Instant Pot Tuna Casserole
A classic casserole turned into an easy Instant Pot dinner
Hello!
I took some time off last week while visiting friends and family on the East Coast. In the days leading up to any trip, I always sort of regret planning it. The stressful process of buying plane tickets, organizing a trip, finding a cat sitter, packing and getting to the airport is enough to make me never want to travel.
BUT! It is so great to travel!
I never regret going on a trip, even if it’s hard to pull off. Last week, it felt really good to step out of our same old weekly routine and wake up somewhere that is not our house. A change of scenery is always a good thing.
Three quick thoughts about traveling, since summer is fast approaching:
Take Real Time Off: Make a real effort to completely unplug from work, the internet and the news. I didn’t send a newsletter last week because I prioritized spending time with my family. I knew you all wouldn’t mind. Often, we think we should stay plugged in at all times, but taking real time away is worth it. You’ll have a better trip and feel more refreshed and ready to jump back into work when you return.
Plan One “Back Home” Dinner: I bought two frozen pizzas from Trader Joe’s before we left. They were waiting in the freezer when we got back home late on Friday night after a long flight. Trader Joe’s pizza has never tasted so good. Before your trip, stash an easy meal in your freezer for the night you return. You’ll be so glad you did! (Dried pasta + red sauce is also an easy post-vacation meal)
Tweens & Teens Travel Better Than Toddlers! Traveling with kids who are 9 and 13 is sooooo much easier than traveling with toddlers and babies. We had a fraction of the luggage and a fraction of the whining….it was like finally reaching travel heaven. If you’re still in those difficult travel years, I see you. (I literally saw many of you at the airport, with carseats and babies strapped to your chest!) That was me for many, many years and you are doing a great job, it will get easier!
Recipe of the Week: Instant Pot Tuna Casserole
If you’re someone who has a nostalgic connection to tuna casserole and you still crave it every now and again, this recipe is for you.
I honestly wasn’t too sure how many people would appreciate an Instant Pot version of tuna casserole, until I got this message from a woman named Karyn:
“I've made this quite a few times and it always turns out delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It's easy, very tasty and a family favourite”
Thanks Karyn! I have to admit, there’s something about tuna casserole that I enjoy too. The thick egg noodles and creamy sauce are really comforting.
This updated version of tuna casserole isn’t made with canned condensed soup and doesn’t bake in the oven. It cooks entirely in your Instant Pot and the creamy sauce is made from cream cheese, cheddar, whole cream and Dijon mustard.
Egg noodles are my favorite noodle to cook in the Instant Pot. They turn out perfectly al dente and chewy (here’s a recipe for plain Instant Pot egg noodles). After the noodles cook, you stir in the remaining ingredients, including canned tuna and peas. Easy, fast comfort food!
You can find the full recipe for Instant Pot tuna casserole here.
Where to find Kitchen Skip Recipes: Most of the recipes I share can be found on my blog Kitchen Skip. You can also search past newsletters in the newsletter archives. If you’re a paid subscriber, all of the bonus recipes can be found in the Substack recipe index.
Reading
I’ve been slowly but steadily reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, enjoying the complicated characters who mostly have their hearts in the right place. It’s hard to find fault with the book and it will probably end up a four star read for me, but I also didn’t feel so wrapped up in the story that I couldn’t set it aside for a week while I was traveling. I like the book, but I don’t feel attached to the story, I guess.
Apparently some people love the ending and some hate it, so I’m looking forward to seeing where I fall. Have you read it? What did you think?
For long flights, like I had last week, I enjoy reading books that are a little more propulsive, so I chose book #11 in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, The Nature of the Beast. I read about two Inspector Gamache books a year, and this turned out to be one of my favorites.
This series is quirky and sometimes a bit strange, I think you either love it or you don’t. What I love the most is spending time in Quebec with Inspector Gamache, who is one of my favorite characters in literature. Also, the characters eat and drink the most incredible meals throughout the books. It’s impossible to read a chapter without getting hungry.
Dinner Last Week
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? I hope that my week of real life dinners will provide a few helpful recipes & cooking ideas for your family.
This was a busy week before we left on vacation, so I kept dinners as simple as possible.
Monday: Broiled tofu, served with white rice, sliced cucumbers and shredded cabbage.
Tuesday: Slow cooker green chile chicken, served with tortillas, brown rice and taco toppings. I’ll be sharing this recipe with you next week - it’s a really easy way to make flavorful shredded chicken breast for tacos and burritos.
Wednesday: Pasta and pesto, with roasted zucchini and mushrooms on the side. I also bought a good loaf of bread from a neighborhood bakery. I’d estimate that 90% of what my kids ate for dinner was bread and butter.
Thursday: Dinner was a random assortment of what was left in the fridge and needed to get eaten before we left town on Friday.
A happy belated mother’s day to all the moms out there! My day was very low key since we had just returned from our trip, but Josie did leave me a nice noodle message on her plate after dinner. What more could a mom ask for?
That’s it for this week! What do you have planned for the weekend? I think we’ll be catching up on life, doing stuff around the house and yard, and maybe escaping for a bike ride or quick trip to the beach on Sunday. We have so much to get done after a week away, but life has to be more than just chores, right?
Jenny
P.S. It warms my heart when you click the “heart” button at the end of a newsletter. It’s a nice way to let me know you’re out there and reading!