Greek Tuna Salad

I made a tuna salad almost entirely of foods living in my pantry and fridge door. It was so good! If you like Greek salads you can really have fun with this.


1 can of tuna packed in olive oil, excess oil poured off
1 tsp pepperoncini peppers, diced
A splash of the pepper juice from the jar.
1 tsp kalamata olives, diced
1 tsp capers, chopped 
1 diced hard boiled egg
1/2  green onion, diced
1 tbsp mayo or more to taste
Pinch of dried oregano
1 tbsp sun dried tomatoes, diced
Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
Black pepper to taste (The peppers and olives add plenty of saltiness. Taste before you add more.)


Stir...
Chill...
Serve


Or do what I did...


I slapped two halves of an English muffin in the oven for a few minutes, scooped some of the salad on the muffin and topped it with a little (okay, big) slice of goat cheese. Stick it back in the oven for a few minutes and crank it up to a broil for a minute at the very end. 


It will change your life!


Don't be afraid of adding an egg to tuna salad recipes. It makes it creamier and it stretches the recipe.

Pantry Confidential and Uses for Powdered Drink Mixes

A little area in my pantry is dedicated to drink mixes. You know, Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, those nifty instant coffees from Starbucks that I keep in case zombies stop by for coffee?

I used the Kool-Aid brand for this. You can use any brand of unsweetened  lemonade. You'll find the unsweetened kind in the tiny packets, not in the big packets or tubs.

I finally got around to trying a cool trick using Lemonade powdered drink mix to clean the dishwasher. Don't try grape or any other flavor. It's got to be plain unsweetened lemonade. It's the citric acid that does the trick.


Step #1: Pour powered Lemonade drink mix into door.


Step #2: Start the dishwasher and make sure the drying cycle is engaged.


Important: No dirty dishes or soap. Run this through an empty dish washer. The citric acid neutralizes soap scum and soap in general, so adding washing soap and trying to wash a load of dishes at the same time will just be like washing them in lemony smelling water. No bueno.


I haven't tried this method with a load of already washed plastic storage containers (they sometimes absorb odors) or a load of (washed and clean) soap spotted glasses. I did empty a packet into a load of hot water in my washing machine. It was too diluted and didn't really do anything. Instead of trying it again with even more lemonade I will use it to clean out my coolers. I hate opening a cooler and smelling bleach. Bleh!


I've mentioned before how I have to get my pantry under control for when we move. I'm all about planning for emergencies and having enough food to feed us for a few weeks in case of the zombie apocalypse or (even more unlikely) a snow storm in Atlanta.


I'm all about emergency preparedness. 


Until it's time to move and I have to deal with it all.


Where's a zombie or snow storm when I need one?


In addition to all of the other projects that need to happen, I'm trying to use the stuff in my pantry instead of making a ridiculous donation of capers, artichoke hearts and seven kinds of gourmet vinegar to the local food bank. (They'll get the more practical canned goods if there are any left.)

I have issues...and capers for days.

Big Pimpin' Tuna Salad and Fun with Condiments

I love condiments. (By condiments I mean toppings, marinades, sauces and pickled stuff.)


I don't recall meeting a condiment I didn't like and try to take home. So if condiments were like hookers and the grocery store was like a red light district...Well, you get it. I like them a whole bunch. Condiments, not hookers.

Hey baby, you wanna date?

I am overwhelmed. Almost everywhere I look there is a surplus of something that needs to be consumed or used. While it would be noble to donate the condiments to a local food bank, I'm thinking they won't find the jars of capers, marinated artichokes and hot cherry peppers as useful as other foods. 


I've heard mixed reports of movers either allowing or not allowing you to pack food. While it would be really nice if they'd pack everything, I think glass jars of picked okra and chow chow might make for a big mess once they break in transit. I'd rather eat it than pick it out of everything I own. Military wives are great at blogging their moving adventures (Thank you!) so I'm heeding some of their advice.


What's a pimp to do? 

What's a housewife to do?

I started thinking of dishes that use a lot of condiments. My goal is to use at least something from my awesome collection every meal. 

There's a whole shelf in my pantry devoted to condiments. The door of the fridge is also full.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the five cans of tuna. Helllllooo! Tuna salad may be the finest condiment disbursement meal of all time. I went digging. And ended up with a salad full of condiment-y goodness.


Big Pimpin' Tuna Salad 


1  small can of tuna (I love the kind packed in olive oil found in the highfalutin section of the store. It's not dry and it actually has flavor. Gasp!)
1 tbsp of the Hot Green Tomato Relish (pictured above)
1 tsp of Deli Mustard w/ Horseradish
1 tbsp of Mayo
1 Hot Cherry Pepper (pictured above) seeded and diced
1 hard boiled egg, diced
1/2 scallion, sliced thin
1-2 tbsp of diced bell pepper.
1 tbsp of sun dried tomatoes or 1/2 small tomato, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Best of all, it takes a cutting board, knife and bowl. No kitchen disaster necessary.

Stir and have at it. PS...it's super easy to double. If you only have water packed tuna, add a splash of olive oil. And start buying the good stuff packed in olive oil. It's tuna, not a Whopper with cheese, it will be okay. Trust the pimpness.


There are so many tuna combinations. Tomorrow I may try a Greek version with pepperoncini peppers, kalamata olives and more of those yummy sun dried tomatoes from Trader Joe's that I've been stocking up on like they're some antidote to the zombie apocalypse.