Patty’s Simple Dishes

Patty was all about quick easy dishes. There was a simplicity to what she created in the kitchen and I bet it had everything to do with the fact that she was feeding 4 hungry guys! My FIL would come home from his Army day that started with early morning PT and be hungry. Then she had these boys who did wrestling and baseball and whatever active thing they could discover only to come home famished!

There are a couple dishes that Patty made that are really simple that I enjoy even today. These dishes are also an excellent options when you don’t have a big kitchen. When we were in seminary, we had a closet kitchen. One dish prep meals are excellent when you really have no room to prepare anything else! Patty and I often joked about the lack of turning space in that apartment kitchen.

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Tuna Casserole

2 large cans of tuna
mayonaise
dill relish

Simply open the cans of tuna and drain the water. Spoon enough mayo into the tuna to make it nice and moist while stirring with a spoon. Then toss a tablespoon or two of dill relish into the mix (or sweet if you prefer that). This makes a delightful dish to haul to the park for picnic or for quick lunches at the house. My kids still love it this way today. They will ask for Grandma Patty’s tuna salad. This simple dish will probably be passed on to my grandkids as well 🙂

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Tuna Mac’n’Cheese

2 boxes of mac’n’cheese
1 cup peas
1 small can tuna

Prepare the mac’n’cheese as directed. Toss peas into the boiling noodle water if you are using frozen peas. Or after mac’n’cheese is prepared, toss the canned peas and drained tuna into the pot. Continue to heat on low until the peas and tuna are heated through. It’s a pretty decent way to get both protein and veggies into kids through a favorite medium.

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