fresh friday

About half of you are about to say "ew yuck" and the other half "oh yum!"

But my guess is about half of the "ew yuck"ers will secretly be saying "oh yum!"

Now, I know there are unspoken rules about when you eat tuna salad.  Mainly, it smells.  So if you are taking it to work, you need to be aware of who you are eating with (or eat alone that day!)  However, there are so many benefits to eating it.  Tuna is all protein and NO carbs!  It also includes healthy portions of vitamins E and K, potassium, iron and iodine.

Since I steer clear of carbs, tuna is a great choice for me.  And coming up with creative ways to eat it is easier than it seems.  Since it is summertime, I wanted to fix some tuna salad up with some fresh veggies.  And I came up with what you see above!  My mama and I enjoyed it for lunch yesterday and I half to say emphasize, we ENJOYED IT very much.  I call it, Half and Half Tuna Salad Tomato because it is supposed to be a cross between a tuna melt and tuna salad sandwich!

Half and Half Tuna Salad Tomato

Serves 2 people

12 oz can of Bumble Bee Chunk White Albacore in Water

2 tablespoons Hellmann's Mayo with Olive Oil

3 tablespoons Mt. Olive Sweet Relish

3 medium size tomatoes

Kraft 2% Mozzarella Cheese

Mix tuna, mayo, and relish together well. The measurements for mayo and relish can be adjusted to your liking.  I usually try to use the least amount of mayo possible (I'm not a big fan).

Then, refrigerate until ready to use.
Turn oven onto Broil.

Slice 1 tomato into 4, place on a baking sheet, top with mozzarella and broil until cheese bubbles.

Hollow out the other two tomatoes and fill with chilled tuna salad.

I hope you have a great weekend!  What are your uses for tuna salad?

Now to start my weekend off right with a little puppy play time!

Tomatoes Florentine

We will be in Memphis soon for my cousins wedding! I'm really excited about seeing a few new cities and my family!  My dad and the hubs are pretty excited about eating BBQ!  I've heard so many awesome things about Memphis, I can't wait to see it for myself!

Yesterday, my mama and I were at the grocery store trying to pick out some sides out to go with our grilled shrimp dinner! We had both seen a repost on Facebook for these tomatoes and decided to make them with a few tweaks of our own.  And let me just tell you, they were AWESOME!! I mean they were really really good!

Tomatoes Florentine

Serves 4-6

6 vine ripe tomatoes

1 bag of fresh spinach

3 cloves of minced garlic

Provolone or mozzarella cheese slices

Balsamic Vinegar

4 tbsp water

First slice each tomato in half.  Remove some of the inside (but not all!)  Pour balsamic vinegar in the insides of the tomato and underneath.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  

Preheat to 350. After marinating, put tomatoes on baking sheet (leave just a little bit of balsamic vinegar inside!). Bake tomatoes for 7-8 minutes.

While tomatoes are baking put spinach and water in a pan on the stove and cover.  After 5 minutes, check the spinach and stir.  Add garlic.  Recover for five more minutes or until done.

Remove tomatoes from oven, drain spinach and put some in each tomato.  Top with a slice of provolone or mozzarella. Broil until cheese is bubbly. And ENJOY!

I promise you won't regret it!