Tuna-Noodle Casserole and Advance Prepping

I like to “prep” before I cook. I know we all have to do that, but I mean ADVANCE prep. Like maybe the morning of, or even the night before. It doesn’t work for everyone, and it takes the same total amount of time to cook whatever you’re cooking no matter when you prep it, but I find it just makes a difference in my state of mind. The reason I like to advance prep is because at my house, the after school hours are my “witching” hours. So the less I have to do in the 4:00-6:00pm time window, the better for everyone. Sometimes we aren’t even home during those hours, which makes prepping for me even more important. And sometimes my kids have a day where they need more help on their homework after school, or just need some one-on-one time with me. Whatever it is, knowing part of my work of cooking dinner is already done, I can relax, even if it’s just a little.

I am going to post the recipe now, and then I will tell you what I did to “advance prep” it! Even if you aren’t a Tuna-Noodle Casserole kind of person, I hope you will find my prep tips helpful!

Tuna-Noodle Casserole - adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

4 ounces egg noodles
1 cup frozen peas
¼ cup fine dry bread crumbs, or crushed Ritz crackers
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped onion
3 tbsp butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp dry mustard
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
2 – 5oz. cans of tuna, drained and broken into chunks

1. Cook noodles according to package. Add frozen peas during last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, combine the bread or cracker crumbs and 1 tablespoon of melted butter; set aside.
2.For sauce, in a medium saucepan, melt 3T. of butter and cook celery and onion till tender. Stir in flour and dry mustard. Add milk and chicken broth; cook and stir till slightly thickened and bubbly. Watch closely, you don't want to scorch. Combine sauce, tuna and cooked noodles in a 1 ½ quart casserole. Sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 375°F for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.


Ok, now that all that is out of the way, let me tell you about how I prepped it. Last night, after cleaning up dinner, I actually still had some energy (shocker, I know) and decided I would chop the celery and onion for tonight’s dinner. I put them together in a small bowl, covered it, and stuck it in the fridge. Then I measured out the bread crumbs into a small prep bowl, combined the flour and dry mustard into another small prep bowl, and measured out the noodles and put them into a small bowl. I covered all of them with plastic wrap and left them on the counter. Now, some people may not be ok with all that on their counter until the next day…you can stash it anywhere that works for you, of course! Or, maybe this prepping stuff isn’t for you, and that’s ok. Lastly, I filled a pot with the water I was going to use to boil the noodles, put the lid on it, and set it on the stove. Set another empty one on another burner that I would use to cook the sauce. And I was done for the moment.

Now, some of you may be thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of work to do that…she could have just measured out the flour and dry mustard right when she was ready to add it to the sauce!” or, “Getting the pots out isn’t that hard to do right before you start”! And that’s true, that might be a little easier. But trying to grab all those things, measure them, get them in the pots all at the right moment all the while my kids are asking me questions, telling me they are hungry, and the pets are chasing each other around…it doesn’t always work for me.

Today, around lunch time, I cooked the noodles, made the sauce, and assembled all of it, so now all I have to do is put it in the oven and bake it. I will have to extend the cook time 10-15 minutes since it will be coming out of the refrigerator. We are also going to have some raw veggies and dip as a side dish. Carrots, celery, orange and yellow bell peppers are all some of my kids faves. And it’s easy. That is something I can do while they are working on homework, or asking me a thousand questions.

Well, I need to wrap this up so I can go wash all the dishes that I used in making this dinner. That is the other nice thing….then after dinner, the only clean up is the dishes we ate off of! Not a huge pile of pots/pans/utensils!

Happy prepping!!!