Talerine Turkey Casserole Recipe Review

I love casseroles. They make me feel cozy and the leftovers are always bomb and feed me throughout the week. This one in particular appealed to me because I love egg noodles and corn and mushrooms and I swapped out the ground beef for ground turkey to make it healthier (says the girl who ate the majority of Betty Crocker cake over the course of two days).

But I think therein lies the problem. I really liked this casserole, and I liked it even more as leftovers last night. It just wasn't quite what I expected, and I think my attempts to make it healthier took too much away from it. Here's what it should have looked like:

Talerine Beef Casserole from Simply Recipes

That to me looks like homemade Hamburger Helper. And the chubby midwestern housewife in me LOVES Hamburger Helper. And Rice-A-Roni and ramen noodles and Lean Pockets (Louise!).

What I did was:

- Swapped in ground turkey
- Didn't use the 1lb (!) of cheddar cheese that the recipe called for. Used only a bit of Parmesan cheese instead.

So what I got, really, was an interesting turkey ragu with corn and mushrooms and olives and noodles. Don't get me wrong- baked pasta of any kind is delicious, and this was delicious and healthy ( I used multigrain egg noodles also). But Hamburger Helper it was not.

Perhaps it's unfair to review the recipe for what I thought it should be when I knew I was making those substitutions all along. And maybe one day I'll actually make it with the beef and cheddar. As it was it- it was totally delicious, but I can't stay that I'd go through the effort of making it again. Not in that way at least. Next time I make spaghetti and meat sauce- I'll add the corn and olives because it did add a fun sweet and tangy element that most pasta sauces don't have.

It's sort of weird to write a review of a recipe that I didn't love. It's almost like 'what's the point of sharing??' But I figured it was worth sharing because it is a delicious recipe just not what I expected. And also, sometimes the attempt to make a recipe healthier just isn't worth it.