What I love today, I may not love tomorrow!

The other day, I was staring blankly in my cupboards and refrigerator trying to find something that sounded good for lunch. This varies greatly day to day!! On this particular day, I decided on Tuna Melts. They hit the spot that day...but haven't sounded good since! Pregnancy does such crazy things to your appetite. I keep my tuna melts pretty simple- Tuna, Cheddar, Whole Wheat Bread, Black Pepper and Tomato. Easy, Cheap and about 10 minutes from start to finish.

 Start by pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees. I throw two pieces of wheat bread right on the oven rack while it's pre-heating to toast it lightly.

Remove lightly toasted bread from the oven and split 1 can of tuna in water (drained) onto the bread.

Cover the tuna with a few thin-cut slices of tomato and grind fresh black pepper on top.

Top with very thin slices of Sharp Cheddar Cheese and bake about 7 minutes- or until cheese is melted.

Two open faced tuna melts with a Clementine totaled less than 400 calories for lunch and filled me up well! Hoping this sounds good again another day :)

October 29th- the day my love proposed :)

Friday was the 6-year anniversary of the day my husband proposed :) I decided I was going to make him a special dinner to celebrate...and then we ordered pizza! I did make him the dinner I had planned on Saturday, trying 2 new recipes!

The first was Mexican Pesto served on top of seared Tuna steaks. To go with the Tuna, I made a Hominy and Cheese Casserole, and a side of roasted radishes. It was delicious!!

To make the pesto you need: pumpkin seeds, cilantro, garlic, olive oil, a serrano chili and either Cotija or Parmesan Cheese.

I grate my garlic into the food processor so you don't bite into a chunk of raw garlic. Add all ingredients and blend until smooth. I only used about 3 TBS of olive oil instead of the 6 called for in the recipe.

The finished pesto- refrigerate until ready to serve. Any unused portion also freezes well!

On to the hominy! I had never had hominy before until I started exploring different cuisines. My husband really likes hominy, so I thought this was worth a try. The recipe calls for low-fat cream cheese and cheddar, but this is what I had on hand.

Cook the onion and garlic until soft. Then, add the green chilies.

Stir in the cream cheese until melted. I only made half the recipe because I wasn't sure we would like it.

Finally, add the hominy and mix well.

I opted to put the cheddar on top instead of mixing it in. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

 

While that baked, I did a quick sear on my tuna. I seasoned simply with salt and pepper so the flavor of the pesto would be the star.

The finished dish...all delicious and going into my regular rotation!!

I love re-vamping a classic!

I think it is so fun to take a classic recipe, such as Tuna Noodle Casserole, and give it a healthy update! I really don't use many canned foods (Soups,sauces,etc), so this recipe is completely from scratch. It's one of my husband's favorites- and I actually enjoy it as well.

I used Baby Bella Mushrooms, Yellow Onion, Celery, Green Olives, Tuna in Water, Low Fat Mozzarella, Fresh Grated Parmesan, Skim Milk, Olive Oil and Healthy Harvest Egg Noodles (Whole Wheat).

I cooked my mushrooms first to get a little color on them. Cook in 2 tsps of olive oil over Medium heat until they just start to brown.

Chop 2 ribs of celery (leaves too) and 1 small onion. 

Add to the mushrooms and cook until soft.

In a separate pot- boil the water for the noodles. I used 3/4 of the bag.

To the mushroom/onion/celery mixture, I add an additional tsp of olive oil and 2 TBS of flour. Cook 1 minute and slowly stir in 3 cups of skim milk. Drain and add 2 cans of tuna (in water) and 1/2 cup of fresh grated parmesan. Most classic recipes call for Pimentos- we just use green olives with the pimento :) I added about 12 Queen sized olives, sliced.

Grease a 9x13 pan and add the pasta and mushroom sauce. Stir to combine and top with 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.

This recipe makes a lot- but it freezes really well and my hubby can eat it for days!

I forgot how much I love Macaroni salad!!!

A summer favorite I had completely forgotten about! Thanks Abbey for making me think of this :)
I don't know where my mom got the recipe, but she made this Macaroni salad every summer when I was growing up. Of course, back then....I wouldn't eat the peas!!!


I made a half batch. The recipe I have calls for:

1 cup of mayo (I used light)
1/2 cup of sour cream (again, I used light)
1 lb of macaroni (I used Whole Grain shells)
2 cans of tuna in water (drained)
1 8 oz block of cheddar cheese (cubed)
1 cup of frozen peas
1 tsp of celery salt
1/2 tsp of onion salt...which I didn't have so I used a little garlic salt and a little onion powder.

Mix together mayo, sour cream and seasonings.

Add in tuna- I still used 2 cans in a half batch because I was serving it as a main dish.

And cheese- I used about 1/3 of the block.

Place peas in the colander and run cold water over them. After the pasta has cooked, I add cold water to the boiling pot and then dump the whole thing over the peas to chill down the pasta and thaw the peas.

Add peas and pasta to the bowl and mix to combine. I love using the shells because the peas get stuck in them :)

Chill well and enjoy- A perfect meal for a hot summer day!

Loving fast and fresh!

I love nothing more than a simple, delicious, and healthy meal...ready in about 20 minutes!! On the menu- Tuna Steaks in a lemon marinade with garlic and olive oil couscous and oven roasted asparagus!
The tuna and couscous can both be completed while the asparagus cooks, so prep the asparagus first. Rinse stalks and snap off ends. Spray with olive oil cooking spray, then sprinkle with garlic salt and black pepper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


While oven preheats, place 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic in a saucepan with about 1 TBS of olive oil. Heat oven medium-low heat for about 5-7 minutes. This is just to infuse the flavor into the oil.


Put the asparagus in the oven (20 minutes) and prepare the marinade for the tuna steaks. Use 2 cloves of garlic, the zest of one lemon, 1/2 TBS of fresh or dried Rosemary and 1 tsp of salt with 1/4 tsp of fresh cracked pepper. Grind all this together on a cutting board with a knife until well combined.



Place in a shallow dish with about 3 TBS of olive oil.


Back to the couscous! Remove the garlic and add in 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add in 1 cup of couscous and a sprinkle of Italian Seasoning. Cover and remove from heat.


Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Coat both sides of your tuna steaks in the lemon marinade and place in the hot skillet. Cook on each side 4-6 minutes, until cooked to your liking.


Remove asparagus from oven, fluff couscous with fork and place one tuna steak on each plate with a couple lemon wedges. Fresh, fast and fabulous!