Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for March 12, 2025

I think I’m gonna try making some of these recipes on the dashboard of my truck this summer. Maybe get into the news again.

Sounds pretty tasty! How much of it winds up with the cats hanging around under the dinner table?

Puck is just like my Gracie. Always near the action when food is involved!

Casseroles are always good!

I have been mentioning the Cook Book from the 1950s my sister gave me. Here’s a tuna casserole recipe from that.

Tuna Casserole

1 large onion chopped

1 large clove garlic crushed

1 can tuna

1 can mushroom soup

1/2 c. grated yellow cheese

1 c. cottage cheese

1 c. milk

1 t. Worchestershire sauce

3 drops Tobasco sauce

Salt, pepper, noodles

Brown onion and garlic in fat. Add tuna and brown. Add mushroom soup and other ingredients and blend. Add cooked noodles. Top with buttered bread crumbs and bake 350 degrees about 20 to 30 minutes. By adding 2 cans of tuna it will serve 6 to 8 persons.

Can’t have a recipe discussion from this era without the classic. It’s another of those recipes with some vagueness. The noodles are an almost throwaway ingredient at the end, with no indication of how much to add. 6 oz? 12 oz? 16 oz? I dunno.

What size noodle package and tuna cans? I know there are at least 3 or 4 different size tuna cans where I work. There also used to be different egg noodles.

Oh, this should generate a whole bunch of posts! And this is another one of those recipes that is very personal. I will post my tuna casserole recipe in the morning. I don’t have that one already written out so will have to make it as I go.

How is that boy going to get any tuna with all those cats around?

I love tuna noodle casserole!

GASP! I’ve never had tuna casserole before! I must remedy that soon. ❤️

All three of my cats ask for tuna water.

Mom’s tuna casserole is simple. One can of cream of mushroom soup, one small tin of tuna, and a bag of potato chips. Dad’d asleep, or else I’d have the time and temp in the oven.

I once got a really upset stomach after eating the tuna noodle casserole in the lunchroom when I was in elementary school. Though tuna noodle casserole was never a favorite, I loved tuna salad. After getting such a severe upset stomach, I have never been able to eat tuna in any form again. Just looking at that recipe is making me feel queasy. So, I won’t be around for the discussion today. Hope tomorrow is something less triggering!

I used to make tuna casserole when I was a student living off campus. It was cheap and filling and comforting. I think the last time I put one together, I made the mushroom soup from scratch, which was not an improvement. Canned soup is a must for this dish!

Please, not in a wildfire warning area!

Sounds fine to me. I like the sharing of information but can’t get enthused over most recipes.

So is there a cookbook in the offing? “The Woman Cooks up a Storm”?

Eh this too much works. Me just gonna eats fishies.

Use foil package tuns, There is more meat and less tuna water to throw away.

Ma’am? Ma’am? What are you going to do with that, Tuna Water? Ma’am, Maaaaaa’am?!

On FaceBook I follow Clara Batton, she re-posts recipes that she has found or has been linked to from the USA . They all start with a large foil tray , 1 or 2 blocks of Valveeta “cheese” and 16 sticks of butter . Eggs used to also feature but the cooks can no longer afford them . I find them quite amusing .

In honor of Ricky’s return, to the Orb- What did the mother noodle say to her kid, when they tried to stay up late? It’s pasta your bedtime!

Tuna casserole!!?!

The Nana seems to focus on comfort food.

My hubby used to ask what he did wrong whenever I made tuna noodle casserole ( I add spinach)) but the kids loved it.

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Still at the oPyramid Library

Iggy: Here’s a trove of church cook scrolls. They have some of the most delicious recipes. My favorite is the tuna casserole.

Violet-Ifa: And here is one from the Church of St. So-And-So. He’s our patron saint.

Beatrixia: Is that his real name?

Vi: That is a secret held among the Ancient and Accepted Procurers’ Guild.

Bea: In other words you’ll never tell.

Sue Chef: I understand the Water Cat Brother are going fishing for Tremendous Tuna this week. Maybe we can use the recipes for tuna casserole here.

Beaver Lee Cleary: And it looks like no two recipes are the same.

Obadiah Opossum: I just got a letter from my Cousin From Down Under, Patrice Possum. She and Floofnet the Joyous are coming for a visit!

Sue Chef: Looks they picked the most opportune time. What are some of the other scrolls, Bev?

Bev: Here’s The Better Pyramids and Oases Guide to Entertaining. This reminds me of the days when the news scrolls had a feature page with comics, advice, puzzles, and all that good stuff.

Bea: Maybe we could have that again in The Daily Scroll. I’ll have to talk with Elvis.

