Recipe Day! (Gourmet Casserole)

This is a great casserole for when you want a change of pace from the "cream of chicken soup" line up that a lot of casseroles call for. (And that I actually use on a fairly frequent basis.)

You could substitute any meat for the ham; actually, sometimes I just dice up whatever sandwich meat I have on hand and use that. A couple times I've made it with ham AND chicken (because that's what kind of sandwich meat I had) and it turned out great. I suppose even browned hamburger or ground turkey would work too, although I've never tried them!

Gourmet Casserole

1 C milk

8 oz cream cheese, softened (A few seconds in the microwave will do it--just be sure to take it out of the wrapper first!)

1/2 t. salt (plain salt, garlic salt, onion salt, or Lowry's seasoned salt all work)

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/2 C Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 C cooked, cut up ham (or any other meat)

1/2 C celery, chopped (I never have it, so I never use it)

1/4 C green pepper (never have it, never use it, and I don't like it--much to Steve's dismay)

4 oz noodles

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.

2. While they're cooking, mix milk, cream cheese, salt, garlic powder and 1/4 C Parmesan cheese.

3. Drain noodles and toss with ham, celery and green pepper in a casserole dish (the size that's a bit smaller than the 9x13--don't know the exact measurements.)

5. Pour milk/cream cheese mixture over. Stir to moisten the noodles.

6. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese

Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

You can top it with a little cheddar cheese and paprika for color after baking. Or you could crush some Ritz crackers, mix with a little melted butter and sprinkle that over the top. Or if you want to be really adventurous, do ALL of the above--crackers, cheddar, paprika. Yummy and lovely!

If you make it, let me know how it goes, and whether or not you did any variations. (I love me some variations!)