Ham-It-Up Spaghetti

Wonderful way to use up leftover ham. Heck, it's a great excuse to go out and buy the ham in the first place! Really quick and really easy, darned near impossible to mess this one up. If you start the water first, and keep checking it, you can time this so the sauce and pasta are ready at the same time. Pretty cool. When you hear the water boiling, dump in the pasta, give a few good stirs so those noodles don't get too chummy with each other and stick together. Set the timer for whatever is appropriate, then get back to the sauce-making. As microwave ovens vary, so does the speed at which chefs move about the kitchen, so prep & cook times are approximate

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 16  ounces spaghetti noodles, uncooked
• 2  cans  condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1⁄2-3⁄4 cup milk
• 1  tablespoon  dehydrated onion or 1⁄4 cup fresh onion
• 2  teaspoons dried parsley or 2  tablespoons fresh parsley
• 1  lb  leftover ham, cut into small dice
• 10  ounces  frozen peas (optional, but good) (optional)
• 1  cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Put the water on to boil for the pasta.
2. While that's going, get a large microwave-able casserole with a lid.
3. Open up the cans of soup and dump'em in.
4. Stir in the milk and seasonings.
5. Get all those soup lumps smashed up.
6. Now dump in the ham and peas, and stir.
7. Cover and microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes.
8. Stir, and determine if it's gotten hot enough to melt cheese.
9. No?
10. Nuke it again!
11. A couple more minutes.
12. When it's just about boiling, dump in the cheese, stir and cover.
13. Microwave another couple minutes, and let it have a rest until the pasta is ready.
14. It's probably tired.
15. You didn't forget that water you put on the stove for the pasta, did you?
16. No?
17. That's using your noodle.
18. So, when you heard that water boiling away, you picked up the lid, dumped in the pasta, and gave it a stir.
19. Well, then, it should be ready to drain in the colander now.
20. Drain it well, and then add it carefully to that microwave-able casserole you have the sauce in.
21. I hope you picked a big one.
22. You might want to add just about half of it, stir it around, then add the rest and stir some more.
23. Now, unless the sauce had to wait around a long time, it should be hot and ready to serve.
24. If not, just cover and microwave on HIGH for 3 to 5 minutes until it's hot again.
25. This has protein, carbs, and veggies all in one.
26. Add a salad or fresh veggie sticks, if you want something more, and some fruit for dessert.
27. Dinner is served, and barely a pot was dirtied in the making.
28. My kind of cooking!