Ham and Broccoli Casserole

Last night, I was out of ideas of what to make for dinner. I finally decided on something with pasta so I picked up the box and was reading the directions when the recipe on the back caught my eye. That sounded delicious and we had all the ingredients! I decided to make it. I was also excited because it only used half a box of pasta and that was what I had been trying to use up since we normally make a whole box at a time.

• 1/2 package (8 oz) large elbow macaroni, cooked 
• 2 (10 3/4 oz) cans of condensed soup (I used one cream of mushroom and one cream of chicken since that's what I had on hand but they recommend cream of broccoli or cream of celery. My soups were also reduced fat and reduced sodium)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed (they say 10 oz, I used 14 and I forgot to thaw it so it just sat out while the noodles cooked but it was still pretty frozen)
• 8 oz sour cream (I used light)
• 1 1/2 cups cooked cubed ham (they say it's optional but I really think this made the dish)
• 6 oz cheese (I used marble jack but any cheese will do)

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine all ingredients except for the cheese. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with tin foil and cook for 55 minutes. Uncover, top with cheese and bake 5 minutes longer. Let stand 5-10 minutes. Serves 6-8.

I was disappointed with how long this took to cook. I would also say it serves more like 4-6. It's sooo good but obviously not very healthy. At  least it has all that broccoli in there. The soup and sour cream mix seems to turn into more cheese. I'm not quite sure how that worked out but this was very cheesy, very creamy, very good! I'd definitely make again but I might try to find a way to make it a bit healthier. I also wonder if it would taste good with peas (in addition to the broccoli).