Grandma’s Thanksgiving Noodles

Frugal Upstate is one of the blogs I enjoy reading. It is a fun combination of a frugal blog, a cooking blog, and a mommy blog and I find it interesting for all those reasons. If you like fast, easy, and fun recipes for your grandkids that don’t cost a lot, read through her various recipes. You’re bound to find something that interests you – probably several things. I am going to try the Pizza Hut pizza dough in a bread machine recipe! It sounds yummy AND easy – my two favorite cooking recipe criteria for this season of my life! http://frugalupstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/pizza-hut-crust-clone-recipe.html

This week she is hosting a fun series, “Frugal Thanksgiving Mini Series.” http://frugalupstate.blogspot.com/2008/11/best-thanksgiving-side-dish-recipes . I thought it would be fun to join in on that and take y’all with me. Hopefully, we’ll all learn some new recipes and ideas that will save us some money and be fun to implement this Thanksgiving. And if you’re not able to join us in the festivities this year due to caregiving responsibilities, I hope you enjoy thinking about it a bit for the future, save the articles you like, and we’ll pray that next year will be an easier year for us all!

Today she is focusing on Side Dishes. When I was little, Thanksgiving meant one thing to me. Thanksgiving Dinner at my grandparents, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, and, most importantly, noodles! My grandmother was famous for mixing the dough, cutting the noodle strips, and cooking the noodles for hours until they were just perfect. They were a lot of work, but they were so good it was worth it!

When I was about 12, my dad and I went over to my grandparents’ house early to help with dinner. We were shocked to discover that sometime in the past few years, she had discovered frozen noodles! She had given up making them from scratch, gone to a simpler recipe, kept cooking them with lots of love and we never even suspected! We’ve laughed about that for years! In retrospect, I am really grateful. With all the other goings on during the holidays, frozen noodles is a lot easier!

MY GRANDMA’S NOODLES

Ingredients:

2 packages of frozen noodles (our favorite, would you believe, is Grandma’s Wide Egg Noodles – http://www.grandmaspasta.com ).

4 cans of Campbell’s cream of chicken soup.

Water – ten cups (can add more water later if desired).

Directions:

Defrost the noodles a bit – either by letting them sit out for a short time or popping them in the microwave.

Bring the water to a boil.

Slowly drop the noodles in bit by bit stirring often.

Turn the heat down to a low boil and cook for about 1/2 hour – continuing to stir often.

Add the soup, stirring well. Bring back to a low boil, and continue to stir frequently.

Turn the heat down to a simmer.

Simmer the noodles for at least 1 hour.  Stir frequently so they don’t burn. They are done when you are happy with their taste and consistency.

This is one of those recipes where you can change things easily – times, amounts, types of soup (I often use the Campbell’s Healthy Choice soups).  You can even make it a day ahead of time and reheat it the next day, adding a little water, if necessary, to achieve a good consistency. This kind of flexibility makes it a great recipe for caregivers whose loved ones have different needs. Have fun and let me know how you like it and what changes you make.

Tagged as: Grandma, Grandmother, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving noodle recipe, Thanksgiving recipes