South of the Border Noodles and Beef

I don't know what he's going to do with that bowl either...

I was up from 3 - 5 a.m. with asthma issues and because of a bad storm here. I woke up at 6:45 wondering why my husband's shower was so loud - only to realize it was water was pouring in the window well in the basement. Only about 1/2 on the basement floor, and we have most things up high, but the water was spewing in so there is mess in that radial area. I don't know if there are cookbook casualties yet, but there may be a few. Muddy water, thankfully, not sewage. We'll be cleaning today, but thinks look ok so far. We are very lucky. I'm blogging because I want to do something normal this morning. My 7 year old made me a card to cheer me up. It was marked 'MAIL' and said I LOVE YOU A LOT. Made things a lot better!

So here's our Teen Time crew having a party. This isn't authentic 'south of the border' of course, any more than the many many vintage 'Hawaiian' recipes mean anything more than a recipe with a sprinkle of pineapple or coconut.

2 1/2 cups wide cooked noodles
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon melted shortening
1 tablespoon flour
Few grains pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic salt (oh boy - hope she is serving mints later)
1/4 tsp. ground oregano
2 tsp. chili powder (that must be the mysterious ethnic ingredient)
1 cup undiluted Carnation Evaporated Milk
2 cups canned tomatoes
1/2 cup drained and sliced ripe olives
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Place cooked noodles in bottom of 8-inch casserole.  Brown onion and beef with melted shortening in frying pan over medium heat.  (gross) Drain excess fat from pan.  Stir in flour, pepper, salt, garlic salt, oregano and chili powder. Add Carnation:  mix well.  Stir in tomatoes and olives.  Heat to just below boiling; pour over noodles. Sprinkle with cheese and bake casserole in moderate oven (350F) 20 - 30 minutes. Serve.

Husband just came up to tell me wet dry vac isn't working. Off to do the school run then to stop at the store. I'll bet lots of folks around here will be doing this today.