Enter Thomios

Thomios: Tea and scones, anyone?

Happy BCN Origination Day!!!!! On this day in 2014, the first BCN web comic (“Everything is broken”) was posted.

(Note: On GoComics, if you go back to the start, it will send you back to an alleged January 1, 2010 strip. This is a coding error by GoComics. The strip did not exist in 2010 and the “bacon strip” that is shown actually comes from April 2, 2017. But I digress…)

Georgia’s first self-published BCN strip was posted on March 12, 2014. Since then, BCN has gone from being a web comic on its own page, to being part of the GoComics line-up (in October of 2014), to being a daily newspaper strip (in 2017)—and it has now generated eight books, multiple calendars—and a wide range of wonderful items available in the BCN Threadless shop.

Since my clowder is eating the UTI prescription food now, I’ll have to check with our vet to see if tuna water is OK. They usually come running when I open a can which has been useful when meds need to be given. Personally I prefer tuna salad to tuna hotdish which doesn’t make any difference to the cats since the tuna needs to be drained either way.

All hot dishes must include a can of cream of something soup, usually mushroom.

BTW someone identified the compound in tuna that cats crave, cant recall it now of course

Seems complicated, but most likely worth it. Too bad I can’t make it at home because of my fiancee’s fish allergy.

Hmmmm, pass on this one for me. I don’t eat tuna. I wonder if it would be equally good with turkey? It’s mostly vegetables and cheese otherwise.

The weights of the corn, peas/carrots, egg noodles etc would be helpful. Nothing against Mom, but I’m pretty sure shrinkflation happened since she wrote it down. Are we talking 16oz packages or 14oz?

I will have to look for my tuna noodle casserole recipe. I haven’t made it in literally decades (1993, if I recall correctly).

My mom made this! And she always specified the Golden Mushroom soup for the best taste!

Tuna casserole, natures way of telling you that you have the palate of a canine. (They eat poop)

Now this is a tasty casserole that even a kid will love:

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Ingredients:

4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (15 ounces) Italian tomato sauce

1 medium green or sweet red pepper, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Place zucchini in colander; sprinkle with salt. Let stand 10 minutes, then squeeze out moisture.

Combine zucchini with eggs, Parmesan and half the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Press into a greased 13×9-in. or 3-qt. baking dish. Bake 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, breaking meat into crumbles; drain. Add tomato sauce; spoon over zucchini mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; add green pepper. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes longer.

When I hear Tuna Casserole I immediately think of the old TV show Welcome Back Kotter. Mrs Kotter was infamous for her tuna casserole which apparently was infamously terrible

When I was young, I had tuna casserole and then got very sick. Was it the tuna? I don’t know. But I have never had tuna casserole since. It’s funny how getting sick as a child from something sticks with you your whole life.

I’ve never heard of a tuna casserole, let alone a casserole. I guess I have something new to try!! <33

If I decide to try this I will for sure skip the carrots and peas. I don’t really like either cooked. My mom used to put peas in her tuna casserole which I didn’t like. Interestingly she also put them in her cold tuna noodle salad and I like them in there, so it is just the cooked ones that I don’t like.

A number of years ago my mom found a cook book we did when I was in grade school that had recipes from kids in my class. There was a tuna casserole recipe in it from one of my friends. I posted on Facebook that my mom found it and my friend was really excited because she had been trying to remember her mom’s tuna casserole recipe for a long time. Her mom had died either when we were seniors in high school or shortly after we graduated.

I loved my mom’s tuna noodle casserole, but I’ve never tried to make it and it’s been decades since I had it. I know it had tuna, egg noodles, frozen peas, canned mushrooms, and white sauce, which I think had American cheese melted into it. And bread crumbs on top — my favorite part! Maybe I should give her a call and get the actual recipe.

My Mom’s tuna casserole was tuna, cream of mushroom soup, and peas, maybe also a white sauce, topped with little cut out squares of bread. Pasta was not something my father liked except spaghetti and mac ’n cheese.

Wow, keep this up and you’re going to land on a Gen Z list all your own.

As someone who was there for all that, I can assure everyone that any recipe using canned tuna, frozen vegetables and canned soup is Definitely the Nouvelle Cuisine of the fifties.

“kennel corn”? Ummm …

I won’t eat anything seafood or fish etc. Fish phobia for one thing; and I’ve tried shrimp or lobster at all – guess tastes too much like seawater. Have never tried tuna casserole but bet the ingredients with chicken instead would taste pretty good. Have several 12 ounce cans of chicken so maybe one can would do. And salt free cans of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups. So might have to think about some herbs or maybe um sage or thyme instead? Any ideas? I’d like to try Georgia Dunn’s recipe and am glad to see onion and garlic powder. Maybe some finely chopped onions and garlic as well.

