It was 5:15 on Monday night and I stared into my refrigerator trying to figure out what on earth to make for dinner.  I had no meat thawed, no plans for a side dish, no plans made for dinner at all! It was all I could do not to shove my kiddos in the minivan, head to Domino's, and skip cooking completely!  I then looked in my pantry, prayed for a little divine inspiration 🙂 (sometimes it takes that around here . . .), and saw the Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese that has been just sitting there since Kraft First Taste sent us our freebie months ago. I also saw some tuna in there (and in no way thought this could make a meal!), but headed on over to Google Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese recipe. And lo and behold, they HAVE RECIPES FOR THAT STUFF! Who knew?
After checking out a few of their recipes and adding a few things of my own, we had the yummiest easy tuna bake you ever did taste! I also mixed up some homemade sour cream biscuits (stop back for those a little later), and it felt so good when my little family gobbled down their semi-homemade dinner rather than more pizza (trust me, my guys are almost made up of pizza entirely!) And guess what? My family loved this stuff!  I didn't tell them what it was (of course my hubby knew), so when my 10 year old said “Does this have chicken in it?” My husband replied “Why, yes it does, the chicken of the sea!” When Jackson realized two hours later he had actually eaten tuna and liked it, he was appalled, but now we have a new food that we can add to our tiny list of acceptable-foods-to-be-eaten-by-a-very-picky-ten-year-old!
My husband even said it tasted just like his mother used to make (can you believe that? I was so proud!) And yes, I know it's processed food, and probably not the healthiest meal ever, but it saved me a run through the drive thru where things could have been much worse. And my kids ate their tuna – WOOHOO!  Have I sold you yet on this one?Â
Here's what you'll need . . .
1 Kraft Homestyle Bakes Macaroni and Cheese BOGO $2.99, use $0.55/1 Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese Kroger My Magazine School Days (exp 11/17/2010) or Play Kraft Noodlette game to try to win a coupon
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup We used reduced fat Campbell's; Â $0.50/2 Campbell's Condensed Soups, Publix brand may be cheaper
1 6 oz can tuna Starkist Chunk Light Tuna in Water BOGO $3.95
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons melted margarine or butter
1 cup dry bread crumbs you could also substitute with cracker crumbs, but we used Progresso Italian flavored bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare macaroni and cheese as directed on box (be sure to follow the directions, I kind of skipped them and wished I had watched a little more closely!) Add soup, tuna, milk, and onion, mix slightly, then spoon into 2 qt. casserole dish. Mix margarine or butter and bread crumbs, top casserole with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, and serve up to your hungry family!
Serve with . . .
Del Monte Vegetables BOGO $1.39, use $1/5 from 9/19/10 RPSour Cream Biscuits (I'll put up that recipe later today!)
Side Salad
Thanks so much to I Heart Publix and Two Thrifty Sisters for the coupon matchups, and check out $5 Dinner Mom for bargain meal deals. If you need some more menu inspiration, you can also visit the Recipe Index.
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Sarah says
Heeheeee….I am laughing at the ‘chicken of the sea’ comment and sweet JEH’s face when he realized it was tuna!!!
Laurie says
His face probably looked a lot like Mitchell’s would have – he was so mad! 🙂