The Guiltless Tuna Sandwich

Sometimes when you completely change your diet, you need to overhaul old favorites.  This is tough when you crave comfort food and deep inside your head a little voice shouts " But I don't want to change!".  Take for instance a tuna fish sandwich on soft wheat bread oozing with mayo, ( my husband) or the same sandwich on white bread and lots of sweet pickle relish. ( Me) Everybody has a favorite.  In your mind, you know exactly how it is supposed to taste.


So you trick your brain into eating a  much healthier version by making some delicious changes.  First of all you add crunch.  You can use whatever fresh  veggies are on hand.  In this recipe, I used green bell pepper, celery, and carrots to this recipe.  Radish, raw turnips,  or any other crunchy raw vegetable will work, as long as it is tasty raw.


Then you have to give it extra flavor.  I added chopped onions. Red onions are preferred, however only white were on hand and they worked well.  Green onions are great too and give a pretty green splash to your tuna.  I also add pickles, but instead of corn syrup-laden sweet pickle relish, I now add diced crunchy baby dill pickles.


 Now about those pickles.  When I first went organic and non-processed, I started reading labels.  So many items that previously, I took for granted were healthy, had all types of strange ingredients, but pickles were pickled right?  Therefore they did not need a bunch of preservatives. People have pickled veggies of all types for hundreds of years and this pickling process is what preserved them.   Well at least that is what I thought until I started reading pickle jar labels.   Cucumbers are green, so why the heck is there green ( or yellow and blue) dye in modern day pickles.  I finally found pickles without dyes or preservatives at an international market, however these little green crunchies came in a can.  I had never seen canned pickles, and since it is impossible to see through the can to look before I bought, it took me quite a while until I became brave enough to try them.   These crispy little gems were so full of flavor, I went back and bought several more cans.




The next hurdle is the mayonnaise issue.  You will find as you read this blog that Best Foods Mayo is my wonderful husband's secret ingredient for all of his best dishes. ( Except spaghetti as far as I know.)  This is
one item we really struggle with, since he does not care for the taste of the Spectrum Mayo I use. I often end
up making mixing the tuna and then dividing the mixture into two bowls. Or sometimes instead of mayonnaise, I use a small amount of olive oil with a dash of balsamic vinegar.


Trey prefers his sandwich on sprouted grain bread such as Food For Life Ezekiel bread, but I enjoy slathering it on top of crispy sesame AkMak crackers which are made only with sesame, and stone ground wheat.


Put a few new twists on an old favorite comfort food, and soon you have a healthy meal , which not only tastes off dang hook, it also becomes comfort food for the next generation.


Until next time, remember, make sure your comfort food is Whole Tasty Food!




Here are a few of the products I mentioned.  Tuna recipe is below.
























Guiltless Tuna Sandwiches


4 small or 2 large cans of tuna
1 stalk celery,diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/4-1/2 med onion diced fine
1/2 green bell pepper diced
4-6 baby dill pickles diced
1/2 cup Spectrum Olive Oil Mayo ( or to taste) ( may substitute Extra Virgin Olive oil)
Toss all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Spread on AkMak Sesame Wheat crackers or Sprouted Grain Bread.  Top with sliced tomato if desired.  Enjoy. Serves 4

January is Soup Month!

It rained all last week. For Southern California, that is an awful lot. It was pretty cold too, I know 40 degrees is not cold to some of my readers but it sure made it easy to break out the stock I made. I keep my stock frozen in quart-size freezer bags which are clearly labeled and dated. Soup is so good for you and stock is the perfect base for easy soup. It is a great way to clean out the fridge as well. First I heated my stock.  Then I chopped the veggies I found in the refrigerator which needed to be eaten.  I found celery, carrot, potato, and onion.  I quickly diced it into small pieces which were close to the same size.  This will keep them all cooked at the same time.  Put the celery, carrot and onion in the broth and simmered for about 30 mins so the flavors would enter the soup.
Then I added some chopped leftover steak and a potato as well as a bit of leftover pasta.When the potato and pasta were done, I salted the soup.  I sliced up some whole wheat and sesame barbari bread and slathered it with Organic Valley Pasture butter, which is a cultured butter full of omega 3's and CLA.  Basically it is the tastiest butter ever!  Dinner was ready.

Soup is so good for you, the ultimate comfort food, and is found in cultures all over the world.  People who eat soup often lose weight faster. Not only is it delicious, it is quite easy to make.  
Soup can bolster your immune system as well as detoxify your body.  It makes you feel so good inside too. A bowl of hot soup  can make you feel loved!  It can remind you of Grandma's house or a rainy day after school.  Soup is nutritious, a perfect food, easy to digest and perfect when you are sick!   Soup can make  bad day good, and a good day great!


Until next time, remember to enjoy Whole Tasty Food!

Stocker Mom

Today is a cold and rainy day, in fact it has been raining for the past two days and according to the weather report, rain is in the forecast until the end of this week. This is, you understand, a perfect time to make stock.

The thought of making stock can seem overwhelming and time consuming, however not only is it extremely easy, it is tasty and oh so good for you.

Beef stock is basically broth, the stuff that makes the base for your vegetable beef barley soup, beef gravies and stews, rice dishes, beef stroganoff, pho, and so much more.  It is a fantastic feel good comfort food.   Heat some up, and a few leftover veggies and last night’s steak and you have an easy and delicious meal.

Stock is extremely good for you   If you use bones from grass fed beef you will get tons of Omega 3’s and minerals. The gelatins in this dish strengthen your bones and immune system as well.    Stock offers so many health benefits, especially if you are sick or have a cold.

I found my recipe in Jordan Rubin’s book “The Maker’s Diet”.  He uses a recipe by Sally Fallon. I base my stock recipe on this.  I use apple cider vinegar to pull the minerals out of the bones, so your body can use them.

Beef Stock

about 3-5 pounds beef marrow and knuckle bones
1 or 2 calves or beef feet, cut into pieces (optional)
3 pounds meaty rib or neck bones
filtered water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 onions quartered
3 carrots, quartered
3 celery stalks, quartered
several sprigs of fresh thyme bundled together and tied ( use string)
l bunch parsley

Place the knuckle bones, marrow bones and feet in largest stock pot you have and cover with water.  Add apple cider vinegar let sit for one or two hours.  Take meaty bones and bake at 350 degrees until brown.  Add this to stock pot that has been sitting.  Make sure you include all of the drippings.  Add all veggies at this time.  Add filtered water to almost the top of the pot. (leave at least one inch). Bring to a boil. A whole lot of scum will rise to the top.  Skim it off and discard.  When the scum is all gone, reduce to a simmer, the lowest heat possible.  Add thyme bundle.   Cover and simmer for up to 48 hours, the longer you cook, the better it is for you.  When done, let it cool  a bit and take out the bones.  Strain it, to remove rest of bone bits and veggies. Place in refrigerator of 20 minutes to one hour.  Fat will rise to the top and you can scrape it off and discard.  Use immediately or ladle into labeled quart-sized freezer bags for future use. 

This stock is the perfect base for any soup, sauce or gravy.  My next blog will give away my favorite soup recipes.  Until then, please remember to eat Whole Tasty Food!