Ivy Revists Tuna Noodle Casserole

A peek into what I’ve been eating for the last year…

We’re kicking off the start of a new school year with yet another throwback post because last year I had really great intentions about keeping pace with the blog… and then reality kind of threw those off. Whoops. This time, instead of a relic from when I was still living at home, we’re going to take a look at one of my first culinary adventures in my new kitchen. 

So when I first got to grad school, I got really, really sick. Like, can’t hold down any solid food for a week sick. So did my dad apparently, and we think it was either fruit at the hotel we had stayed at’s buffet, or a chicken sandwich, but my mom and brother were eating basically the same food as us, so who knows. Either way, not a good first introduction to a new life in a new city. 

Once I got better, I was faced with the task of making sure I was eating more or less three times a day without the help of anyone else. This sounds fine at first, but in reality takes a bit of adjusting to, even for someone who enjoys cooking like I do. I know that probably sounds silly or maybe even embarrassing that I as a 25 year old hadn’t been fully responsible for feeding myself on a regular basis before this. I ate in dining halls on campus in undergrad and my mom usually made dinner when I lived at home, so this was my first real exposure to how daunting and repetitive meal prep can be. 

Figuring I could make a habit of mixing meal prep with future blog posts – an endeavor that apparently died with this recipe… - I decided to whip out my Betty Crocker New Boys and Girl’s Cookbook and give their recipe for tuna noodle casserole a shot.

Julie's Tuna Noodle Casserole

An authentic taste of the 1970's you can enjoy today!

I don't think you can get a dish that's much more 1970's than tuna noodle casserole. Ask anyone on the street to name a dish that was popular in this era, and they'll list it as the first or second thing to come to mind, even if they've never had it before and I honestly didn't know anyone who's ever come out and said they enjoyed eating it.

That all changed when I decided to make it last weekend for friends and family! I was fully anticipating everyone to treat this particular culinary experiment with a good deal of trepidation, but discovered that not only does my grandfather really like tuna noodle casserole, but one of our family friends really liked it growing up, and was very excited to try this out. He was doubly excited because his niece has recently gotten into American Girl, and after much deliberation decided on Julie as her first doll!

Julie's Beef Stroganoff Casserole

A tasty twist on a classic dish!

After all that hinting, no, we are not featuring spam casserole yet. I wanted my first foray into the world of casseroles to be a little less potentially horrifying, and I wasn't sure I'd really emotionally prepared myself for making anything involving spam just yet. I guess I'm not really being fair - I can't say I've ever had spam, so maybe I won't hate it as much as I think I'm going to, but in any case, we're going with something that seemed a little tamer for our first 1970's recipe.

We all like to joke that Julie is basically who my mom wanted to be as a kid growing up in the 70's (she has often lamented that Julie comes wearing a pair of sandals she always wanted as a child), so it seemed only fitting to ask her opinion on what to feature on the blog first. Fortunately, we had a really fun source to turn to to help us find inspiration!