If you don’t like tuna, substitute canned chicken.

Since my mother was such a Plain cook, (meat, vegetable and starch, without embellishment) as a child I found Tuna noodle casserole very exotic, all this stuff mixed together, and very good, too. I never realized until later that we were eating that way because my dad had gone back to school, after The War (WWII, for my era) and it was cheaper.

Another blast from the past everyone’s mother made. Another “no thanks” from me as to wanting to make this. Another dish with tuna Mom made was Tuna Chow Mein and she got these crunchy noodles that you put it over-I kinda liked that as a kid but it had nothing to do with real Chinese food of course. And now back to the cats and raccoons please….

Mmmmm…“toona noonas” (as I used to call them when I was a rugrat) NOMNOMNOM…but frozen peas & carrots don’t belong anywhere near it, even on the side! =8-O I could tolerate the corn, but that belongs on the side, & I’d rather have frozen corn than canned.

As always, YMMV; AWYSB…

Tuna, crushed potato chips, cream of mushroom soup. That’s all.

Congratulations for ten years of BCN and our ORB here on GC.

Tuna Casserole isn’t really a thing where I live. We have fresh fish on our coast, and the only canned fish I recall are for cold tuna salad and salmon patties.

Blessed are the record-keepers ♥

For those who are worried about the price of eggs, but still want a sweet little treat, here’s my recipe for Sugar Cookies – and it bakes up well, even with gluten-free flour (although I haven’t tried it with alternative sweeteners, so I can’t give any guesses about how that would work). I have shared this before, but given the price of eggs, I think it’s worth sharing again. I’ve included the proportions for a small batch (about a dozen cookies, depending on how generous your scoops are), but the recipe can be doubled with no problem.

If you want to change the flavor a bit, lemon or almond extracts are very tasty.

SUGAR COOKIES – NO EGGS

Oven: Preheat to 350

To make a Small Batch :

¼ lb. butter (1 stick)

½ cup sugar

¾ cup flour

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. vanilla

Cream together butter and sugar. Sift dry ingredients together and mix into creamed mixture, then add the vanilla. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press slightly with a fork dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes until lightly browned.

Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

Felix Unger made a tuna casserole in a season 1 episode of The Odd Couple.

It was the semi-finals for “The Golden Apron”, and it got him into the finals. :-)

An alleged January 1, 2010 start date: Does that mean Georgia is 150 years old?

Ah yes: Glop. (No, I’m not casting aspersions, or any other spell.)

Tuna glop on noodles. Tuna glop on rice. Turkey glop on noodles. Turkey glop on rice. Beef glop on noodles. Beef glop on rice.

I became an excellent Glop chef after getting divorced. Money was very tight for awhile—so much for the “Divorced Dad Syndrome.”

Recipe: One or two pounds of shredded or ground meat, cooked except for tuna. Add cooked or canned meat to cream of mushroom soup, proportioned according to budget. Add canned mushrooms if available. Add whatever veggies are available, usually frozen veggie triple (corn, beans, carrots) or whatever you have on hand. Heat, stirring constantly. Season to taste with plenty of garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and serve with bottled hot sauce(s) of your choice, over rice or noodles, whichever you have at the time. Two pounds of meat will usually feed one person dinner for a week. Hauté cuisine it ain’t—It’s comfort/survival food.

When I was a kid, Mom made this, but with elbow macaroni and Velveeta cheese, the rest pretty much the same. Filling and cheap.

I can’t recall if I ever tried tuna casserole before. It looks pretty good.

That recipe would be great if you left out the tuna!

OT

Just want to wish my son a happy birthday today! He’s the one who introduced me to Breaking Cat News. Yay! He always was a good kid.

Ohhh you busted out the cream of mushroom soup! My roommates in college and I used to make something very similar to this, except we were too broke to afford real cheese!

Hot dish! Essential ingredients: meat or tune, noodles or macaroni, chopped vegetables, cream of something soup, cheese. Years ago topping was Ritz crackers or bread crumbs. Today Tater Tots are preferred.

I’ve never greatly cared for tuna, and my mom used to make tuna casserole every couple of weeks (or maybe it only seemed that often.)

I used to like tuna casserole. My favorite was the one with potato chips. I just lost interest.

I’ve found that tuna always tastes too dry to me, no matter what I mix with it. So no more tuna for me.

But some other meat, such as chicken or turkey (my favorites!) ought to do just fine.

I was just looking a little closer at the recipe and first I thought it said 2 lbs of butter instead of 2 tbs of butter. Those would be some really buttery Ritz crackers. :)