Tuna Casserole

Marc's cholesterol is high and so we're trying to eat more fish. I love this recipe for a healthy, fast meal. When I proudly told my mom we had fish for dinner, she asked what kind of fish I had made, and I replied Starkist. And it counts as our weekly fish.

Cooked noodles
10-3/4 oz. can cream soup
1/3 cup milk
1/2 t dry mustard
1/4 t pepper
1 can tuna (9 oz or 2 6 oz)
1 cup cheddar cheese cube (4 oz)

Combine and place in greased pan. Sprinkle top with 1/2 cup bread crumbs.
Bake uncovered 375 for 20-25 min.

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On a side note, the other night mom gave me some orange roughy she made (I think she's worried now that I can't cook fish). I heated up some tortillas in our toaster oven, cut some Israeli cucumbers into thin slices, spread some of my favorite Newmans Own salsa on top and made us the most yummo fish tacos in minutes. I just love leftovers... never a food goes to waste.

Easy Cheesy Tomatoey Pasta

You may find a new trend. Less pictures but easy recipes. With a new baby my recipes are changing ever so slightly :)

This one is so yummy we keep re-inventing it by substituting different pastas and veggies, and sometimes I add shredded chicken or cut up chicken sausage.

Melt in sauce pan:
1 cup salsa (1/2 jar) Newmans pineapple salsa
2 T low-fat cream cheese

Mix in cooked pasta and blanched veggies (I threw in frozen veggies I had steamed in the microwave with a special bowl I picked up at Fry's... I knew the electronic store Marc loves is good for something).

Viola! Amazing 1 pot meal. Healthy, easy, inexpensive and no fuss cleanup. Doesn't get better than this.

Cheesy Spinach Bowtie Pasta

A great healthy side dish that we served with BBQ teriyaki chicken and a raspberry vinaigrette salad. Everything can be done ahead and popped into the oven when you're ready for dinner. And because this makes a lot you have leftovers another night.

Ingredients
8 oz package bow tie pasta
small can fat free cream of soup (mushroom, asparagus, etc...)
1 cup low fat milk
8 oz low fat ricotta cheese
4 oz low fat mozzarella cheese
bag steamed spinach, water drained

Steps
1. preheat oven 350 and grease 9x13 baking dish.
2. cook pasta.
3. mix together cream soup, milk, ricotta and mozzarella cheese.
4. mix in pasta and spinach, and spread out on baking dish.
5. sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.
6. bake for about 45 minutes. pasta should be hot and cheese melted.

Baked Penne

Easy dinner and wonderfully delicious.

Ingredients
1/2 box (8 oz) whole wheat penne pasta, cooked
1/2 eggplant, cubed
basket diced mushrooms
16oz container skim cottage cheese
2 small cans tomato paste
1 can diced tomato w/ chiles
seasonings to taste - generous ground pepper, generous basil, oregano, parsley, crushed red dried onion flakes, dried garlic flakes and chili peppers.
Parmesan
mozzarella

steps
1. spray 9"x13" baking dish and preheat over 350.
2. mix in bowl cottage cheese, tomato sauces and seasonings.
3. add veggies and pasta.
4. pour into baking dish and sprinkle top with Parmesan and mozzarella.
5. bake about 50 min. top with fried onions 5 min before done (optional).

Smoked Salmon Lasagna

Sometimes it's not just left overs that inspire a dish. Since we had a Cost Plus credit we decided to use the money toward some of their food items - Alaskan cracked pepper smoked salmon and Gia Russa oven ready Italian whole wheat lasagna. We still have a bit of cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese we're trying to use up so this sounded good.

Ingredients
whole wheat lasagna noodles*
can crushed tomatoes
can tomato paste
seasonings to taste - basil, oregeno, crushed red pepper, garlic, salt, pepper
2 eggs
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 Tablespoon parsley
smoked salmon

Steps
1. Preheat oven 400 and spray 9x13 glass baking dish.
2. Mix tomatoes, paste and seasonings.
3. In another bowl mix eggs, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, parsley and salmon.
4. Spread thin layer of sauce to cover baking dish.
5. Add lasagna noodles followed by a layer of cheese mix.
6. Repeat layering, ending with cheese mix and a dribble of remaining sauce.
7. Cover with foil and cook 45 - 50 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Since I had left over lasagna noodles I made an extra with mushroom instead of smoked salmon for my sister and brother-in-law. Since they're caring for newborn twins this is a great dish for reheating for future meals.

*whole wheat cancels the fact that you're eating pasta... at least that's what I tell myself.

Mac & Cheese

This was one of my favorite foods growing up that my mom made straight out of the Kraft box... just like everybody's mom did. I got the idea for this recipe from an article in the L.A. Times Food section reminiscing about this comfort food and how restaurants today have strayed from its original form. I too appreciate the traditional mac & cheese without any dressing. Keeping with a healthy take, my version watches those extra calories and fat.

Ingredients
8 oz cooked elbow macaroni
1 can (10-3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup (any cream of ... soup works)
8 oz fat-fat shredded cheddar cheese (1/2 horseradish cheddar, 1/2 mozzarella is wonderful)
4 oz whole-wheat crackers mashed into crumbs

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray 9 X 9 baking dish.
2. Mix macaroni, soup, and cheese in baking dish.
3. Top with cracker crumbs.
4. Bake until top is golden, about 25 minutes.

To kick it up a notch, we added some leftover chicken-apple sausage to the mac & cheese.

French's fried onions are also wonderful insted of crackers. Add a layer to the top about 5 minutes before you take it out.