Original Recipe: Cheesy Tuna Casserole

We like variety in our home, and adding something fish-related to the menu helps us rotate our meals while getting some heart-healthy Omega-3's in our diet. Tuna casserole is a regular for us, yet I'm always looking for new ways to spice it up. In the past several months, I've moved away from using cream-based soups (because they are often full of sodium and preservatives) after learning how to make a roux (a butter-flour mixture)!  Today I experimented with a couple new add-ins (Velveeta and extra spices). This turned out really tasty. The blend of Lawry's Garlic Salt, Paprika and Curry Powder worked well together. I'll be keeping this recipe for sure!

Let me know if you try it ;)

What is your favorite go-to Tuna Casserole recipe?

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons of butter
• 2 Tablespoons flour
•  1-1/2 cups milk
• 1 T minced garlic
• 4 oz Velveeta
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar 
• 1 bag frozen peas (cooked)
• 1 large can tuna (drained)
• 1/2 lb box macaroni noodles (cooked)
• Pepper (to taste)
• Few dashes of Lawry's Garlic Salt
• Dash or two of Paprika
• 1/4 tsp Curry Powder

 

Instructions

• Cook macaroni noodles according to package directions.
• In a nice deep pan, melt the butter.
• Once the butter is melted, add the flour and stir for 1 minute keeping the heat on medium low.
• Slowly add milk a bit at a time while stirring with a whisk.
• Continue stirring until all milk is added, then wait until mixture starts to thicken and comes to a low boil (over medium heat). Make sure it's not too high, or it will burn.
• Add Velveeta and minced garlic; stir until melted in.
• Add Shredded Cheddar and stir until melted in.
• Add the various spices and stir until combined.
• Once the noodles are done, add the tuna (flaked with a fork) and cooked peas.
• Pour the melted cheese mixture over the noodles.
• You can either eat it as is (which we did) or bake uncovered on 325 for 15 minutes or so.

Enjoy!!


As always,
Thanks for visiting!

Learning more about forgiveness

Our friends are leaving soon to go to Malawi, Africa, as missionaries and they threw a going away/birthday party today at a kid's indoor gym place. Most of it was for older kids, but there were a few things J could do like tossing balls, playing in a kids car, walking on the big gym mats. I held him on one of the tall mats so he could jump and he couldn't stop laughing.

Later, we hung out at home playing outside and it was pretty warm. It was pushing 90 today. The neighbor gal came over with some bubbles that J liked chasing after. She also offered to babysit if we ever need it. I opened up his new bubble mower to try it out but it wasn't working so the neighbors helped get it going. He wanted to take it all over like going partway around the block. He got sidetracked by some boys playing in their sprinkler and wouldn't come so I had to carry him and the mower home. J had fun playing with a lot of his new toys today.

We are continuing the forgiveness series in our church and today the focus was on forgiving others. He used a visual of dirt and how out of the dirt (of our lives) can come something beautiful like flowers. He went over what forgiveness is and what forgiveness isn't. (Like forgiveness isn't that you are saying what happened was okay.) One of the things that stood out was that forgiveness isn't reconciliation. That they are separate things. To forgive someone, you don't need the other person to admit their wrong, it is just getting your heart right. But in reconciliation, the other person (or you both) admits their wrong, and it starts a process of restoring the relationship. L and I stayed after to pray with people yet no one came to our areas. So we just prayed on our own until we decided it was time to go. On our way out, we had great timing as we ran into my friend Eileen. She invited us out to dinner and we had a really nice time. Our husbands finally got to meet and talk and the kids did well too. J ate really well which was surprising. He's often finicky and yet today he had no problems sharing my chicken burrito and peas and rice. He really liked the Spanish rice. The only bad thing was when J was dancing in the bathroom and fell and bit his lip and it bled. I so hate when he gets hurt! It always hurts me too. I was glad it stopped quick and he calmed down.

Looks like this week is going to be warm and in the 80's every day. I think I'll get out J's new pool. Auntie Amy got him a pool with a little elephant slide that'll be fun to try out.

Julian gets his groove on

We remembered daylight saving's time and I slept in a bit since Julian was sleeping too. Daddy was off to work this morning to do some overtime so Julian and I were on our own. He was really whiny like he didn't get enough sleep and was wanting to be picked up and held a lot. He did OK with a breakfast of pancakes and strawberries. He wanted to color from his Thomas activity book but then wanted the magazine I was looking at so I let him flip through the pages. Then the cutest part of the morning, Julian was dancing to music on his nursery rhyme toy. He'd go over and press the button for the music. Then he'd dance in the middle of the room waving his arms up and down and dance around in a circle. When the song ended he'd say "yea" and go back and press the button for another song to start dancing to. I got a little of it on video. I danced with him for a bit and then he changed gears wanting to sit in his chair. He ended up falling over (onto carpet) and crying but then started saying "painting?" and so I took him downstairs to paint. We ended up playing with Playdoh making "pancakes" again and play cooking and eating them. This kept us busy for a while. Later, after he went down for his nap, I gave Rio her IV. That still sounds goofy to me and I'm wrestling with whether it's just time to put her down. It's not easy for me to think of ending her little life. She is breathing better today so I'm glad she's not struggling for air. Yesterday afternoon she actually came upstairs and hung out which she hasn't done in days.

