Fill-in-the-Blank Casserole

In my two blissful weeks on the peds unit, I've learned that the answer to almost any question is, "It depends..."  How much formula should an infant eat per day?  "It depends....plus they should be breast feeding."  What's the most common cause of growth retardation?  "It depends...how old are they?"  What's making this kid wheeze?  "It depends...what's going on in their home?"

What goes in today's recipe?  It depends.  It really does.  What do you have?  What veggies are looking kinda crappy that need to be turned into a nice dinner?  What type of protein do you have in the back of your freezer that you kinda forgot about?  And any combination would probably be great.

This is a real nutmeg: just grate it on a microplane.

The sauce is a homemade cheese sauce...kinda.  You use a bit of butter, flour and milk to make a roux (thick white sauce), then flavor that and stir in any kind of cheese you have.  Not hard to make, but you need to WHISK!!  There will be a time where you'll be like, "this is soooo lumpy!  it's not going to work.  gross".  But keep whisking, it will be ok.

Enough for another meal AND lunch tomorrow!!

Fill-in-the-Blank Casserole
1 Tbsp olive oil
Total of 3 cups of vegetables:  I used 1 small onion, mushrooms, shredded carrots, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes
1 package cooked chicken sausage (or any other protein)
1/2 package egg noodles (or any noodle or grain)
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup shredded cheese
Pinch nutmeg
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to taste
1/2 Tbsp dried Italian herb mix
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large skillet, soften vegetables until tender.  When softened, remove from pan and add in chicken sausage (or whatever meat you have on hand).  Cook until warmed through and browned slightly.  Add vegetables back into pan, and season to taste.

Meanwhile, cook noodles until just under-done (6-7 minutes for noodles that usually take 8-10 minutes to cook).  Drain noodles.  In empty pot over low heat, melt butter and add flour.  Cook 1 minute.  While whisking, add milk and cook until thickened (keep whisking!).  Add in nutmeg, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and herb mix.  Stir in cheese until melted.  Add noodles and veggies/meat mixture, stir well.  Pour into 2 quart baking dish, top with bread crumbs, and bake until warmed through and the top is crusty and golden, about 20 minutes.