Cooking with Emily: Perogie. Casserole

What a week it's been.  After days of grey, rainy weather (without much actual rain) the sun has returned.  Monday, which is usually Emily's day to cook was a holiday and she wasn't feeling great, battling a nasty cough. I was tired too, making something fast and easy for supper seemed like a good idea.  We opted to postpone her foray into the kitchen for a day or so.  Tuesday I spent the afternoon with a friend who has been temporarily sidelined with back troubles.  I took supper out to her and stayed on for a lengthy visit.  We got home again with just enough time for Emily to shower & get to her drama class.  There had been no school so she had joined my friend's boys out in the yard...digging in the dirt is a wonderful pastime for kids of all ages, but a shower was definitely in order before she took herself into public.
The meal Emily decided on seemed a bit heavy for a spring like day, but it is one of her favourites, and she has been asking for it for some time.  So despite my balking at the carbohydrate count she finally got her perogies
Confirming we did indeed have ham, Emily turned the oven on and took the ham out of the fridge.  She asked if the small deli ham I had purchased was the requisite 1 1/2 cups.  I told her it wasn't, she would have to measure and gave her a small bowl that would hold the necessary volume of diced meat.
She told me in no uncertain terms she could manage on her own, so I set myself at the computer, where I have a good vantage point for the kitchen but am out of the way.  She asked me if I would chop the onion for her, since she didn't want to cry.  I agreed and set to the task while she heated a little vegetable oil in a pan to cook them.  Once the onion was chopped I left her on her own again.  She set the timer to cook the onions exactly 5 minutes, as the recipe indicated, before stirring in a container of Philadelphia Cooking Creme and a little milk.
I found a baking dish for her while she took the perogies and a bag of peas out of the freezer.  The recipe calls for 16 perogies; she held up the 1 kilo bag and asked if she could just use the whole bag. I recommended she count them out and see, thinking if there were only a few left in the bag we'd toss the whole lot in.  We did add a few extras, but did not use the whole bag.  If we had had more people at the table I might have though.  She added the peas, without measuring, because, as she explained when I asked her, I don't.  She is still lacking the experience to eyeball things, so I insisted she actually measure.  Once the ham was added to the mix she poured the sauce over everything. Balancing a heavy pan with one hand so you can use a spatula is another skill she has yet to develop, but we'll get there.
She topped the casserole with shredded cheese, measured, not eyeballed, (this I would have allowed the guesstimate for, since you can never have too much cheese) and put it in the oven to cook.
While it baked I made myself a salad and poured a glass of wine, despite being told every time I wandered into the kitchen she could check on dinner.

Dinner was very good.  Rich and hearty, and probably more suited to an autumn evening than a spring one, but it was delicious.  And Emily had a plateful for breakfast, and took more for lunch.  Can't go wrong there.

Perogie Casserole

2 teaspoons oil                                         16 frozen potato & cheddar cheese perogies

1 onion, chopped                                     1 1/2 cups chopped cooked ham

1 tub (270g) Philadelphia                        1 cup frozen peas

Light Herb & Garlic cooking Creme       1/2 cup shredded cheese 

1/2 cup milk 

Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the onions until tender, stirring frequently (about 5 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in cooking creme and milk, mix well.
Combine the perogies, peas and ham in a 2 litre greased casserole, top with sauce and cheese.
Bake at 350F for 40 minutes, until heated through.

*We used the original flavour cooking creme, but regular cream cheese, melted over low heat and thinned with a little extra milk would also work.  We could have added garlic and other herbs (parsley, thyme, basil) as well, but since this was an Emily solo we didn't.
Being a Kraft recipe the original also calls for their Mozza-Cheddar blend shredded cheese.  We grated our own cheddar cheese.

** I have also double this & frozen half for an easy on hand dinner for the days we are really busy.