You're missing Cream of ______ soup! Every casserole my mother ever made had Cream of _____ soup in it.

My mom always used to make something called "What Teenagers Cook for Dinner." It had ground beef, tomatoes, and other stuff I don't remember.

My dad invariably said, "Oh, we're having huggie-muggie again." I must have heard that several hundred different times.

But hey, I had a stable upbringing, so there's that.

I like a layer of cooked ground meat, a layer of peas, a layer of cheese, and a layer of mashed potatoes all baked till warmed through. Shepherd's Pie-ish.

Husband's Delight. It has eighteen billion calories and will stop your heart. Delish.

Tuna-noodle casserole was common in my childhood home. Pasta (preferably elbow macaroni), tuna, cream of mushroom soup, milk, frozen peas, and cheese - American or Velveeta. I never make it anymore because my husband doesn't like tuna. Boo.

OMG I need that Husband's Delight IN MY BELLY

Before I became a vegetarian, my favorite recipe was really easy:
- Brown some chicken or lamb until golden, together with a chopped onion and place in casserole dish
- Add chopped veggies (carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.)
- Add some Vecon diluted in hot water (jar of stock paste - you can buy this from the UK - it's to die for)
- Top with thinly sliced potatoes and bake on medium for an hour in a covered casserole. Take lid off for last 10-15 mins to let the potatoes brown.
Ymmmmm ... drool. Of course, I now make this with Quorn. Not quite the same, but more peaceful ... :-)

That sounds really good, susurration - sort of like what we make in a crock pot. Except I don't know what vecon is :(

MM, I might try the husband's delight, with liberal substitutions. I'm definitely going to replace pepper with our special southwest chili powder mix.

I've been making stuff from Cook's Illustrated's Cover and Bake the last couple weeks. I just ate the leftovers from a New England Fish Chowder Casserole we had last night. So good. Basically just onions, garlic, white wine, cream, a little flour for thickening, potatoes, and cod. Oh, and duh, bacon. The onions/celery/garlic cook up in the bacon grease.

Last week we had a crab casserole from the book too. Dungeness with some cod folded into a cream cheese, milk, old bay, Worcestershire, lemon juice, salt/pepper mixture and baked until gooey and delicious.

This isn't a casserole but under the same low and slow principle I love making Chicken Tikka Masala in the winter.

Beefaroni! We kids called it barfaroni, of course. I still call it barfaroni.

There are lots of recipes on the internets. Most seem to use tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce, but Mum used canned stewed tomatoes and tomato paste, ground beef, macaroni and garlic. The mister got her recipe and changed it up a bit by adding a lot of onion. The mister's version is better than Mum's. He's also come up with a "white" version using alfredo sauce instead of tomato products and mozzarella instead of cheddar. Both are really yummy.

My kids had "beefaroni" at school a couple weeks ago. They love it. I said I would make beefaroni for dinner. I made this recipe, but added sauteed chopped onion and minced garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and a can of whole tomatoes that I broke up with a fork, because I love chunks of cooked tomatoes. I didn't want it to taste like spaghetti so I skipped anything "Italian", such basil or oregano.

My kids said, "You are the best cook, mom. You should be a chef." Ha ha ha. They are too sweet.

Vecon is a concentrated vegetable stock paste. I have not seen this in the USA, but I always stock up when I visit my folks in the UK. It really is to die for, when making casseroles and soups. If anyone has seen it in the USA, please let me know -- I can't find it over here. Otherwise, I'll just have to kidnap the Wholefoods CEO's pet rabbit until he agrees to stock it ... :-)

MuddDude came home early, and I ended up staying late, so we just had some chicken and rice.

But I'm going to keep these in mind for next time I get to cook.

I'm in the UK and had never heard of Vecon, but it sounds good. I use Marigold stock powder, which I really like but it isn't stocked in many places.