Barb, are you talking about the "conversations" section of the Cooking Forum, or other forums on Houzz, or other forums in general, like "Fresh Loaf", etc.?

My other favorite forum is "Harvest", but it's for people who are canning and preserving, and it doesn't have a "conversation" portion either.

I'm sorry I don't have a recipe for tuna casserole, I never make the stuff. Elery detests it and it's not a favorite of mine either.

Annie

Try Kitchen Table and the Home Decorating Conversations. Both are good.

I like the Kitchen Table, here at GW.

Mustangs, your tuna dish sounds terrific!

I have Marilyn's recipe, but have never made it. Don't think it would qualify as low calorie with the butter, half & half, mayo, and cheddar cheese. ;)

I like the Home Decorating Conversations forum along with Tomato Growing. Occasionally read Hot Topics and see a few people from here over there.

My kids used to love to make a box of Kraft's or Annie's macaroni and cheese and add a drained can of white albacore tuna. You could do a similar thing by cooking your noodles, draining and adding some good melting cheese, a bit of milk or yogurt and maybe even throw in a handful of frozen peas.

To me, you can't have a healthy (low carb) dish with the noodles in Tuna noodle casserole, unless you use shirataki noodles, barb. It's all about the noodles or not. Shirttaiki noodles are expensive and not readily available. And they stink and need lots of rinsing--see what Kenji says re shirotaki. If you want a lot of noodles, Barb, it won't be healthy. Up to you.

I have no problem with eating noodles if you want. The Italians aren't all falling over dead or overweight! They just say to respect the quantity per person - apparently us Brits eat way too much.LOL

Why not just cook some rice and add tuna to it? I used to do that when I was a student and had less time for cooking - today I pretty much only buy fresh fish instead of canned.

The Kitchen forum, because it gets the most traffic and lots of new posts.

....I love both pasta and tuna, although , I just don't care for them together ;)

Thanks for all the comments. Stauffers had a good tuna-noodle frozen casserole but it had more than 800 grams of sodium. That is a no-no for me. I thought I could maybe incorporate some rice noodles. It was the sauce I was concerned about. Just found out yogurt is a no-no because of my sometimes traumatized bladder. Lars, my daughter just took an early buyout from her airline job and moved back to the Midwest from California. I can't say how much she misses her fresh fish. She is a vegan but not totally. Just doesn't eat any beef. I love cheese but have found that I must have a non-aged cheese--like ?--good, meltible (is that a real word?. Anyway will keep searching for a good, not-fattening recipe. Barb

I like tuna in a cheese sauce. You could put that on some pasta.

Here's another

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1965/pasta-with-tuna-and-tomato-sauce

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9649/tuna-pasta-bake

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/linguinewithtunafish_70041

http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/easy-tuna-pasta/

Perhaps these will inspire you.

I normally cook rice in broth with a few vegetables added, such as celery, onion, mushrooms, chilies, etc, and these are also compatible with tuna. I usually mix cooked chicken or sausage with the rice after it is cooked, but tuna would be good also and would be similar to a casserole. You could put it in a casserole dish, add your favorite cheese on top (and some bread crumbs) and bake it to make it more like a casserole. I used to put potato chips on top instead of cheese and bread crumbs, but that is not non-fattening, and I do not do that any more.

I think cooked rice is a better choice than rice noodles.

Is there a sauce with not such fattening ingredients that is similar to an Alfredo sauce? Thanks for any suggestions. Barb

I usually use a Velouté sauce, and the worst part of that is the roux, but that is a small part of the sauce - the main part is chicken or vegetable stock. In place of a roux, you can thicken the sauce with corn starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch. All of these will behave differently when baked, with corn starch being the most stable. Potato starch loses its thickening effect when reheated.

I personally do not like Alfredo sauce, partly because I do not like cream in a sauce and partly because most of the Alfredo sauces I've had were made with nutmeg, and that give it an extremely "off" flavor for me. I do NOT want nutmeg in my spinach or pasta, but I do like it in eggnog.

