Leftover Creation: Mock Tuna Salad Sandwiches

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Day 20.

OK, I’m still getting out the rubber gloves, but I’m actually doing so much better on leftovers. We’ve been eating at home a lot more, using up leftovers in lunches and snacks. And I’ve been halving and quartering recipes. Plus, we were snowed in for a week, so we pretty much had to eat what we had on-hand. But, I do still have some of the tuna-style baked tofu leftover from Monday’s paninis.

Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Ingredients
4 C diced cooked “tuna-style” lemon-basil baked tofu (find the recipe here)
1/2 onion, finely diced and sauteed until translucent and browned at edges
1/4 C chopped fresh basil leaves (optional)
1/4 C slivered almonds
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp. pickle juice or 1 Tbsp. diced pickles (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

toasted bread slices

Directions
In a medium bowl, combine tofu, onion, basil and almonds. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, pickles or pickle juice, salt, and pepper. Add to tofu mixture, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill.

Tip: Use an ice cream scoop to scoop salad mixture onto one slice of toasted bread, top with another slice.

Serves 8

The Results

I left out the extra basil, as the lemon-basil tofu was plenty basily for me. I also left out the pickles, because some of the family is not fond of them. After taking a bite, I added the pickles into my sandwich (and I’m the one that’s not fond of them, ha!). They lend an extra bite and yummy vinegar flavor to the sandwich. I really liked this, it was easy and really good. It’s a healthier version of chicken or tuna salad, also. You may notice there’s no celery in my recipe, that’s because I’m allergic. Feel free to put the celery back in and leave out my onion substitution.

I am participating in Project: Food Budget and the Pantry Challenge at Goodcheapeats.com. I will be continuing my series on leftovers casserole, or whatever Frankenstein Leftovers Creation I make out of my pantry and my fridge leftovers every Thursday. So far, I’ve had no trouble at all keeping to our budget. We’ve met about half our budget for the month and we’re over halfway through the month. It was easy while being forced by mother nature to stick to the pantry’s existing selection. Once we went back out into the real world, we spent $30 on groceries. We still need to make a wholesale club trip, but if we don’t make it there, we will be OK for the week.

For $30, we bought:
French bread,
two 24 oz. tubs of sour cream,
some jars of emergency baby food for the diaper bag (I make most of the baby food),
baby cereal,
pepperoni,
two 32 oz. bottles of coffee creamer,
1 quart half and half,
2 L cream soda,
1 pound egg noodles,
12 bagels,
32 oz. plain yogurt,
3 onions,
5 pounds of potatoes and
1 head cabbage.

UPDATE: We spent about $100 between our wholesale club and the other grocery story (we went to both this week due to sales on key items). So, we’re at $130 for the week, $30 over our weekly budget of $100. But, I think that will last us through the end of the month. And, we’re still under budget for the month ($400 budget, $330 actual).

Here are the other blogs participating in Project: Food Budget.

The Vegetarian Salmon

This post is linked at Frugal Food Thursday, Things I Love Thursday, Recipe Swap Thursday, Tip Day Thursday and Frugal Fridays.

The Super Easy Vegetarian Slow Cooker Cookbook

Want vegetarian and vegan recipes you’ll love? Check out my first cookbook! I’m so excited about it and I hope you’ll love it. You can find more information about it right HERE.