An old favorite sandwich filling

On Monday, I remembered an old friend I hadn’t thought about in quite a few years -- an old recipe I used to use for sandwich filling. I had lots of eggs on hand, so I made up some of this filling to use for Mr. T’s sandwiches this week. I thought others might like to try this as well, if there are those who never have made this combination before.

Many years ago I tasted some sandwiches made by a friend -- they were a combination of egg salad and tuna. I had never tried this before, and the sandwiches were just delicious. For quite a few years thereafter, I made this sandwich filling quite often. I have also met up with at least one other family who uses chopped hard-boiled eggs in their tuna salad.

Tuna/Egg Salad Sandwiches

You need: Hard-cooked eggs
Tuna, drained and flaked
Mayonnaise to taste
Seasonings of your choice

I like to make this with about half-and-half proportions of tuna and eggs. For 3 or 4 eggs, I would use one can of tuna. I use water-packed tuna and prefer the solid white. For years I used “chunk light” tuna because it was cheaper, but the quality of that variety has really declined over the years. (I’m sure everyone has their own preferred method of hard-cooking eggs, but I’m going to share mine anyway. Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a full rolling boil. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and let the eggs stand for 15 minutes. When the time’s up, drain off the hot water and replace it with cold. I usually add 1 ice cube per egg to cool them down nicely. Let stand until eggs are cold, then use them or refrigerate them.)

Slice the eggs into a bowl. (I use an egg slicer and slice them both ways.) Add the drained tuna. Use a pastry blender or other chopping utensil to chop the eggs and tuna until quite finely chopped. Add mayonnaise to your taste and whatever seasonings you like. I use salt & pepper, onion powder, lemon pepper and dill weed. I also add a dollop of yellow mustard -- I always use mustard in egg salad. Stir it all up, cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to make sandwiches.

Menu Plan Monday for August 13

Wow, how did it get to be Monday again? Not only that, but by midweek August will be half over! This summer has certainly flown by. Here’s my plan for this week:

MONDAY: Avocado Omelet, Breakfast Potatoes, Green Beans

TUESDAY: Stuffed Green Peppers, Southwestern Rice Bake, Coleslaw

WEDNESDAY: Parmesan Chicken Fingers, Sweet Potato Fries, Coleslaw

THURSDAY: Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus Stir-fry Vegetables

FRIDAY: Hot Ham & Potato Salad, Cherry Tomatoes, Green Beans

SATURDAY: Tuna Melts, Pasta Salad, Baby Carrots

SUNDAY: Crockpot Barbecue Chicken Breasts, Potato Salad, Baby Carrots

That fabulous dishcloth pattern

Several people have asked about a link for the dishcloth pattern. I did post it last week, but will share it again here for those who missed it:

Crocheted Dishcloth

This is such a great pattern and I want to thank Dannielle again for sharing it with the blogosphere. Everyone who sees these dishcloths seems to want the pattern.

It is so easy but produces such a gorgeous result. I will add that you may need to try different hook sizes to get the correct gauge. It took me 3 tries to produce a dishcloth from only 1 ball of yarn. I tried an H hook as the pattern specifies, but ran out of yarn. Then I went to a G hook and the same thing happened. An F size hook is perfect for me. But a friend of mine found she needed to use a G hook -- and obviously, H is what works for Dannielle. So keep that in mind. If -- as happened to me -- you run out of yarn before the dishcloth is finished, you can do as I did with the first two and make the edging in a solid color.

Have fun!

This week's crafting efforts

This week hasn’t been the greatest for crafting accomplishments, but I’ve done a few things. First of all, here are 2 dishcloths -- one in the “Lemon-Lime” color and one in the “Orange Sherbet” color. I think they are very summery looking.


Then, here is one more dishcloth -- must admit I tossed the label on this one before I could note the name of the color. Pretty, anyway.


And lastly, since my previous attempt at turning an apple calendar towel into a table square turned out so well, I decided to try it with a blueberry calendar towel. Sort of cute.


If you'd like to have some help and encouragement in keeping up with your crafting efforts, stop in at Shereen's blog and take part in Sew Crafty Fridays.

In addition this week, I’ve done some preliminary work on a gift I’m going to sew, and also done some more on my cross stitch “Country Baking” sampler and worked some on the last flour sack dishtowel in this set. I’m hoping for a more productive week next week!

Favorite Ingredients Friday for August 10

It's the Salad Edition of Favorite Ingredients Friday! Here's my very favorite:

GREEK PASTA SALAD

2 cups cold cooked chicken in bite-size pieces
8 ounces rotini, cooked as package directs
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 large sweet red pepper, chopped
3 or 4 green onions, thinly sliced
Small can sliced black olives, or as many whole black olives as you like
2 to 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Mustard-Tarragon Dressing (recipe follows) OR 1 cup Italian dressing

Mustard-Tarragon Dressing:
2/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, split (or use 1/2 tsp. dried minced garlic)
1 Tblsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp. pepper
Combine all in a jar and shake very well.

Combine dressing with salad ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. It should be served cold.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

This recipe is from Cook & Tell, my favorite cooking newsletter. This salad always goes over well whenever I serve it. If I want to make it as a side dish, I just leave out the chicken.


I often make a batch of the dressing to have on hand. It's a good marinade and also a quick dressing for any pasta or veggie salad.

Slow Cooking Thursday for August 9

My crockpot recipe today is from my friend Patty over at Patty's Pantry. This is a really delicious and different slow cooker recipe.

PATTY'S CHICKEN CHOP SUEY

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. minced crystallized ginger
1 C. sliced celery
1 small can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 onion, sliced
2 C. chicken broth
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 C. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 16 ounce can bean sprouts
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Cut chicken into strips 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Place in crock pot with salt, ginger, celery, water, chestnuts, onion, broth and soy sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Turn control to high. Add mushrooms and bean sprouts.
Cook 15 minutes more.

Sprinkle with slivered almonds when serving.

Serves 4-6

Garden Squash Ravioli

Here's a recipe I tried last week. We really liked it. I know many of you are interested in meatless main dish recipes, so here's one you might like to try. It's very quick and easy!

GARDEN SQUASH RAVIOLI

1 package (24 ounces) frozen miniature cheese ravioli
1 medium yellow summer squash (or 2 small ones), cut in half-inch chunks
1 medium zucchini (or 2 small ones), cut in half-inch chunks
2 cans (one 15-ounce, one 8-ounce) tomato sauce (or use 3 8-ounce ones)
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a large saucepan, cook ravioli according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a 1.5-quart or a 2-quart microwave-safe dish (I used a 2-quart casserole) combine all of the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on High for 7 to 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Drain ravioli; top with sauce. We also topped ours with grated Romano cheese.

Yield: 6 servings

This recipe produces a very nice, full-flavored sauce for such a quick microwave method of cooking! I was thrilled to find a lowfat, whole-grain ravioli (I don’t think it is entirely whole grain, but certainly it contains some, and is a tad healthier than the regular kind) in the frozen food case.