Cheesy Creamed Tuna on Toast

Growing up my mom would make Creamed Tuna on Toast quite often for a quick, after church meal on Sunday. I decided to give it a whirl for lunch after church, but with a little twist. Remember that massively HUGE box of Velveeta? Well I threw some in, just for good measure. :) The kids all really enjoyed lunch, especially when I told them it was "Farm Food".

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
1/4 pound Velveeta, cut into cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 (5 oz) cans tuna, drained (I use albacore - it's less fishy tasting)
10 sliced buttered toast

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium low heat, then stir in flour to make a paste. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly. Increase heat to medium and add Velveeta and salt and pepper to taste. Continue whisking and cook until thick and cheese is melted. Add tuna and stir until well combined. Serve over buttered toast.

Grilled Salmon

I am NOT a fish fan. The kids love it, the hubby likes it, but me? Not so much. I have a Baked Tilapia recipe that I find to be edible. And now I have a salmon recipe I find to be edible as well. The kids and hubby loved it!

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets
lemon pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and vegetable oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Preheat grill for medium heat. Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on the preheated grill, and discard marinade. Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Recipe from All Recipes

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!

Baked Tilapia

Personally, I am not much of a fish fan. Never have been, and most likely never will be, but, for some reason, the kids LOVE fish. Fish is supposed to be very good for you, so for the sake of health, I keep trying it. My friend Tasha loves fish and couldn't believe that there was a person alive that didn't. She offered to cook some for me so I could try it. I can actually eat this fish without gagging! I just make sure to add lots of seasoning my my fish. The kids complain if I put a lot on their fish, they claim they can't taste the fish. In my opinion, that's what makes it good.



6 tilapia fillets
garlic salt
lemon pepper
dill weed

Sprinkle fillets on both sides with seasoning. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes (from frozen) or until it flakes easily with a fork.