Stove Top Tuna and Noodles

Do certain foods take you back in time? Is there a dish that takes you back to the past? I can recall lots of dishes from my childhood. Tuna and noodles is one meal that I remember vividly and even learned how to make at a young age by watching my mom. There never was a written recipe, just a little of this and a little of that style of cooking. 
When I was growing up I can remember my dad coming home on his lunch break. He worked outdoors and when he would come home on a steaming hot summer day he would sit right in front of the window air conditioner and let the cold air blast. My mom would make this stove top tuna and noodles for the entire family and we would devour it. It was absolutely wonderful.
I still enjoy making this dish, and my daughter loves it! I hope that when she is old enough she can learn how to make it, too. Here is the recipe for my family's famous stove top tuna and noodles.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 - 5 ounce can tuna in water
1 1/2 cups dry small shell pasta (the really small ones, sometimes they are called salad shells)
salt and pepper, to taste
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Once it is melted, add the flour and cook through until it is bubbly. Add the milk and stir until it thickens. Lower the heat and add the tuna, salt, and pepper. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to directions on the package. Drain the pasta and add it to the tuna sauce. Serve with crushed ridged potato chips. We always used Ruffles. I can still remember the fun of getting to crush them with our hands over our food.

And that's it! It's that easy!  No baking, no waiting, and just a few simple ingredients! So make some today and enjoy!

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

I have another soup recipe for you, my friends! Full of vegetables and pasta, this soup has tons of flavor to warm up any cold winter day. There are no leftovers when I make this soup. Even my picky eater loves the tender pasta in this one. Serve with garlic bread and enjoy!

Vegetable Tortellini Soup
1 pound Ground Hamburger
3 cloves Garlic
½ cups Chopped Onion
½ teaspoons Pepper Or To Taste
1 teaspoon Salt, Or To Taste
1 cup Green Pepper, Chopped
1 cup Cut Green Beans
½ cups Chopped Carrots
1 cups Corn
1 - 14-½ ounce can Kidney Beans
1 envelope Italian Dressing Mix (0.7 ounce)
2 quarts Crushed Tomatoes (I used my canned tomatoes)
6 cups Beef Broth
2 boxes Cheese Tortellini (I used 7 ounce boxes)
Brown hamburger in a large pot with the onion and garlic. 

Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the tortellini. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, about 20-30 minutes. 

Add the tortellini and cook until the pasta is tender. Some additional water or broth may be added if needed.

You can print this recipe here!

White Chicken Chili

It's national soup month and we sure have had our share of yummy soups lately! I try to add new soups to my recipe box but this white chicken chili is a super favorite around here! I love that I can adjust how spicy it is and the creaminess of the broth. Try this chili and it will be one of your favorite soups, too! I promise!

White Chicken Chili
1 1/2 pounds cubed chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups chicken broth
4 ounce can chopped green chilies
2 can northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
Heat oil in a big pan. Add the chicken, onion, and garlic and cook until chicken is cooked through. Add the chicken broth, beans, chilies, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add sour cream and heavy cream. Mix through and serve.

You can print the recipe here!

Buttermilk Pancakes

This morning marked the beginning of our holiday season. Our elf, Alfie, made his first appearance. We put up our Christmas tree. I set out our nativity scene. And I made homemade buttermilk pancakes. We love pancakes at my house. LOVE them. My daughter asks for them every weekend. This recipe makes pancakes that are a little thinner than your traditional fat, fluffy pancakes. They also have a slight tang from the buttermilk that makes them extra special. Just the way that we like them!

Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups flour
1/8 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups regular milk
Mix all the ingredients together. Let the batter rest for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, warm up your griddle. I use an electric griddle at 350 degrees.

 Using a 1/3 measuring cup, pour the batter onto the griddle. I use slightly less than the full 1/3 cup.

Cook for about 1-2 minutes on the first side, or until the pancakes start to bubble and the edges start to look dry.

Flip over and cook for about 1-2 minutes longer.

Remove from the griddle and butter right away. Stack them on one top of the other so that the bottoms of the pancakes will soak up a little butter from the pancake underneath of it. 

 Isn't this the most delicious stack you've ever seen? So buttery. So thin. So tangy. And so yummy. Just add syrup!

I get about 2 dozen pancakes when I make this recipe. The leftovers freeze very well. Just wrap each pancake individually in a sandwich baggie, put them all in one big freezer baggie, and freeze. They warm up well in the microwave. In about 30 to 60 seconds you can enjoy the yummy goodness all over again.

Fresh Tomato Goulash

My husband had a great little garden this year. He grew jalapenos, sweet corn, banana peppers, radishes, and of course tomatoes. He says there is nothing better than a garden fresh tomato. I don't particularly care for fresh tomatoes, but I love to prepare them in dishes, such as my fresh tomato goulash. This goulash has that great fresh tomato taste with a bit of garlic and pepper. Just the way we like it!

Fresh Tomato Goulash
garden tomatoes, about as many in the picture
fresh garlic, to taste (I used 2 cloves)
diced onion, to taste (I used about an inch thick slice from a medium onion)
ground beef, about a half to a full pound
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
butter, about 2-3 tablespoons
elbow macaroni, about 1 1/2 - 2 cups dry

(Can you tell I don't measure much when it comes to certain dishes?)

In a large pot, boil some water. Dip your tomatoes in for about 30-45 seconds. Transfer immediately to cold water. This will make your tomatoes easy to peel.

Peel and crush your tomatoes. You can leave them chunky for the goulash or blend them to make them smooth, like I did.

Simmer your tomatoes with the butter, salt and pepper on medium low heat for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown your hamburger with the garlic and onion. I used 2 cloves of garlic and an inch thick slice of onion.

Cook your macaroni according to package directions.

