I’m thoroughly convinced that you earn wings when you become a mother.  Not just when you give birth but from the moment you are pregnant.  Why?  1) you have a hangover that lasts for about 4 months on average.  2) you then have to deal with all the new and weird bodily functions that you possess (farting uncontrollably, bloating, swelling, peeing on average 15 times a day, constipation, etc.)  3)you gain the super obsessive cleaning gene that has been hibernating since your birth.  I know some people manifest this gene early on in life, but really, it’s ten times worse while you’re pregnant, no joke. 4)you actually have to give birth to a human through a small opening in your body.

Another trait that has seemed to manifest itself in recent weeks is the need to cook.  I’ve always enjoyed cooking and would cook every now and then for my grandparents but I’m starting to realize that they are getting older and since they’ve taken care of my every need and want for the past 25 years, I should probably do the same for them.  Thus begins, the toaster oven chronicles.  Why a toaster oven you may ask?  Well, let me take you back about 10 years or so ago….

Our house is old.  My grandparents have had the SAME OVEN/STOVE since they built this house.  It’s really not a big deal because it works, well, that’s a lie, the stove works.  About 10 years ago (It totally could have been more, I really don’t remember when) the oven caught fire while my grandma was making dinner one night, my uncle came and put out the fire.  We cleaned it out and for fear it would happen again, we never ever ever ever used it again.  So, that meant no more meatloaf (my absolute favorite), no more porkchops, no more pot roast! Ugh, obviously I survived but it still sucks.  We’ve always had a toaster oven, but I’ve always thought you’re only supposed to make, well, toast in it, DUH!  I was mistaken.  I’ve recently discovered that you can do ANYTHING with a toaster oven that can be done in a regular oven just in smaller quantities (perfect because my family eats like birds) and with a few little tweaks.

So here we are, the first installment of the toaster oven chronicles. I’ve been SO BORED with our dinners recently since we’ve been limited to what can be made in the microwave and on the stove.  It’s the same thing every night, so I decided to shake it up a little.  I’ve been researching for some recipes but this one I came up with on my own, sort of.  I LOVE TUNA, ask anyone who knows me, tuna and me are best buds.  In sushi, raw, cooked, creamed tuna, tuna patties, tuna salad, tuna and rice, you name it, if there’s tuna, I LOVE IT.  Now, I KNOW you’re not supposed to eat a ton of it while pregnant, so fret not, I have not been eating it as religiously as I have been, so this was a treat to myself.  Don’t judge me.

Here’s what it looked like coming out of the oven:

Doesn’t it look pretty fantastic?  I must say I was pretty impressed with how it turned out.  As a treat I’m sharing with you how to make it.  Please keep in mind that I did make this recipe up as I went along, and I’ll be brutally honest that I don’t know the exact measurements I used. Yea, that’s how I roll, no fear.

*For my family there was tons left over, but we eat like birds, mind you there is 6 of us.  For a normal family it might feed about 4.

Toaster Oven Tuna Casserole

Ingredients:

• 6-8oz. uncooked Elbow Macaroni Noodles (or any other type of noodle you want to use, it really doesn’t matter)
• 1 bag mixed frozen vegetables (we used the one with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese (we used 2 types of cheese, mozzarella and colby jack and cheddar mix)
• 2 cans tuna
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 9×9 pan (glass or metal, i’ve found it really doesn’t matter)
• 1 large mixing bowl
• large pot (to boil macaroni noodles)

Directions:

1. In large pot, add water and salt to taste, bring to a boil, add macaroni noodles, bring back to boil, let cook for about 10 minutes, remove from heat, drain and let sit. (Or you can just follow the directions on the bag/box it came in)
2. Start to preheat toaster oven (here’s the downside to cooking in the toaster oven, it takes UBER long to heat up to the correct temperature, so start it as soon as you can, it will be ready when you are)
3. Open and drain canned tuna
4. In large mixing bowl, combine frozen veggies (still frozen), 2 cups of cheese, 2 cans of tuna (drained), and can of cream mushroom soup (don’t add the water like it says on the can), mix throughly.  You’ll end up with a pretty chunky mixture.
5. Add macaroni to mixture
6. Scoop mixture into pan, spread evenly
7. Cover pan with tin foil
8. Place into toaster oven
9. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
10. Open toaster oven, remove pan, remove tin foil, replace pan back into toaster oven, and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
11. Let cool and you’re done!

It takes about an hour to make from start to finish including prep time, which is long, I know, but if all you’ve got is a toaster oven, you’ll wait.  Oh and like I said, you will need to tweak the recipe because like I said I was making it up as I went along, no intention of posting it here but it came out so good, I wanted to share.

26 weeks 5 days