By Week two of the shutdown. Oklahoma hasn't issued a stay-at-home order yet but everything is closing anyway. Restaurants, shut. Churches, shut. Schools, shut. The world has gotten very small, very fast, and my apartment has gotten even smaller. I'm cooking every meal from scratch because takeout costs money we don't have and also because cooking is how I process things. Some people journal. Some people exercise. I make casseroles.
This week's menu: Monday, tuna noodle casserole ($3.22 total — two cans of tuna, egg noodles, cream of mushroom, frozen peas). Tuesday, chicken and dumplings with chicken leg quarters I'd frozen last month ($2.89). Wednesday, Mama came over — she's the only person we see now — and I made my chicken spaghetti ($4.14, feeds six). Thursday, ground beef tacos ($3.67). Friday, fried rice with whatever vegetables were left in the fridge ($1.83). Saturday, pinto beans and cornbread because some weeks end the way they begin.
I started posting my COVID meal plans on the blog. Not the fancy photography kind of food blog — the real kind. The "here's what I spent, here's what I made, here's how many meals it stretched to" kind. The response surprised me. People are scared. People are broke. People are stuck at home with kids and a pantry full of things they panic-bought and no idea how to cook dried beans. My posts went from getting fifty views to getting five hundred. Then a thousand. Not viral. Not influencer numbers. But real people, reading my recipes, feeding their families. That matters more than numbers.
Dustin is exhausted. He's doing emergency calls now — furnaces breaking, A/C units dying, people trapped in their houses with no heat. He comes home at 7, showers for twenty minutes, eats whatever I've made, and falls asleep before 9. I watch him sleep sometimes and think: this is the man I'm going to marry. This reliable, dirty, tired, good man who shows up every single day. I'm going to marry him and cook for him for the rest of my life, and that's not a sacrifice. That's a privilege.
Monday’s tuna noodle casserole was the meal that started the whole week — $3.22, two cans of tuna, a bag of egg noodles, cream of mushroom, and frozen peas — and it was also the meal that made me feel most like myself again. This version is the one I’ve refined since then: a little lighter, a little more intentional, but just as honest. I think of it as the dish I made for Dustin before I even knew I was making it for my future husband — the kind of meal that doesn’t ask for much and gives back everything.
Makeover Husband’s Dinner Delight
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked egg noodles
- 2 cans (5 oz each) light tuna in water, drained
- 1 can (10.5 oz) reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup fat-free milk
- 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cook noodles. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook egg noodles according to package directions until just tender, about 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and milk until smooth. Stir in diced onion and black pepper. Fold in drained tuna, peas, cooked noodles, and 1/4 cup of the shredded cheddar until evenly combined.
- Fill the baking dish. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer.
- Add the topping. In a small bowl, toss breadcrumbs with melted butter until coated. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheddar over the casserole, then scatter the buttered breadcrumbs evenly on top.
- Bake. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, until the casserole is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 278 | Protein: 21g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 33g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 510mg