Quick and Easy Stove-Top Tuna Noodle Casserole

Submitted by Lea McEwan


2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, less if you prefer less spice

1-2 tablespoon of chopped fresh herb, such as chives (optional) or parsley (optional)

2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained (I prefer albacore solid packed in water)

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

8 ounces wide egg noodles, cooked

Directions:

Cook the egg noodles.

During the last few minutes add the frozen peas to the simmering noodles; then drain.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Whisk in the flour, and continue whisking for about 2 minutes or until the flour butter mixture starts to turn a beige color (a very light colored roux).

Continue whisking and slowly add 1 of the cups of milk, incorporating the liquid as you whisk; then add the remaining 1 cup of milk.

Let it come to a gentle boil, stirring regularly to keep from burning on the bottom of the pan as it thickens.

When it's thick enough to coat a spoon and leave a strip behind where you ran your finger through the coating on the spoon, it's ready to add the drained tuna.

Break up the solid tuna chunks with a fork and mix throughout the sauce.

Add the salt, pepper, and any seasonings or herbs.

Pour the tuna sauce over the noodles and peas, and serve.

Oh, What Do You Cook in the Summertime?

With temperatures rising outside, none of us wanted to turn our ovens on inside.  This month we kept the ovens turned off and met at Beth's house for food and friendship.  Thank you, Beth, for getting us out of the house and for introducing us to the Instant Grill.

(We're laughing with you, not at you.)

So, what do you cook in the summertime when all of Missouri is humid and hot?  Pasta salad?  Sounds good.  Chicken seemed to be the ingredient of choice.  Girlled on the instant grill or chopped up in a salad.  We don't care.  We're not picky. 

Hope you enjoy our summertime recipes and we'll see you next month at Wendy's for Something New!

Crispy, Crunchy Cereal Treats

Submitted by Laura Hintze

Ingredients

2 C. brown sugar

2 sticks butter or margarine

1 ¾ C. light corn syrup

1 can sweetened condensed milk

19 C. crisp rice cereal

Instructions

Boil brown sugar, butter or margarine, and corn syrup for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add condensed milk and boil 3 additional minutes. Pour over cereal and mix well.

Spray non-stick cooking spray into mould (first time only) and fill with mixture. Remove immediately from mould; place on wax paper. Allow at least 1 hour set up time.

Yield: 25 shapes


Variations:

Substitute popcorn for crisp rice (1 ¼-1 ½ cups un-popped popcorn).

Substitute puffed rice for crisp rice cereal.

Mix popcorn and puffed rice together.

Add 3 squares of unsweetened chocolate before sweetened condensed milk.

Chicken Salad

Submitted by Wendy Holt

1 can of chicken


1 small can of pineapple tidbits

1 celery stalk diced or sliced (however big you like them)

OR

small can of water chesnuts

1 cup of grapes (green or red your preferance)



1/2 cup of mayo

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp pepper

a shake of dehydrated onions (you can use fresh green onions if you prefer)


Mix chicken, pineapple, celery and grapes together.  Mix dressing and pour over chicken mixture, stir together


Serve on Croissants (I get the big box at Costco, they taste the best and are the cheapest. We freeze most of them until we need them.