Hot Crossed Tuna Casserole

Recently on the parenting message board I belong to there was a discussion about tuna casseroles. It made me think of this one my mom used to make when I was little. It was our neighbor Julie's recipe. It's not your typical tuna, cream of mushroom, noodle casserole either. I was glad my mom knew where to find the recipe because once I started thinking about it, I couldn't stop. I also couldn't stop thinking about cheddar and sour cream potato chips because one of my friends said her mom topped tuna casserole with those. Damn...now I'm thinking about cheddar and sour cream chips again. Sigh. At least they come in a baked variety so I don't have to feel as guilty when I eat them.

Anyway, once my mom gave me the recipe I had to make it within days. Thankfully all I really needed for it were the crescent rolls. I'll admit I was a bit nervous about it since the last time I remembered having it I think my age was in single digits. I liked spam a lot, too, when my age was in single digits, but I doubt I could stomach it now.

Hot Crossed Tuna Casserole

3 cans tuna, drained
1 16 oz. package frozen peas, thawed
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. celery, sliced
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tube crescent roll dough

Cucumber Sauce:
1/2 c. chopped cucumbers
1 T. chives, chopped
1 T. chopped parsley
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. dill weed
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. sour cream

Combine tuna, peas, cheese, celery, bread crumbs, onion, seasonings, and mayonnaise; mix well. Spoon into 106 baking dish. Separate crescent roll dough into 2 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. Cut dough into 4 long and 8 short strips. Place strips over casserole in lattice design. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is brown. Serve with cucumber sauce.

To make sauce, combine all ingredients and mix well. Chill. Pour over top of each serving.

*****

I modified the original recipe slightly; what's posted above is how I made it. I just added more tuna and peas. I like peas. I thought the sauce recipe was kind of funny--sounds like tzaziki (I have no idea how to spell that, by the way) to me, but perhaps in suburban Seattle in the late 70s and early 80s it was easier to just call it cucumber sauce. Who cares, it's tasty.

I'm happy to report that this dish was in fact as tasty as I remembered it. My bff Clementine (she's decided we're too codependent on each either so we've come up with new monikers for each other to make it appear that we have other friends. We really do have other friends, but I thought it would be fun to call her Clementine.) was over one day last week to make plum jam (aptly named Jamfest) and sampled some of the leftovers because she was skeptical when I told her about it. She approved and told me to post it so she could make it. I love me a good casserole, and this totally fits the bill. My kids loved it, too. Boy #2 actually had leftovers of it twice for lunch and cleaned his plate each time he ate it Winner winner, tuna dinner!

Breakfast Casserole

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Here I promised to get back to blogging and haven't posted anything. what can I say...I've been busy caring for a newborn and toddler and having my in-laws in town. I figured I'd start with the egg casserole I made for breakfast this morning and work my way back from there as I have time. My in-laws go home tomorrow morning, so then I'll for sure have to get back to cooking. And doing dishes. And picking up toys. And all the other household things they've been doing for us while they've been here. Sigh.

I hope everyone's having a nice Christmas! We're heading to my mom's for dinner, and I'm off the hook for taking anything except my brood and presents. My husband calls it "Second Christmas" with my family because there's an insane amount of gifts...especially for the boy. He's the only great-grandchild (well, he and the baby now) for my two grandmas, the only grandkid for my parents, and my aunt & uncle and our family friend that celebrates with us don't have grandkids either, so my kids are surrogate grandkids for all of them. You can imagine the gift insanity. We had a great Christmas morning at our house; Santa brought the boy roller skates, which he loves. He took a twirl around the block in them...sort of. They're "learn to skate" skates, so one of the wheels stays locked so he can walk in them and get the hang of it. he looked so cute in his skates, helmet, and knee pads! My entire downstairs looks like a Toys R Us puked in it. The husband and I got each other GPS so that wasn't too exciting since we already knew what it was. I bought myself a Coach purse recently and had the store wrap it so I could put it under the tree. Oh, and my in-laws got me a fantastic cookbook. I've probably mentioned how I love cookbooks that are from churches or moms groups or whatever group where people submit their own recipes. I figure every recipe is good because no one is going to go to the trouble of submitting something that sucks. My mother-in-law is a teacher at a Christian school, and she gave me a cookbook the school put together. I'm chomping at the bit to read through it and get cooking!

On that note (since I want to be reading my cookbook), here's the breakfast casserole we had. I've made it before, so it's really nothing exciting.

Weekend Brunch Casserole
1 pound Bob Evans or Owens® Original Recipe Sausage Roll
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
8 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Crumble and cook sausage in medium skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.

Line bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Sprinkle with sausage. Combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl until blended; pour over sausage.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares; serve hot. Refrigerate leftovers.

*****

I've found if you use Eggbeaters instead of real eggs, the cooking time is 5-10 minutes longer for whatever reason.

and with that, I'm off to read! Merry Christmas to all!

Spicy Cashew Chicken Bundles

Happy Election Day, everyone! I hope you all are getting out today to vote, even if you are tired of hearing about this election. I did my part last week and mailed in my absentee ballot. Much easier than taking an unruly toddler with me to vote.

In an effort to avoid getting yelled at by Jen B. again, I think I'll start updating my blog during my morning computer time while the boy watches his shows. Maybe I overstated it a bit when I said she yelled. I think she was just trying to motivate me to stop being so lazy. She did the same thing when I was painting baby's room.

Last week I was going to make Taco Crescent Bake for dinner one night. I was going to move it to this week, but since we had meatballs on Sunday I didn't want to use hamburger twice. So I went to the Pillsbury website to look up recipes that used crescent rolls. This was one of the first ones taht came up, and I thought it sounded yummy. PLus I have some cashews that need to be used (i.e. I want them out of my pantry), so this works out great.

Spicy Cashew-Chicken Bundles
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot
3 tablespoons sliced green onions (3 medium)
3 tablespoons chopped cashews
1/2 teaspoon grated gingerroot or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz)Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
Additional sliced green onions, if desired

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, mix all ingredients except dough and additional sliced green onions; set aside.
2. If using crescent rolls: On ungreased large cookie sheet, unroll dough; separate into 4 rectangles. Press each into 7x4 1/2-inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: On ungreased large cookie sheet, unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles. Press each into 7x4 1/2-inch rectangle.
3. Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto one end of each rectangle. Fold dough in half over filling; firmly press edges with fork to seal. With fork, prick top of each to allow steam to escape.
4. Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until deep golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Garnish with additional sliced green onions. Serve warm.

*****

I guess I'll have to stop somewhere for green onions since I wasn't able to get them yesterday, but that's not a big deal. Those were the only ingredient I didn't have on hand for this. I think they sound yummy, so I'm hoping they turn out well. I havea bag of Asian veggies in the freezer, so I think we'll have those on the side.

*****

These turned out to be really yummy. I wasn't up for a trip to the store with a toddler for one item, so I skipped the green onions. I did find a red pepper in my produce drawer that needed to be used, so I diced that up and added it instead. My only complaint is that they weren't super filling. It made four, I had one, the boy had a half, and the husband ate the rest. He and I were both still hungry after finishing dinner. Granted, he ate an early lunch and was starving when he got home from work, and I'm pregnant and hungry all the time lately, so for "normal" people they could be just fine. These were definitely something I'd make again. The filling would also be good in a tortilla as a wrap I think. There was some filling left over, I may try that for lunch tomorrow. Or a snack later today. ;)