Summer at Pendleton. The California light. The ocean air. The avocados that cost eighty-nine cents. After two years in the desert, everything here feels like abundance.
Hazel is five months old and has started rolling over — back to front, front to back, the baby barrel roll that precedes crawling. She does it with the quiet determination of someone who has decided to move and will not be stopped. Caleb watches her and narrates: 'Hazel ROLLING! Go, Hazel, GO!' He's her biggest cheerleader. He's also her biggest hazard, because he leaves dinosaur toys on the floor and rolling babies don't look where they're going.
The blog has evolved. The desert series is done — archived, still getting views from people who find it through search ('how to cook in the desert,' 'budget meals for military families'). The Pendleton content is different: coastal cooking, the potluck group reconvened, the return-from-the-desert perspective that sees everything through gratitude.
I wrote about avocados this week. A whole post about avocados. 'I Missed Avocados: A Love Letter From a Woman Who Lived in the Desert.' About the luxury of fresh produce, about the things you take for granted until they're gone, about the eighty-nine-cent avocado that represents everything good about California.
Six thousand views. People love avocado content. The internet's obsession with avocados is real and I'm exploiting it shamelessly.
The book's second printing is out. Total copies in print: 15,000. The numbers are modest by big-publisher standards but extraordinary for a small press. Clara is talking about a second book — 'something complementary, maybe regional military cooking, maybe a deeper dive into the recipe exchange tradition.'
A second book. The dream expands.
Mom called. Her question: 'Are you eating well? Now that you're back on the coast?'
'Mom, I'm eating avocados every day. I'm eating fish tacos. I'm eating Soo-Jin's cooking. I'm eating WELL.'
'Good. The desert worried me.'
The desert worried DONNA. The woman who survived three deployments was worried about my PRODUCE ACCESS. Priorities.
Made fish tacos tonight. The California recipe. The recipe the desert couldn't give me. Grilled white fish, avocado crema, cabbage, lime, cilantro. Caleb ate the fish. Hazel watched from the bouncer. Ryan ate four.
Fish tacos at Pendleton. The most California sentence I've ever written.
The light is golden. The avocados are ripe. The kitchen is five square feet.
We're home.
I’ve been leaning hard into every seafood opportunity since we got back to the coast — fish tacos, yes, but also anything quick and ocean-adjacent that I can pull together in a five-square-foot kitchen while Hazel watches from the bouncer and Caleb narrates. These Tuna Noodle Cups are my answer to a Tuesday night when I want something warm and filling and unambiguously not desert food. They come together fast, they’re the kind of thing Caleb will actually eat, and honestly after two years away from the coast, even a can of tuna feels like a small celebration.
Tuna Noodle Cups
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 12 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked egg noodles, roughly chopped
- 2 cans (5 oz each) tuna in water, drained
- 1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup finely diced celery
- 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
- 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Salt to taste
- Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Generously spray a standard 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Mix the filling. In a large bowl, combine the chopped egg noodles, drained tuna, cream of mushroom soup, peas, milk, celery, onion, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir until everything is evenly coated. Fold in 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar. Taste and add salt as needed.
- Fill the cups. Divide the tuna noodle mixture evenly among the 12 muffin cups, pressing lightly to pack each one. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheddar over the tops.
- Bake. Bake for 22—25 minutes, until the tops are golden and the edges are set and pulling away slightly from the sides of the tin.
- Cool and serve. Let the cups rest in the pan for 5 minutes before running a thin spatula around the edges to release them. Serve warm. Leftovers reheat well in a 350°F oven for 8—10 minutes.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 118 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 10g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 310mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 326 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
