Recipe time..

Ok. so some friends are trying to convince one of our other friends to start a recipe blog. This got me thinking that maybe I should post more recipes once in a while. I know I posted some for St Patrick's day but haven't really posted any others. I don't have many fancy summer recipes, but I know that many of us are on tight budgets, and that, often, we are also called upon to provide some sort of meal (usually winds up a casserole) for others once in a while..
So, I figured I'd present one of my casserole recipes. This is one that really, I came up with when faced with a bunch of left over vegetables and pasta in the fridge and no ideas for what to do with them. It's pretty simple and can be adapted to things you have on hand, things your family likes, and the number of people you need to be able to feed.
I started with a large bowl of pre-made macaroni, but you can use pretty much any noodle shape. (We have done this since with spaghetti.)
To this I added a bunch of left over veggies. At that time I believe I had some grilled asparagus, bell peppers, peas, carrots, mushroom, onions. You can use whatever you have, fresh or frozen, this recipe doesn't mind. Use whatever your kids (or husband) will eat :) I also usually add some ground beef or ground turkey, browned and drained if I have it on hand. You can also use the fake-beef soy crumbles. We use those in a lot of things and none of the kids, or hubby notices.
Then comes the can (or two depending on how much you are making) of the cream of whatever soup... You can use mushroom, celery or chicken, doesn't matter, again, it's a matter of personal preference. Mix that up with as much liquid as needed to get to a nice thick consistency, but thin enough to work everything into. Mixes those together, working in a hand full or two of shredded cheese. I use mostly mozzerella, but you can use what you like or have on hand.
Dump this all into a baking dish, spread more cheese on top, add a little pepper or other seasonings to preference, and bake at 350 until everything is warm, the cheese is melted and brown and the whole thing is yummy. Usually only takes about 20 minutes but your oven may vary.
Serve with a salad and maybe some garlic bread and enjoy. It's a great way to use up all the odd and end left over veggies piled up in the back of the fridge at the end of the week.