AND THE WINNER IS....

In the last few months, I've been doing more of my weekly shopping at a nearby Walmart Neighborhood Market. I've always been a coupon clipper, and having double coupons at the local Harris Teeter, along with a lot of their discounts and BOGOs, I thought I was doing fairly well there. Dream on.
In these last months, I've not had the impressive coupon and discount totals I usually did, saving up to 35% a year on my groceries, but my overall spending is down. Nevermind the savings, what am I spending? What's the bottom line? There are one or two rare items that I can't find at my Walmart - those great Wickels and Red Oval Crackers to name the ones I'll get at Teeter, or at Publix when I want to spend $50 to use their $10 coupon off a gas card.

So - I've been trying the Walmart Great Value versions of name brand or Teeter store brand foods. I've yet to find any of the WM store brand items that I'd never buy again. Most are very good - after all, unlike the A&P that did make many of their own Ann Page foods, Walmart contracts with big producers to make their Great Vale items. One item I'd yet to try was their tuna. We like solid albacore in water. Some of the brand name tuna I'd opened lately was disappointing, to say the least. This morning I had an eye-opener.
I needed to prepare tuna salad for more than two servings, so I opened a can of Chicken of the Sea "Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water." Then I opened the next can below, a can of Great Value "Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water." The difference was so startling, I had to take pictures. Do you believe this?

And here they are dumped out of the cans. (I didn't dare dump the loose stuff on the cutting board.)

The Chicken of the Sea smelled a wee bit fishy, the Great Value tuna smelled like the sea. When mixed with mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and some dried onion flakes, they made a nice salad, but ...

Which tuna would you rather have? I do some dinners with tuna. My New Age Tuna Noodle Casserole For Two and my Papas Aliñas will be the better for this really solid tuna.

So  the winner is Walmart, and my budget is grateful.

TUNA NOODLE "CASSEROLE" FOR TWO SENIORS

I've been making this for some time now. Just last week I thought to take some pictures while I made it. Just the pictures of the onions and the final dish came out well. I had to make one change to the recipe, a change that annoys me no end: my original recipe called for a 6 oz. can of tuna, now they are 5 oz. And I do remember when they were 7 oz.  Why didn't they just leave it at 7 - or is there now not enough tuna to fill the demand. Read my Recipe Method over in the right hand column. This is one of those recipes where I list the ingredients as I go along. Here goes:

Boil water and cook broad noodles for 2

In 1½ Tbsp. butter, sauté 

1 small to medium sliced onion, salt and pepper, until onions are golden.

Sprinkle onions with 1 Tbsp. flour, and mix in with

½ cup of half and half

Add 1 small can sliced mushrooms and the juice

1 tsp grated lemon peel (or one packet of True Lemon) and bring to a bubble, then lower flame to the lowest setting. 

When noodles have 5 minutes to go, add 1 5oz. Can of tuna,

drained, to the onions and mushrooms. Break up tuna and mix it

in with the sauce and just heat it through.

Serve with French’s onions or chopped chives on top.

WARM TUNA SALAD FOR TWO

This, my own concoction, is a delicious, quick, and different kind of salad.  It is hard to find 6 oz. cans of good tuna these days, and I am now on the last of my hoard from Price Chopper in Pittsfield Massachusetts. I suppose the 5 oz. size will have to do once that last, sacred can is gone.  Perhaps we might even want to have a can each.

Warm Tuna Salad For Two

1 15.5 oz. (or similar size) can of Great Northern, cannelloni, or other white beans, drained and rinsed

1 6 oz. cans tuna, drained and broken into large chunks

2 ¼” slices off a large red onion, cut slices into thirds

1 small tomato, cut into thin wedges

¼ cup olive oil

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste on top of the tomato

Pour olive oil into a medium frying pan and begin to heat it on a medium heat.  Add the beans and onions and warm them through for just a few minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. 

Divide beans and onions into two bowls, topping them each with half of the chunks of tuna, and half of the tomato.