Barb, this recipe comes from Cooking Light. My daughter, Ashley, says it's good, she loves Tuna Noodle Casserole, but had a stroke at age 27, and so has to cut the fat and sodium. She says she tried cutting the cream cheese in half, but it wasn't as nice and creamy, so although it lowered calories and fat even more, it did compromise the texture. You could probably sub the rice noodles for the egg noodles, although I'm not sure what the texture would be after baking. It makes a lot, she serves it to her family of 4, but it looks easy to cut in half. It may freeze well, too, but she hasn't tried that, they just eat it all.

TUNA CASSEROLE

From Cooking Light

8 ounces wide egg noodles

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/3 cup chopped carrot
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 3/4 cups fat-free milk
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
• 2 (5-ounce) cans albacore tuna in water, drained and flaked
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and carrot; cook 6 minutes or until carrot is almost tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in milk; cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk until slightly thick. Stir in cream cheese, mustard, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Remove pan from heat. Stir in noodles, peas, 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and tuna. Spoon mixture into a shallow broiler-safe 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray; top with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories 422
• Fat 16.5 g
• Satfat 7.1 g
• Monofat 6.3 g
• Polyfat 1.8 g
• Protein 27.4 g
• Carbohydrate 40.6 g
• Fiber 3 g
• Cholesterol 88 mg
• Iron 2.4 mg
• Sodium 608 mg
• Calcium 293 mg

Annie

Annie, thanks. This recipe sounds right for what I have to do. Thanks so much. Will see if my daughter will share with me. Appreciate all of your comments. From the way it sounds, all of you don't have to cut here and there. 608 mg is still pretty high to me. Barb

Barb, I think many of us do have to cut "here and there". I have high blood pressure and try to watch my salt, so no canned soups or processed foods or mixes. Good thing I don't like those things anyway, LOL. Neither my husband nor I drink, so no beer/wine/alcohol, I'm always trying to find reasonable substitutions. My oldest daughter can't have dairy or gluten and my youngest one had that stroke, so low fat and low salt. Stepmom is going on dialysis and isn't supposed to eat anything, as far as I can see, because she's also on Coumadin. I know Shambo cooks with nearly no salt and Sally is vegetarian, Mustangs' husband just got out of the hospital and if you look at even Ann T's lovely plates on What's For Dinner, you'll see moderate servings of real, good, wholesome food.

That's a large part of the equation, I think. MODERATE portions of real food. Not fast food, not restaurant food, not cans and boxes of things with unknown ingredients you can't pronounce. Real food, cooked yourself, so you know what's in it. Your body is only as good as the fuel you put in it.

Good luck, it's sure a job changing the way we cook and eat and even the way we think about food, isn't it?

Annie

Annie1992 You put it so aptly, Annie. I have to admit that cooking was not my passion , but my health is dictating what I must do. Also, since Medicare has cut down on what it is paying doctors, I find myself having to do a lot of research on my own because you cannot get the help that you need. You have to go through an army of nurses and wait for a couple of days for answers. No complaints because I don't blame them in any way. You are just a number now and the old days when your doctor was also part of your family is gone. Actually, my pharmacist has become my helper for info. We all have our problems, right? Such good help. Thank you. Barb

To make less salty, cut the Parm. cheese down to 1/3 cup and leave out the salt. I'd sub something like "Mrs. Dash" salt free sprinkle for the salt, but I like my food spicy and find tuna noodle casserole too bland. Or put some italian seasoning in it.

lpinkmountain - will do that. Never heard of Mrs. Dash saltfree sprinkle. Got several of the Mrs. Dash though. I like spicy also but very irritating to the bladder, so have to make adjustments. Barb

Cooking is my favorite forum, but Harvest is #2 because I am a preserver as well. I just use my mother's tuna casserole recipe from when I was a child (in the dark ages) which used the cream of mushroom soup and noodles.

