Thank you all for your advice and recipes. Caliloo, I am definately going to do up the Chicken and Noodle casserole. How couldn't anyone like it? it has all the goodies in it- chicken,mushrooms and cheese. And it looks like even I could cook it! Sherrmann, I hear you, I really do. Just thinking about someone bringing me a steak or something if I were convalescing, would probably set me back immediately. Annie 1992, there is no problem with sodium or sugar. If I repeat Sherrmann's words while I deal with stew meat, I will probably be able to carry it off. And I have to admit, I am intrigued by the gingerale ingrediant. But if I stay for dinner (I'm going to be on dishwashing duty as well) I will bring my own peanut butter sandwich! Rachelellen, Great suggestion about deli meats and pre-cooked meats. You have reminded me that I know of a place that sells pre-made and cooked meatballs.So, that is one dinner down- spagetti, meatballs, and some tomatoe sauce, and he will like that. And Kathleenca, I think I will put a few good frozen dinners in his freezer. They will be my back up plan. Thank you all for your good wishes for my Dad's recovery. I will be so glad when his surgery is over and he is on the mend.

I put "NO PEEK" in the oven at night to serve the next day. Guess what - I FORGOT it was in the oven until it was cooking for 4-1/2 hours!! When I raised the lid of the "Dutch Oven" pot, it looked a little mushy (like a stew), but definitely eatable. I folded in about a half cup of red wine and half a package of onion soup mix and left it on top of the stove overnight to cool. The smell was mouth watering, and I can't wait to have it for lunch today at the office. Just spoon it into a zip lock sandwich bag and heat in the microwave. Yummy. I really don't think you can go wrong as long as you have a 300 degree oven, stew meat and "good old" Golden Mushroom. Sandra

Yes, Alexa, I got that impression from another post you made some time back. I do have to say though, that you are in the minority. I have only had two people detest them: (well, that I know of): you, and one of my students. Yep. We all have different tastes. I love rich, and cheesy, and detest too cloyingly sweet stuff, whereas most of the others love the sweet stuff. Actually, what I said was, if a recipe sounded too sweet to me, I would not choose to make it. I make lots of savory recipes that don't sound good just to see if they are. I am interested to hear if she likes it. Actually, I like teresa's idea of using wine instead of ginger ale. That would eliminate the sweet. As a matter of fact, I think I will try it with wine. Now that does sound good to me.

This recipe is from the Once-A -Week Cooking forum, Your Favorite Family recipe thread. I've been making it for years and it's always a favorite. My grandsons love it, and in fact requested it for camping this weekend. I cook it in my Nesco Roaster and serve it over mashed potatoes. I use Eye of Round Roast cut into chunks, and no mushrooms except what's in the soup (grandsons don't like them). Teresa, I don't use bread crumbs. Here is the recipe as copied from other forum No Peek Casserole 2 lbs stew meat ( i use 3 lbs) 1 can Campbell's Chicken Mushroom Soup 1/2 cup Gingerale 1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix 1 4 oz jar mushrooms, drained (optional) Preheat oven to 300. Comebine ALL ingredients (DO NOT brown meat and DO NOT dilute soup with water) together. Mix well. It will be lumpy before it's cooked. Pour into a casserole dish and cover. Bake 2 1/2 to 3 hours. DON't PEEK!! Serve over pasta, rice or mashed potatoe's. The smell as it's cooking is WONDERFUL This post was edited by ruthz on Fri, Oct 25, 13 at 8:42