Today I finished the second half of 2Samuel 12. One thing Beth points out is the impact of David's fall into sin. Not only did it effect those right around him, but it affected the neighboring nations. These nations had their eyes on him and had gained respect for him and for his God watching the course of his life and kingship. After this, the nations lost respect for both David and God so the effect was far-reaching. Yet through David's failures, God is teaching the very essence of salvation; he will forgive the sinner yet judge the sin. As Nathan predicted, David's son fell ill. David was brought to a crucial place of depending on God as he fell to the ground and fasted and prayed. Even though the answer was no, David put himself at God's mercy. One of the most painful experiences would have been David turning to worship God after his son died. He could pour out his heart while at the same time acknowledge God's goodness. In this process, his relationship with God was restored. In reflection, I see that even though David fell, his intimacy with the Lord was restored very quickly. And I believe so it is with us. That as soon as we come to him, he is right there meeting us. James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. God responded by then blessing he and Bathsheba with another son, Solomon.

We visited Grampa again today at the hospital. It's turning out to be a beautiful day. The sun is shining bright and it's above 50 degrees. The wind is a bit cold though. As we were walking down the hall to the room he starts saying "Mickey Mouse?" remembering the balloon he saw yesterday in Grampa's room. My husband's sister and two boys were also visiting so they got to see Julian too. He was a little bit shy at first and wasn't talking much. He kept saying a word that sounded like crackers but I knew it wasn't crackers, then I figured it out. Sometimes it's like learning a foreign language keeping track of words Julian learns. This word was actually "checkers". He kept asking for checkers because we sat in the lobby yesterday and introduced him to checkers there. He also kept pointing to and asking for the markers the nurse had up on the dry erase board except he called them crayons. He was getting a little insistent so instead I brought out his coloring book and a crayon and then he got really focused on coloring.

At church we continue to study the book of Luke and Jesus redefining the status quo. Jesus goes to the house of a prominent Pharisee where he is being constantly watched. He talks about the Sabbath and asks them a couple questions but they have nothing to say. He ends up healing a man which he knows is controversial since it is the Sabbath. He later shares a parable about whether whether to take the place of honor at a friend's table or taking the lower place and ends with a promise, Luke 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. John Rosensteel (our preacher today) used a visual to describe what this is like, he brought a ladder. He reminded us how in life as we move up the "rungs of the ladder" we get a distorted view of people and situations. It didn't take me long, but on our way home I caught myself doing this saying something negative about someone driving. It's too easy to look down and be critical or judgmental of others and John encouraged us to take the place of Jesus who humbled himself. One of the scriptures he referred to was Phillipians 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

We had dinner again with our friends from our small group, the ones whose daughters really like Julian. He wanted to go in the play area and started crawling in the tubes. I was a little nervous for him to go in there alone and my friend must have sensed that since she sent her kids in to join Julian. He went down the slide with their son and had this huge grin on his face. Later when he was halfway up the stairs to the tube slide something must have spooked him and he started calling for me but then it turned to crying so I scooted up the slide just to find they had gone down the other way. Finally Julian and I met up and he calmed down. After a few minutes he was right back at it and wanted to go in again but they had shut it down for cleaning. He went over to visit a couple of the girls from the play area but got a little too close to one girl. I think he liked the Dora picture on her shirt but he started almost pawing at it so I had to go get him. Later, he visited their little boy in his car seat and was really good about being careful. I never know what he's going to do when he goes up to people so I stay close.

It's the close of another day and getting too close to tomorrow already so I'll sign off for now.

Julian gives a hug

These last couple days the mornings have been more video-oriented than book-oriented. Julian picked up the Bob the Builder video and brought it to me saying "watch the builder?" so we turned that on for a little bit and then some Elmo when the DVD was skipping a lot.

I'm continuing to read A Heart Like His by Beth Moore. Today I was in 1 Samuel 28 where Saul sinks even lower. You can't even compare his heart and David's. They are just too far apart. Here the Philistines are going to attack and Saul is terrified. He consults the Lord but the Lord did not answer him. Beth Moore points to Isaiah 59:2 "Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." This points to the reason God is silent when Saul at long last turned to him. He turned to God out of terror, not out of a heart that is sorry for all he has done. Beth shares that one prayer God will surely hear is one of sincere repentance. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He then seeks the witch of Endor, a medium, to contact Samuel. He does this knowing it was not part of Moses' law. He goes there in disguise, knowing it is against God. Samuel confirms that his kingdom would be torn from him by God and he and his sons will be with Samuel as of the next day. Saul was crushed.

We spent some time at the library today. We met a nice couple Jane and Brian and their son Ben. Their son was taller than Julian and he was only 15 months old (but big for his age). Julian is so tiny though. He was Mr. Social and met a boy and his sister offering to share his crackers. I've never seen him do this before, he went up to the boy and started giving him a hug. The boy ended up hugging him back it was so cute. He continues to like the Richard Scarry book and a couple of pictures he pointed out were cute; he said "hopper" for grasshopper and "paste" for toothpaste.

We decided to take one of our babysitters, Dave, out to dinner tonight. We knew it would be busy but somehow managed a 45-minute wait. Julian turned into a little pill at the table and one of his goals was to pull and grab everything that was within reach. It was quite a challenge. I did manage to eat and Julian did well with the crayons, book and other diversions from the diaper bag, but this wasn't a night to hang out as it didn't last long.