Kitchens is it for me. Then cleaning and organizing, and perennials. I don't quite feel comfortable posting anywhere, and probably never will because I'm a triangle hole and don't feel I fit with most irl people, who must be round or square holes but I love to read. When I post I get hurt feelings when there's no answer. At 58 and a half you'd think it'd not be like that still! this should be my mantra. For happiness look within, ... or eat cake ;0)

I have all sorts of issues which keep me eating plain and simple. I love tuna casserole. Fresh tuna or salmon for low salt and low fat cream cheese and powdered skim milk or condensed skim milk, is what I use to keep the cals down and still creamy. In a pinch I use avocados for creaminess. I can't eat anything canned except amy's soups. you could check her ingredients, salt etc.

yeonnasky, don't hesitate to post here, you'll nearly always get a reply, even if it's a disagreement. Just try talking cornbread, ie, with or without sugar and whether white or yellow cornmeal, LOL. I love it all, so I'm good with it.

I don't always "fit" either, I'm a farm girl who worked in a legal office my whole life and live in Northern Michigan. Now I'm back to the farm, but there is no popping out to Trader Joe's for frozen dumplings, the nearest Trader Joe's or Asian Market or Penzey's or whatever is an hour and a half away. I have local groceries, of course, and local orchards and farmer's markets, so there is no shortage of healthy local ingredients to cook with, in addition to my own beef, pork, chicken, eggs and garden items. Anything out of the ordinary, though? Take a drive, LOL.

Annie

Barb, I feel your pain regarding the tuna casserole. The recipe Annie posted sounds like a winner, though. I like the idea of a low fat white sauce enriched with low fat cream cheese. I think the cream cheese would add creaminess . (FWIW, I usually add about a cup of Safeway's Lucerne no-salt-added cottage cheese to my tuna noodle casserole for that very reason.)

I read your post last night just before heading off to bed and thought almost exactly what LPink suggested. To lower the posted sodium content, don't use the salt at all and cut the Parmesan down to 1/4 - 1/3 cup. Also use cans of lower sodium tuna. All the major brands (Chicken of the Sea, Bumblebee, & Starkist) offer lower sodium tuna, as does Trader Joe's. And be sure to cook the noodles in unsalted water. If you do those few things, you'll probably cut the sodium content quite a bit.

And Annie brings up a good point about portion control. Sometimes I make something that is definitely low sodium, but I like it so much that I want to eat 3 helpings. If I do that then I'll have consumed way too much salt. So I pack it up for lunch the next day.

And Lpink is right about the Mrs. Dash and other salt-free seasonings. I regularly order several from Penzeys or Spice House. Many Mrs. Dash spice blends are available at most grocery stores, though.

Oooh, cool to know there is low sodium tuna fish out there, because I imagine that canned fish is normally quite high in sodium.

Oh, and when it comes to no salt flavorings, I am a big fan of Penzeys "Mural of Flavor." That one would be great in tuna noodle casserole.

Oh, and Yeonassky reminded me that pureed white beans can add creaminess to things without the fat. I wouldn't go overboard, but white beans and tuna are a classic combo.

Since this has begun to focus on the low salt/sodium, just this morning I was listening to my local public radio station that carries The People's Pharmacy. Their expert of the day was pointing out that most people get much (if not all) of their iodine from iodized salt. She said that many people are therefore now deficient in iodine. I don't recall her mentioning a solution. Perhaps someone here has some idea. Otherwise, many may be swapping problems.

To reduce the sodium you could also substitute fresh cooked tuna for canned tuna, use rice instead of noodles, dry mustard instead of prepared dijon mustard. Most prepared mustards are really salty.

We are all triangles, lol. Such an interesting observation about the internet and forums. I know eyes probably roll at most of my posts, but someone somewhere might use my non-recipe jumble way of cooking or use a hint since we cut out most sugars and salts a long time ago.

