Going from being a WAHM (Work at Home Mom) to being a WOHM (Work Outside the Home Mom) has been a rough transition for all of us. Gone are the days where I could close my computer at exactly 4 PM and start making supper immediately. I created elaborate dinners with careful adherence to the food pyramid guidelines. I’d always create more than one vegetable for the table. I turned up my nose at most casseroles and one dish meals. I judged other mothers for not being as well set up and prepared as I was. 
These days, I call to report in that I may be home around 5 or 5:30, depending on traffic. There are nights where it is later. I need to menu plan and have all my grocery shopping done by Sunday night or my entire week is shot. We’ve relied on more quick meals than I’ve wanted to and at times even casseroles take too long to get on the table before it’s nearly bedtime.
I have a book about making freezer meals. It’s a great book. I don’t have time to prep the meals in it, although I do have the freezer space. (When I say I don’t have the time, I mean that I don’t prioritize the time. I have as much time as anyone else.) How do other people do this? I have so many things I want to do and no time to do them. In short, I am frazzled.
Frazzalene to the rescue! Frazzalene sounds like the name of super hero, right?
As far as casseroles go, this one is pretty typical. It uses ingredients that most of us already have around our house. While I am fairly certain the noodles the recipe suggests are probably egg noodles, we didn’t have any in the house and used pasta instead. The big differences between this dish and the “goulash” or “hot dish” that most of us grew up with is that it uses tomato soup instead of tomato sauce and the addition of a can of corn. 
Have I told you that I have a child that hates corn? We finally got him to admit that he doesn’t really hate it, he just doesn’t like that it gets caught in his teeth when he eats it off the cob and has just extended that dislike onto the entire corn genre (except corn bread).
Even with the baking time of Frazzalene being only 30 minutes, this dish still takes nearly an hour to prepare because of boiling the noodles. Unlike Pineapple Teriyaki Meatloaf, this recipe does not suffer from being prepped ahead of time. This is another of those dishes that can be fancied up as much as it needs to be. It’s a basic, no-nonsense casserole (or is that hot dish?)
For other make ahead hot dish recipes, check out Sausage and Bean Casserole and Chuck Wagon Casserole.
