Budget-Friendly Tuna Noodle Casserole

This is a childhood favorite of mine, and I know some people HATE it. I love it. I don't want to eat it weekly, but I crave it once in a while, and on a tight budget, it must cost pennies and can feed a family, if they'll eat it. My dad and sister call it "scabs." You decide.

Tonight when I got home I wanted to make something because I had soup out of a can last night, and I can only do that here and there. I had basically decided I'd try to make tuna noodle casserole while I was in the car talking to my sister.

Sure enough, I had the ingredients on hand...it's not tough to do. Some wide egg noodles, the old fashioned kind you might keep on hand to throw into soups, peas, cream of mushroom soup, and tuna. There you go.

I boiled some salted water and cooked the noodles al dente. In a medium bowl, I combined the soup, the large pouch of tuna, and about a third of a bag of frozen peas. I added salt and pepper and a little grated onion to taste, then incorporated my noodles, making sure to coat them well with the mixture. I topped it with seasoned bread crumbs. Then I turned the mixture into my greased casserole (with fat free crisco spray) and put it in the oven at 375 for about 40 minutes until bubbly brown.

It was really good and hit the spot as far as my craving was concerned. I probably spent less than a few dollars on dinner, and I have a few servings left for lunch.

Some people add cheese to this recipe. Some don't do the bread crumbs. Some do it stove top and just heat, rather than bake. You can do it however you want. My sister likes it if it's made stovetop with velveeta and no breadcrumbs. To each his own.