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!

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!

Ground Pork Burgers

If there is one thing that I make on the grill that is my hubby's favorite, it's these ground pork burgers. With onion and cheese, these burgers satisfy the need for a burger that is a little different!

Ground Pork Burgers
1 pound ground pork
chopped onion
shredded cheese
salt
pepper

Chop the onion. Add it to a bowl with the shredded cheese. The amount you use depends on your taste, although if you use too much it will be hard for the burgers to stay together.

Add the ground pork and the salt and pepper. Don't be afraid to add a little more salt. The salt will help to absorb some of the moisture and help the burgers to bind. I probably add about a teaspoon.

Make as many patties as you wish. I usually make four patties for us.

Grill on a preheated grill until done. They will stick to the grates and make a mess, so it is a good idea to grease them first. Except I usually am too lazy to do that.

Serve with tomato, onion, lettuce, cheese, jalapeno, and any other topping you wish! My hubby prefers mayonnaise. I eat mine chopped up with pork and beans. My daughter eats hers by dipping in ketchup.

Happy grilling!

My First Po' Boy

While in Chicago, my sister and I went to Heaven on Seven, a quaint little Cajun style cuisine on the seventh floor of a building on Wabash. I tried my first po' boy sandwich, the shrimp po' boy. It was great! The shrimp was crispy, the bread was toasty and buttery, and the sauce had a nice tang to it. The coleslaw was scrumptious! With my sandwich I also got a bowl of gumbo, which I was also eating for the first time. I really liked the rice in it.

Of course if you didn't think it was spicy enough (it really wasn't spicy at all), there was a wide variety of sauces you could add.

I didn't try any, but I was very curious about the "Hot Buns At The Beach". These were just the sauces that were on the table. There were over 3,000 on the wall as a display! I had no idea there were that many kinds of sauces! Can you believe it?!

And of course since I was on vacation, I had to have dessert! This was another first for me since I had never had key lime pie before. It was cool and creamy. The whipped cream was to die for!

Are there any other places that you recommend to eat in Chicago? I need to start planning my return trip!

I LOVE Pizza!

I just LOVE pizza! I love deep dish super cheesy pizza. I suppose this is part of why hubby considers me a carbaholic! I recently went to Chicago with my sister and we went to Gino's East for some deep dish, super cheesy, Chicago style pizza. We were not disappointed! I'd go back to Chicago just for this pizza! We ordered half pepperoni and half sausage. Both were delicious! Next time I go I think I'll get the four cheese pizza. Just thinking about it is making me hungry!

It was worth the wait in line!

Deep dish!

Super cheesy!

The aftermath!

Have a great weekend!