I didn't come from a family of financial means. I guess the funny thing about that is as a child I never realized we were poor. It wasn't really until middle school that I discovered that this was the case. I suppose that is because even then in the nineties kids were cruel.
Part of the reason I never recognized the struggle that my family was in financially is because my house was filled with love and with laughter. My parents made do with what they had and they taught my brother and I so many valuable lessons along the way. Lessons that I don't think we really knew we were even learning until way later in life.
For instance, dinner time was always fun for me. Sure, I'd throw a hissy fit occasionally because we never ate out. It was only "special times' that warranted a hamburger from McDonald's or an actual drive to a sit-down restaurant. But most of the time, I was pretty content to eat at home, because my mom made making dinner fun. We were always having something different and the smells of veggies steaming, or meat cooking would fill the house.
It was the same at my Grandparents house. I come from a long line of pretty fabulous cooks. Recipes were passed down and passed along, through relatives and friends. My granny had a few cookbooks that she would use, but normally everything she made came straight from her head. My mom is the same way. She has loads of cookbooks and I can remember us opening them and flipping through them often, but she never really stared at one when she would begin cooking. She has always been really good at "tweaking" things. She might find a recipe she likes, and then substitute the majority of the ingredients with items she had on hand.
None the less, for the most part everything always ended up coming out pretty wonderful.
This pairs in with our financial situation, because what I never realized at the time but have since learned and incorporated myself is the resourcefulness of these woman. We always had a garden growing up, so if it was during season you could be assured that home grown vegetables would be included. When it wasn't season, we'd still use those home grown veggies- just in their canned or frozen form- however, they had been put up.
If the garden hadn't done well, or in later years when my family no longer gardened to the intensity that they once had, store bought canned veggies or frozen veggies would be used. My mom was, and still is, great at finding bargains and using coupons.
This is one of those valuable lessons that I mentioned earlier. Today I find myself doing the same thing that she always does. I scour my local papers for coupons, always look at the weekly sales ad when writing out my grocery list and make sure to check out all managered special items when I get to the store. Day old breads and meat that the sales date is coming up on, can always be repackaged and frozen until you are ready to use it.
Another valuable lesson came in the simple form of simply knowing how to throw a few odds and ends together to make a tasty dinner. It might not have been filet mignon, but I can promise you it was always good. Today, I still have a heart for casseroles and the comfort that they bring when I put them together.
In fact it is this very thing that inspired this post!
I'm thankful that the man that has been the love of my life for the past three years is also fabulous in the kitchen. My Significant Other has an associates in Culinary Skills and when it comes to making a meal, he's the man for the job! He has a different spin on cooking compared to my mom and granny. The meals that they cook are "simple home country meals". His view on cooking is a bit more "exotic", compared to them. It's still good, just different then what I know. However, I like that because I've also learned a lot from him especially in regards to flavors. I'm also willing to try things that I never had or didn't think I would like, because I trust him when he says something is good.
He teases me because I am notorious for using recipes. Even if it's something I've made a million times, I have to have a recipe in front of me. Unlike my mother and my grandmother, and unlike my boyfriend, I am not comfortable just "whipping things together."
Usually.
And that is something else that inspired this post! ( okay okay, I'll get to the point..)
Finances are pretty tight for me and my SO. I'm in college working towards my Masters Degree, and so I haven't been able to work much. The job market and economy has been in such a drought that jobs are hard to come from. He's found a stable job that he's been at for over a year, but it doesn't pay nearly as much as it should given all he does.
This month has been the roughest of all. The residual funds from the Student Loan I had have depleted, and thought I picked up a job, I just started. His hard earned check paid our rent and and other bills and at the moment we're both broke as could be. No trips to the grocery, no eating out. Basically, we've got what we've got and that's all we've got until we get our next check.
So as I meandered through the cabinets this evening, looking for something to eat other than Ramen Noodles, I happened upon a couple cans of tuna. Sure enough we had some pasta up there as well and suddenly I was reminded of the classic Tuna Noodle Cassarole. I know not everyone is a fan, but like I said, growing up we ate a lot of things that might not have been considered "cuisine". And did I mention I really love casseroles??
Thinking back to the basic recipe I knew people typically include peas. We have no peas in this house...So as usual, I started doing some recipe flipping. Of course, recipe flipping in 2012 is a lot different then it was back in 1994. Now with a click of a mouse and a few taps of the keyboard you can Google anything!!
So i did some "Googling" and hit the jackpot. One of the first recipes I found was for a "pea-less" tuna noodle cassarole.
And then that's where I did something a little different. I looked the recipe over and then decided, to do it all on my own....
Heres my recipe for Home-Made Tuna Noodle Casserole. Feel free to use it OR feel free to be inspired by it to create your own:
What you'll need:
Butter ( about one tablespoon to cook with, one tablespoon for your crust, and some to run into a 12x9 baking dish, unless you'd prefer to use a cooking spray)
One Can Mushroom pieces
Celery, chopped. (I used about three stalks )
1 package of french onion soup mix
1 cup of water
2 cans of Tuna Fish
1 can of Cream of Mushroom
Box of Pasta, ( (I used elbow macaroni, because that's what we had!)
Parmasian Cheese (as much as you prefer)
Shredded Cheese ( your choice, about a cup unless you prefer more)
Ritz crackers, crushed for your crust.
Preheat oven to 350
In a skillet, melt a tablespoon of butter and then saute your mushrooms and celery. After a few minutes, sprinkle in the french onion mix and stir in cup of water.Also, drain your two cans of tuna and add that in. Allow to simmer on Medium, stirring occasionally so as not to burn, until the water cooks down.
At the same time, boil your pasta until Al Dente. I always throw in a little salt with it.
Drain the pasta, rinse with cold water so your noodles wont be sticky.
In a large bowl combine your noodles with your tuna/veggie mixture. Pour in cream of mushroom and stir until it's all covered. While it's still warm, sprinkle in your parmesian cheese and your shredded cheese and make sure that's all nice and mixed up.
In a different smaller bowl, put a little butter over your crushed Ritz crackers, and microwave just long enough to melt the butter. usually about 30-45 seconds will do it.
Grease a 12X9 baking dish with some butter or with a cooking spray, whichever you prefer.
Pour in your tuna/noodle mixture and then top with your buttery ritz crackers. ( I typically stir those up a bit to make sure that the crackers are all coated.)
Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until crackers are browned.
Remove from oven and let stand for just a few minutes.
ENJOY!