Add your cooked hamburger and macaroni to the tomatoes.

Enjoy! This goulash is sure to please everyone.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

We LOVE pizza at my house. We love it so much that we have Friday Night Pizza Nights just about every Friday. I try new recipes or stick to our old favorite traditional recipe. Whatever we choose, it is great to have the good eats and the family time. Here is a recipe inspired by an Italian favorite, a classic alfredo. With chicken and a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, it is sure to be one of your family favorites, too!

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
2 chicken breasts
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2-3 TBSP olive oil
alfredo sauce
mozzarella cheese
cheddar cheese
optional toppings (roasted red pepper, broccoli)
pizza crust (you can find my recipe here)

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Meanwhile, chop the chicken breasts up into small chunks and add them to the pan. Add the garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. Cook until chicken is cooked completely through.

Spread some alfredo sauce on a pizza crust. You may use however much you prefer! I use about half the jar.

Spread the cooked chicken and other toppings of your choice around on top of the sauce.

Cover with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until it is starting to brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. (If you can wait. I tell you, the smell is absolutely wonderful. It's hard to wait!)

You really can't go wrong with this delicious pizza. You can always simplify it even more by buying a premade crust and precooked chicken. If you like alfredo, you are sure to like this twist on pizza!

Simple Summer Salad

Oh how I love summer and everything about it. The lightning bugs, long days, and lemonade. The popsicles, sandals, and grilling. And with grilling you always need a simple side dish. This pasta salad is simple and quick to make. You can vary the ingredients how you prefer. This pasta salad is my go to salad when I need a side dish with a great burger.

Simple Pasta Salad
16 oz. tri-color rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions
pepperoni, cut in half
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped tomato
McCormick Salad Supreme seasoning
Italian Dressing

Cook and drain pasta according to package directions. Be sure to rinse the noodles in cold water! This stops the cooking process and doesn't heat up the ingredients or melt the cheese!

Chop the pepperoni and tomatoes, add them to a bowl along with the cheese. The amount you use with each ingredient depends on how much you want. You can also add other vegetables such as cucumber or radishes. You can also use cubed ham in place of the pepperoni.

Add the cold pasta to the bowl. Toss with the vegetables. Add the dressing to coat. Add a couple palmfuls of the salad supreme seasoning and mix (the salad supreme mix is my secret to give this salad more umph!)

Mix to make sure the seasoning gets incorporated and the noodles get coated. Chill and enjoy!

Try this salad with some tasty ground pork burgers or roast beef sandwiches!

Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

In the summer we grill. A lot. Once in a while I like to use my slow cooker, especially on a rainy day when grilling can get wet and soggy. One of my favorite summer recipes for the slow cooker is roast beef sandwiches. I cook the beef in the slow cooker and then shred it at the end of the day for juicy sandwiches with tons of flavor. You just can't go wrong with these roast beef sandwiches!

Roast Beef Sandwiches
beef roast (your preference of cut and size)
1 packet onion gravy mix
1 packet au jus mix
pepper, to taste
1 cup water

Combine everything in a slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours. I don't add any salt because I think that the gravy mixes give it enough.

After 4-6 hours, I let the meat sit in the slow cooker on the keep warm setting for several hours before I touch it. After the meat has set in the slow cooker, take it out and shred it. Then put it back in the slow cooker to soak in all the juices for about a half hour to an hour before serving. This step is very important!

Serve on buns with your favorite toppings. The meat will just melt in your mouth and the bun will soak up some of the juice. It's hard to eat just one sandwich!
You can also use the juice in the cooker as an au jus dip if you want to make french dip sandwiches. It has a ton of flavor from the gravy mixes and juices from the meat.

However you like to eat your sandwiches, this is a simple recipe that makes flavorful, juicy meat. Enjoy!

Linking up to Hunk of Meat Mondays!

Homemade Pizza

Pizza is one of our favorites around here. Holly devours it. Hubby will eat half of it. Remember how much I loved Gino's in Chicago? I seriously could eat it everyday! My homemade pizza probably isn't as good as Gino's (I guess it depends on who you ask!), but it is still delicious with its homemade crust and mounds of toppings. I baked one of these up last night for supper and it was a hit!

Homemade Pizza Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
2 TBSP sugar
1 package quick rise yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP melted butter
2/3 cup warm water

First, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a small bowl.

Add the melted butter and the warm water. I use tap water that has been running on the hottest setting for about a minute.

Mix with a fork to form a soft, sticky dough. Sometimes I add more flour.

Cover and let rise until double.

Roll out on a greased and floured surface. I love my Pampered Chef Baker's Roller. It is the best!

Roll the ends and press down to make a crust.You could stuff the crust at this point with cheese. We've done it before and it is scrumptious! Just use string cheese cut in half.

Prick the crust all over so it doesn't bubble up too bad. The Baker's Roller has a prick in the handle to use.

Bake for about 5-10 minutes at 425 degrees until it starts to brown. You want to see little brown spots like this.

Add your favorite toppings! We love pepperoni!

And our homemade Italian sausage! I usually add mushrooms too but didn't have any.

First add the sauce. Add as much or as little as you like.

Then the pepperoni.

Then the sausage. Mmm.......

And don't forget the cheese! I love the mix of mozzarella and cheddar!

Bake until the cheese starts to brown like this. Maybe about 20 minutes. It depends on how many toppings you have.

Once it is out of the oven, let is cool for about 10 minutes before you eat. We ate ours with salad topped with homemade ranch dressing!

The best thing about pizza is that you can adjust the toppings to your taste and experiment with different kinds of toppings. The possibilities are endless!


Linking up to these great parties today!

Hunk of Meat Monday at Beyer Beware

2 Maids a Baking at Two Maids a Milking













Made From Scratch Tuesday at From Mess Hall to Bistro