Fantastic Tuna Salad

Growing up, my mom would make us tuna fish sandwiches for lunch. She made them with just a little Miracle Whip......they were quite dry..... Needless to say, I was not a fan of tuna growing up, and I still can't stand Miracle Whip. I think the reason that the revolting stuff is called "Miracle" Whip, is because it is a miracle anyone likes it. Just my own personal opinion. When I married my sweet husband, for some strange reason, he liked that nasty stuff. *Shudder* I can proudly say that I have never purchased any and my hubby is still alive and thriving without it.

Anyway, I got to the point that I would rather starve than eat a tuna sandwich. Then one day it happened. I ate one. You see, my mom didn't make it. A friends mom did. I decided to be a good guest and eat the smelly thing. Well, as luck would have it, it was rather delicious! It wasn't dry, didn't have ANY Miracle Whip in it, and I didn't even have to gag it down. That's when I realized (I was in the 7th grade) that tuna was not all bad, just Mom's (sorry Mom, I still love you and will be down to visit next week - if you will still let me....). I decided to take what I could from that sandwich and make my own. To this day I still love a good tuna salad sandwich, or just plain old tuna salad (very tasty with buttery crackers).

2 (5 oz) cans tuna (I prefer Albacore in water)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons sweet relish
1/4 cup celery, chopped small
1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped

Put the tuna in a bowl and break up with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

This is what we made with the tuna salad.

It's a fish!! I found the idea in my Family Fun magazine this month. To make it, all you need is a heart cookie cutter and a circle cookie cutter. Stack 2 pieces of bread and place them on the counter. Cut out a circle with the round cookie cutter (If you have wide bread, you will only need 2 pieces of bread. Make the round cut on one side. If you have regular bread, you will need 4 pieces. Make the cut in the center). Next, use the heart cookie cutter to cut out a heart (if you are using the wide bread, cut the heart on the opposite side of the bread as the circle with the pointed bottom of the heart pointing towards the circle. You will want the point to be inside the circle so that when you cut, the tip is off. If you are using regular bread, cut out the heart and then cut the bottom of the heart off with the round cookie cutter). Spread one piece of each shape with the tuna salad (or any filling you would like) and top with the other identical shape. Put the fish together by putting the cut off part of the heart against the circle. So fun, so cute!