First Lenten Friday Dinner

Hello Again!

Hard to believe that Lent and meat-free Fridays are already upon us! I'm not much of a meat eater to begin with, so for me it's not a huge sacrifice, and thankfully my husband, J, will eat anything, despite not being Catholic and also not being an almost non-meat eater like myself.

I decided to start out Lent with a relatively easy Friday meal. Open-faced tuna melts, macaroni and cheese, and a broccoli/cauliflower mix.  We bought a loaf of olive oil bread from Giant Eagle (local grocery store) and J sliced into medium thick slices.  I drained two cans of chunk light tuna in water, and mixed in some reduced fat Kraft mayo (with olive oil), fresh ground black pepper, and dried dill weed. I used our awesome grill pan to toast the bread with a little melted 50/50 butter/olive oil stick (Smart Balance or Olivio).

I added the tuna mix:

Some sliced cherry tomatoes (full size tomato slices are best, but I am famous for making due with what is in the fridge):

And of, course, cheese:

You'll notice I used sliced American cheese on half (Land O' Lakes 2% yellow American) and shredded on the other half. (Mexican cheese blend of cheddar, monterey jack, queso and asadero cheese). In several recipes, I will do the best I can to keep things low fat & low sodium. Using shredded cheese when you would usually use slices works in several dishes. You don't lose the cheesiness you love but can cut some calories and fat.

When my macaroni was boiled, I got that mix going in the pot--again, just some of the butter blend stick and some slices of the 2% American cheese. Mac n' cheese is something I always experiment with and encourage everyone else to as well. I have used shredded cheeses, sliced cheeses, and added in extras like some leftover goat cheese or crumbled blue or gorgonzola cheese. It can really kick it up another notch!

The veggies were steaming in the microwave (Bird's Eye cauliflower & broccoli florets...I have to have florets, not a big fan of stems, I'll admit it!), the mac n' cheese was almost done, and the tuna sandwiches went into the broiler. We LOVE to melt and brown up that cheese!

The finished meal:

You can see it's a *little* heavy on the mac n'cheese side...trial by error. For two, probably 1/2 to 2/3 cup dry macaroni would yield plenty for a side dish. We topped it with a few shakes of ground red cayenne pepper. We love things a little spicy!

One of my biggest pieces of advice is don't be afraid to go off the beaten path! Sometimes just trying something a little different--like an open-faced sandwich or adding different cheeses to your usual mac n'cheese dish--can really make the norm something special!

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On the menu for this weekend:

Overnight French Toast