I used several items from the freezer in tonight's dinner.
I was down to just one can of tuna, and I wanted to make a tuna casserole for 4 adults.
I remembered the fish sticks in the freezer and thought they might work mixed in with the canned tuna.
I also had some frozen pinto beans leftover from making Saturday's dinner. I thought those would add to the protein in my experimental tuna casserole.
I made a cream soup using up another container of frozen chicken stock and some frozen celery leaves.
In addition to macaroni, tuna, broken fish sticks and cream soup, I used more of the surplus frozen peas.
To top the casserole, I used all of the crumbs at the bottom of the fish stick bag plus some shredded cheddar cheese.
The verdict? It was okay. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was okay. I think that's fine with family meals, if they're just okay and not spectacular. Everyone ate all of their portion, so it wasn't bad in any way. Many of our family meals are "okay," and that's fine with us. I don't shoot for Bon Appétit or Gourmet magazine level meals for everyday. As long as we eat it and it's nutritious, then I'm satisfied.
What I did determine is that it would not be a good use of our resources to use fish sticks in tuna casserole on a regular basis. Their flavor and texture was lost in the casserole. But as it was, there were only 3 1/2 fish sticks at the bottom of the bag, and no realistic way to divide those up between 4 adults. So they fit their purpose this time, using something up in my attempt to eat down the freezer.
I'm not sure that I would have thought about putting fish sticks in a tuna casserole, but necessity is the mother of invention. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
Deleteyes, the mother of invention. It did finish off that almost empty box, which was pretty much the point.
I actually think that's genius. You found a way to use the fish sticks and everybody had happy tummies. Sometimes I heat a bunch of little stuff and put one of everything on everyone's plate until there's none left. Like a mini smorgasbord per plate or something. It's always eclectic and odd but it saves food waste and my people get fed! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda,
DeleteWell, thank you.
When my kids were younger, they loved smorgasbord night. They thought it was fun to A) get to choose their foods and B) have tiny bits of different foods. Our dinner this past Saturday was a lot like what you do. I had a bunch of leftovers in the fridge, but not enough for more than a couple of bites per person. I divvied it up onto the plates. Everyone was satisfied and I cleaned out the fridge.