Mentioning pharmacists Barb...i've done the same. I wandered into a pharmacist in the city....seems to be one on every NYC block...two young girls behind the counter, young meaning younger, probably early thirties. This was a couple years ago, but i decided to ask about a possible urinary tract infection and we ended up chatting for 20 minutes. They were so helpful and suggested a non-invasive over the counter thing to try first before seeing my primary care as i just had no time...they were a fantastic wealth of information. And made me promise to seek doctor help if it was not solved in a few days.

Researching on our own is just good knowledge to have along with your primary care office. We really are responsible for our own basic needs at home and to eat as healthy as we can.

It is difficult to start making changes to a dish that is so familiar but i feel pretty shitty after eating comfort food. DH made red-eye gravy, scratch biscuits, the day after a party. With leftovers after i made a de-salted roasted ham NewYears day...we ate tiny portions and it was a treat, then felt crappy all day. We just don't eat that way anymore. (it was delish going in!)

Not had tuna casserole since my my mother made it when i was a kid. Loaded with wasted calories. Lots of ways to replace that with vegetables and still be creamy and filling.

I've been making a no-mayo nicoise tuna salad for years.

Even better, With your prep bowls...6 or 8 soup bowls near your chopping block...chop a half red onion, or white, a half red pepper, a couple ribs of celery, some green onion...pull some peas, limas, spinach, out of the freezer,,,,(i buy the bags over the rectangle cube boxes from the freezer section). Any good veg choices you like...) in the bags you can just take a handful, then wrap it back up with a rubber band. A veg in each bowl, the frozen as well and they start to thaw a bit.

Some olives if you like them, capers if you have them. A half a chopped apple and some lemon zest with a 1/4 juice...grate a couple cups of cauliflower. Or chop. Even chopped mushrooms.

Saute your onions and celery, grated carrot, garlic...whatever you want and place in the bottom of a casserole, add all other veg and layer with tuna and cooked rice pasta or regular egg noodles but use a 1/4 portion. Just replace all that pasta with 3/4 veg. Cauliflower is such a great pasta/rice replacement.

We use non-fat greek yogurt mixed with cottage cheese, feta, or a slice of goat cheese...we like all of those and usually have them on hand. I use a bit of water but skim milk is a good choice for some moisture. And egg stirred in is good but not necessary. I always have citrus ice cubes frozen with some herbs. a couple of those on top...cover and bake...then cover off near the end of oven cooking to get a nice bubbly light brown top. Browning a bit adds flavor.

Packed with lots of veggie you can eat a bit more.

The rest of the fresh chopped veg and apple/lemon/herb, olives etc goes into a fresh tuna salad for the next day or two. Cucumber and avocado is super on that salad.

You then have a crisper drawer of leftover veg not cut up for another few meals at the end of the week. Half a red pepper, half and onion, etc.

My veggie lasagna and Shipwreck pie, both are 75% veg and keep winning cooking contests. Because they are baked casserole dishes they have all the elements of comfort food without the high starches and empty calories though very filling and comforting...and we don't feel shitty the next day.

For a while DH was on a low-sodium diet (misdiagnosed but that is a whole different discussion). When I went into Penzey's looking for spices to perk up low-sodium dishes, the saleswoman told me to avoid lemon pepper. She said most lemon peppers are very high in sodium. Penzey's, of course, had a helpful substitute - Sunny Spain. It is a sodium-free/low-sodium lemon pepper. I still use it frequently. I also bought Mural of Flavor, which was a good flavor booster for many dishes.

My favorite other forum is Home Decorating. Five years ago when I ripped out and re-did my kitchen, the folks on the Kitchen Forum could not have been kinder and more helpful.

I go to Organizing from time to time, but it doesn't seem to be very active.

Home Decorating Conversations is a total free-for-all, in a good way. Want recommendations on what to do while you are in Hawaii? Have a child with a behavioral problem? Want to know what the latest styles are for Spring? Want to talk about religion? Just post a question and the discussion will start!