I can't cook that recipe I don't have xxxxx.

There are zillions, no exaggeration, of recipes out there.    Everywhere you look. Facebook, web sites, even grocery ads.    A lot of them call for a box of this , or a specialty food that you don't have or that is expensive.   Don't overlook a recipe because it has an ingredient that you don't have.   That being said, it's not easy to substitute a main ingredient.    Or not, last night we had Mexican lasagna Stack.   It called for beef .  I used chicken.

I precook meat all the time to save time.   I just skip that part of a recipe.  
Some recipes call for a list of spices that are clearly Mexican or Italian.   I have already made taco seasoning and Italian seasoning and often times I substitute a long list of spices for my already made blends.    It just saves time.  

On the cheap spends more time shopping and planning than cooking.   It pays to shop wisely.    You can cook good and tasty food efficiently,

Many recipes are starting from a box or bag of something,   Usually something  that costs a lot and is full of preservatives.    If it is shelf stable, it's either canned, or has preservatives to prolong its shelf life.   Many times you can make your own mix or figure out an alternative.  

Case in point ( example).
Betty Crocker  has a recipe on lime for a new version of tuna noodle casserole.    It's probably more nutritious and  less fat laden than our old cream of mushroom soup version.   But,not calls for leek soup mix and a brand of bread crumbs.


I am going to :
1) make my own bread crumbs.   Bread crumbs can cost upwards of 2.00 a pound for someone's dry bread.   If I top a casserole., I usually add breadcrumbs with dried parsley and some parmesean cheese.    I use parmesean cheese from the deli department that I have grated or a blend of hard cheeses.    Costco has a wedge of a hard cheese for 12.00 .  Its huge. lasts forever and you can grate it with  a micro plane.    Good taste, less fat.   Don't buy that stuff in a green box.  It has wood pulp in it.  You want real cheese.



It calls for you to cook linguine and add frozen broccoli two minutes before cooking time is to end,

You cook linguine  and add broccoli during the cooking time,    I would add the broccoli and red peppers a few minutes before the cooking time was to end.   Wash the broccoli and Lenore's on vinegar water first.    I usually do that on kitchen management day,

It calls for an envelope of leek soup mix.    I will google leek soup mix and find the ingredients.  From the recipe om assuming it with milk makes a cream soup rule of "gravy" .


Leek soup mix :

Ingredients: 

Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Maltodextrin, Onion Powder (Contains Sulfites), Modified Potato Starch, Potatoes*, Salt, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Monosodium Glutamate, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Leek*, Whey (Milk) Guar Gum, Yeast Extract, Spices, Natural Flavors (Wheat), Turmeric, Disodium Guanylate, Disodium Inosinate. *Dehydrated. Made In A Facility That Processes Milk, Egg, Soy, Wheat, Sesame, And Sulfites.

Let's Analyze this.

Flour, onion powder. Potatoes, salt. Oil, leeks. Spices, including tumerick.
That reads-- white sauce with onion powder and salt.
My white sauce mix has cornstarch , low sodium chicken granules, and non fat dry milk.   Add onion and salt.

Or second alternative, is canola oil, flour ( roux - equal parts) and liquid of choice. Milk , non fat milk, or low sodium homemade chicken stock.  

In either case, skip the milk.

To recap :
Cook linguine in salted water adding broccoli and red pepper chopped the last few minutes of cooking time.    Drain .   Put in greased casserole dish.    Make white sauce recipe and add a can of well drained tuna .   Stir  to combine with noodles.    Add a topping of breadcrumbs and parsley and parmesean  cheese. Bake about 20 minutes  until everything is heated through.  About 350 degrees.