The casserole that could survive a nuclear winter.

Oh man. I wish I could fully post about the casserole I made for break the fast this afternoon but I can't. Let's just say that I hadn't gone shopping on Saturday. (Oh yikes, I can hear the raccoons chittering outside my window . . . they nearly attacked us Friday night at the movie but we had some brave people (thanks Sarah, Ken, Emily, Justin, and Aimee!) on the front lines protecting the group.) Sorry, back to the story. By the end of the afternoon, after working literal magic on soups and pastas I found in my pantry combined with cheeses found in the fridge, and chicken and vegetables found in the freezer, it was actually pretty good--if you prefer high fat/high salt melanges in the middle of the summer rather than at a ski lodge in January. I should have just gone with a fruit salad instead since I had strawberries and bananas on hand. But I was worried that we wouldn't have enough main dishes since we sometimes don't. So I went with this. At the potluck, Justin said, "This is good. What is the sauce in this, I can't quite place it.". Well Justin, I don't think a team of analytical chemists could place it. Here's what it looked like. Remember how casseroles always look sketchy? How does "Taste of Home" do it? That's rotini and penne pasta, chicken, asparagus, broccoli, and carrots in a creamy cheddar base. I think it looks gross and is hardly a credit to the wizardry that went into it. It really did taste like what a delicious casserole should taste like, if you like that sort of thing.