Tuna Noodle Casserole sans Tuna

One recipe down, one hundred and twenty-four to go! Here is Creamy Noodle Casserole, the first recipe from my inspiration book. Creamy and noodle-y it was. With both my hubby and I working together in the kitchen to prepare this giant 9x 13 deep-dish casserole, it took almost 1½ hours to prepare and another 40 minutes to bake. All the time I kept praying that it was worth the effort.

The recipe had three parts: whole-wheat pasta, veggies (onions, carrots, celery, green beans, peas) with cannellini beans, and a thickened veggie broth spiced with paprika and thyme. It was supposed to have panko bread crumbs on the top, but we didn’t have any so we used regular bread crumbs.

And the verdict? Just OK. It was extremely bland, but very filling. Next time (if there is one considering how long it took to make) I would figure out some way to give it more flavor.

However, there was a plus side to spending that much time preparing the casserole. My hubby and I did have a wonderful time working side by side to create a such a healthy meal.

No, those aren’t some alien ear muffs. That was our dessert! Fresh mangoes. Yum! We decided to buy the whole mangoes from Costco and they did not disappoint! Usually we buy the cut up ones in the plastic container so that we can easily put them in smoothies. But my hubby figured out how to easily cut them up. To eat it, you actually pick it up as you see it in the picture and then just bite into it. So sweet and juicy! As our family always says, “Yum Punch!!”