Mayo-free Tuna Salad (with avocado)

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Everyone in my house loves tuna. Tuna is cheap and easy. But, mayo is gross. Actually, I love the taste of "real" mayonnaise, but there is nothing real about the (yummy) gloopy white stuff that comes in the convenient little jars at the grocery store. I think doing away with store-bought mayo may have been one of the hardest real food conversions for me. Homemade mayo is delicious, but the eggs make me worry about sending it in Little Bear's lunch. My solution has been to make tuna salad with olive oil and a bit of vinegar (plus the typical tuna salad accoutrements). It's ok. But, not great. 

How to make it great... Let's try avocado! {spoiler alert, it was amazing!}

Scoop one avocado into a bowl.

Add a few tablespoons of unrefined olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon or lime, and whatever spices and mix-ins you like in your tuna (today I just did salt, pepper, garlic powder and dill).

Smoosh it all together, making the mixture as smooth as possible.

Add tuna and mix with the avocado mixture while flaking the tuna.

Eat.

Yum!

I measured, but tuna is so dependent on the brand, draining, and type that you'll probably have to play with the proportions to make it just perfect. As a starting point, 1 avocado + 2 tablespoons oil should be good for 2-ish cans of tuna or 4 of the single-serve packets.

Crockpot Hummus

I've always made hummus from canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans).  A couple of weeks ago I decided to try it with dried beans, both to save some cash and because aluminum cans' safety is somewhat questionable.  You should be able to find the organic varieties in the bulk section of your natural grocery store.  Otherwise, I think they are sold by the bag with the rest of the dried beans.

Ingredients

• 3 cups dried chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans)
• 9 cups water
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 10 fresh garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste, I sometimes use peanut butter instead to make it cheaper)
• 2 tablespoons unrefined olive oil
• juice from 1 medium lemon

Directions

1.  Combine chickpeas, water, salt and fresh garlic in the crockpot.

2.  Cook on high for 7-8 hours.  It may not take this long with your crockpot, because I've decided that my "high" is actually most slow cooker's "medium."  You'll know they're done when they are very easily mashed between your fingers.  It would be really hard to over cook these as long as the liquid doesn't cook off (a good lid should keep it in, though).

3.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cooked chickpeas with the garlic powder, tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice.

4.  Run on high until the hummus is perfectly smooth.  You may need to stir the bottom around to make sure that all the corners are well-mixed.

5.  If the texture is too thick, add vegetable stock or salted water to thin to desired consistency.

Serve with fresh veggies or whole wheat pita.  I even toast up a whole wheat tortilla right on the oven rack and then cut it in to triangles if we're out of pita.

This is a very basic recipe.  You can easily modify it to make flavored hummus by adding mix-ins to the food processor during the last step.  Roasted garlic, roasted red bell peppers, chili flakes, artichoke hearts, and even spinach all make great additions!

Greek Pasta Salad

I make a big batch of this at the beginning of the week, and we all eat it for lunch through the week.  It always goes quickly!

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat pasta (any pasta that you like will do, but I usually use macaroni)
• 4 hard-boiled eggs (place eggs in water, bring to a boil, remove pot from heat, leave eggs in water until it's cooled, peel eggs)
• 1/4 cup unrefined olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 3/4 cup kalamata or green olives, chopped

Directions

1.  Cook pasta to desired doneness.

2.  Put the eggs in a large bowl.  Smash them up with a potato or bean smasher until they yolks are fully crumbled and the whites are finely chopped.

3.  Add remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well.

4.  Add the cooked pasta and stir.

5.  Chill & enjoy!

It will keep fresh in an air-tight container in the fridge for several days.

Lunch... Ugh.

I hate lunch.  Honestly, I'm guilty of just skipping it entirely sometimes.  It's such a pain!  Breakfast is easy - eggs, toast, waffles, pancakes, etc.  Dinner is fun, and there are tons of options.  But... Lunch... I hate lunch.

I never feel like cooking anything mid-day, I don't eat lunch meat or other processed meats (so bad for you!), and there are only so many pb&j's that I can handle in a week.  Plus, I can never quite get my creative foodie juices flowing in the vast expanse between breakfast and dinner.  Never.  I hate lunch.

Before Little Bear was eating solids, it was easy to just eat a protein bar or skip lunch all together.  But now I am forced to come up with a lunch every. single. day.  I hate lunch.

So... My solution is this post.  I need your help!!!  I've racked my brain and done some searching around, and I've put this (scarse) list together.  I'd love to keep it growing with your ideas.  If they are quick and follow the "unrefined" rules, I'll add them to the list!

Sandwiches

• Egg Salad
• Chicken Salad (with crockpot chicken)
• Peanut Butter & Jelly/Honey/Agave/Fruit Puree
• Grilled Cheese
• Avocado & Mayo
• Tomato on Toast with Mayo
• Whole Wheat Pita Pockets

Tortillas

• Bean, Cheese & Rice (make and freeze ahead of time)
• Cheese Quesadilla
• Leftover Meat (chicken, beef or pork) Quesadilla

Eggs

• Sliced Hardboiled Egg with Frozen Veggies
• Leftovers Frittata (great with brown rice or pasta and cheese)
• Egg Salad with Fruit and/or Veggies

Pasta

• Simple Pasta Salad (whole wheat pasta, mayo, frozen veggies)
• Frozen Whole Wheat Ravioli (cooked) and Marinara Dipping Sauce

Light Eats

• Cheese Sticks/Cubes and Sauteed Zucchini or Squash "Sticks" with Greek Yogurt Dip
• Cottage Cheese with Fruit/Applesauce
• Sushi Rolls
• Veggies/Pita with Dips
• Hummus and Dippers

And, that's it, folks.  That's about it for our lunchtime rotation around here.  Aside from reheated leftovers from last night's dinner, we don't have much lunchtime excitement.  WHICH IS WHY I NEED YOUR IDEAS! I'm literally begging y'all for some better lunch suggestions!  Leave them in the comments, email them to livingunrefined@gmail.com, or come see me on facebook.  I'm waiting :)