Green soup on its own isn’t very appealing to them…but green soup topped with ham and cheese is a totally different story.  

I cube up the ham (I just got a slab from the deli because that’s where it’s the freshest), shred some mild cheddar cheese, and then put it in bowls so they can top their own soup with what they like…this is fun for kids I promise.  I also bake a baguette for dipping (more fun).

And that’s it…

This soup TASTES LIKE BUTTA!  Here is my pickiest child chowing it down…

If you like split pea soup, you will love this recipe…and if you don’t like pea soup you will still love this recipe.  Make it and then trick your kids into eating it!  Muahahahahaha! (evil laugh)

Cheers!

The Good Cooker

I’m back on the blog train, and it feels so good!  Going on vacation is SO nice but when you come back to your insane reality it takes a while to come to terms with it and remember how to manage it all.  We went to Riviera Maya for my sister’s wedding and it was AH-mazing, my husband and I got a couple’s massage in a cabana overlooking the ocean…I mean, WHO DOES THAT?  I don’t think I will ever get an indoor massage ever again because I’ll just be disappointed, which means my next massage will be in approximately 10 years.  

Ok, we’re going to make Spinach and Broccoli Stuffed Shells for all you lenters out there!  I realized (thanks to Judy Hill) that some of you may be forgoing meat for lent so this is a great time to feature some veggie recipes!

I used to make this dish with just spinach and you definitely still can but I find that the broccoli compliments the spinach well and it’s one of those veggie that kids seems to tolerate.  When it’s hidden in the shells they can’t tell the difference anyway.

Here’s what we will need

12 oz (one box) – large pasta shells 
1 jar – marinara sauce
10 oz. (one box) – frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
2 cups – finely chopped broccoli florets
1 clove garlic – finely minced
3 cups – part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup – grated Parmesan cheese
7 oz. (one bag) – reduced fat mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/2 to 1 tsp – salt
1/4 tsp – freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp – dried oregano 

Start boiling a big pot of salted water on the stove and then throw the shells in.  

I tried to find whole wheat shells but I couldn’t so I just used the semolina version.  You probably won’t need all of them but I just make the whole box because my kids will eat a bunch of them plain while I’m assembling the shells.  Cook these for about 7 minutes and then drain them and rinse them with cold water so they don’t stick together.  They should be firm, they will cook more in the oven and they will be easier to stuff that way.

For the filling, chop up some broccoli really well (you will need about two cups but this isn’t an exact science).  

Throw that into a bowl with the spinach that’s been thawed completely and drained VERY well, this part is annoying but you have to do it.  Just use a towel or a cheesecloth if you have one, you can even use paper towels.  If you don’t want to use broccoli in the recipe, just substitute in another box of spinach.

Now add the minced garlic, parmesan, ricotta, and the egg…

I usually taste it now to gauge how much salt I need to add, if you are nervous about tasting something with raw egg in it just add 3/4 tsp. salt and call it a day.  I’ve been eating raw eggs for years and I’m still alive but that could just be luck I guess.

After you add the salt and pepper, add the oregano and then stir everything together with a wooden spoon.

Now it’s time to fill our shells with this yummy green stuff!

This is very easy to do and I have proof…I showed my husband how to fill one and then I ran out the door to zumba class and tasked him with finishing the job, I’m dead serious.  He had to fill them all….

and then he had to cover them in sauce…

and then he had to cover them with the mozzarella cheese…

and then he had to put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes…

AND he had to take photos of everything he did!  Husband of the year trophy has been ordered and is on its way. 

Ok…there’s one teensy weensy thing I probably would have done differently but let’s keep this to ourselves.

I usually put half of the mozzerrella cheese on the shells, and then pour the sauce over, and then add the other half.  I just find that it melts better that way, but you may prefer it the husband way and that is fine too!

After 45 minutes in the oven, it’s done!

My kids devour these things, and that’s good enough for me!

Speaking of my kids, I really missed them while we were gone.  Before we left, one of our little angels came down with a strep throat/laryngitis/bronchitis combo and another one had an abscessed tooth that he refused to have pulled at the dentist.  But we were able to get them on antibiotics and both of them were feeling MUCH better by the time we left for Mexico.  Things were smooth sailing (loosely speaking) while we were gone…mayhem didn’t ensue until we returned.  It turns out that your kids can be allergic to antibiotics but not break out in head to toe itching hives until they’ve already been taking them for a while.  Good news is that the hives didn’t really set in until our plane landed back in Chicago so the nanny was able to save herself from the madness that is inevitable when you have two boys who are itching uncontrollably.  I was able to get them in to the doc first thing the next morning and large amounts of steroids were given. Steroids reverse the effects of an allergic reaction pretty quickly…I could write a whole blog on how young boys behave on steroids but we will save that for another time.

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe, and to all you parents out there dealing with an adolescent boy on steroids…godspeed. 

Cheers!

The Good Cooker