Frankenstein's Monster Casserole

This dish is very versatile. You can substitute the tuna noodle casserole for almost any casserole your family will eat. Just make sure it will still taste good topped with cheese and crushed cornflakes. Get your kids involved by letting them decorate the monster's face. They can be creative by adding olive warts, a bumpy, cauliflower nose, or pickle ears. If you are going to cut the recipe in half use an 8-in x 8-in square pan and adjust the face accordingly.


Serves: 8
Start to Finish: 1 hour
Recipe By: Tuna Noodle Casserole by Jani Jones, Frankenstein's monster idea by Howstuffworks.com

Ingredients:

6 cups cooked Rigatoni noodles
2 (6-oz) cans tuna, drained
2 can cream of celery soup or cream of chicken
1 cup milk
1 cup celery, diced (approx. 2 stalks of celery)
sprinkle of garlic salt
2 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided
corn flakes, crushed
Face Decorations: 1 green bell pepper, 1 (4-oz) can of sliced olives, 4 baby carrot sticks, two pickle slices, 1 tomato, and onion slices.

Directions:

1. Cook noodles al dente according to package directions and drain.
2. Chop celery stalks.
2. Mix noodles, tuna, soup, milk, celery, garlic salt, and 1 cup cheese together.
3. Pour into 9-in x 13-in baking dish.
5. Pour cornflakes into Ziploc baggie. Seal baggie and crush cornflakes to desired coarseness.
4. Top casserole with remaining 1 cup cheese and cornflakes.
5. Bake in 350*F oven for 15 minutes.
6. Add decorations to create the Frankenstein Monster's face.

Summer Pasta Salad

While I was pregnant with Van I craved fresh vegetables. However, I was usually too sick to prepare real meals, so I ate a lot of TV dinners and sandwiches. It was a treat for me to have someone else cook a meal and bring it by. One of my good friends, Crystal, was always quick to invite me over for dinner if she knew Mike was out of town on business. On one such occasion she made this pasta salad. It was heavenly! Maybe it was all the freshness and simplicity of it or maybe it was because I hadn't eaten anything besides dry cereal, crackers, and a lean cuisine. Whatever the reason. I still remember it as one of my favorite dinners during that time.

Serves: 4
Start to Finish: 20 minutes
Recipe By: Crystal Ross

Ingredients:

1/2 box bow-tie pasta noodles
1 (6 oz) can tuna I prefer solid, white albacore tuna packed in water
1 head romaine lettuce, finely chopped a head of romaine lettuce is smaller than a head of iceberg lettuce. So if you are going to substitute, you will probably only need 1/2 a head of iceberg. Note: romaine lettuce has significantly more vitamins than iceberg lettuce and there is hardly a taste difference.
1 large tomato, diced
2 TBSP low-fat mayonnaise or ranch dressing I don't like mayonnaise, so I substitute it for the ranch dressing but you can really add any kind of salad dressing, Thousand Island, French, Bleu Cheese, etc ... as long as it is thick enough to hold the salad together.

Directions:

In in a large stock pot, boil water for the noodles. Meanwhile, wash and chop the lettuce and tomato. When water begins boiling, cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside to cool. Drain tuna. You can run a knife inside the tuna can to break up the chucks and cut down the larger pieces. In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag combine all ingredients: cooked noodles, tuna, chopped lettuce and tomato, and dressing. Close and shake. Can be served immediately or refrigerated for later.