Every weekend we meet up with our friends. We used to get dinner out but since COVID we’ve had to be more creative. We’ve eaten our share of takeout but also do a good deal of cooking. Sometimes at our place, sometimes at theirs. A few weeks ago we decided to all make appetizers and make that our regular Friday dinner.
I wish I’d taken pictures along the way but instead I’ll list out steps and show the final product. Since that night I’ve made tuna with this method a few times and eaten it with mustard and raw spinach on a low carb wrap.
In early March my doctor warned me in no uncertain terms that I needed to lose weight and lower my cholesterol by June or she was putting me on medication. The main problem is the triglycerides for me. Up until my recent visit, I thought triglycerides were caused only from sugar, not healthy high grain carbs or excess fat on me. All my other numbers went down to almost normal levels, but my triglycerides were really high. It was partially do to the Valentine’s Day Candy, the case of Ice Cubes of which I ate about a dozen before I removed them from my home. But, I learned, that all the carbs I was eating, healthy or not, were adding up. Being a vegetarian it’s hard to find protein that’s not a carb. I was eating a lot of hummus, chick peas, all sorts of beans. And yes I ate sugar too but not a ton of it.
I was scared straight at the doctor’s office and will note I’ve lost 10 pounds since the visit. I’m looking forward to my June redo of the blood work and being able to show here that I can lose weight once I’m threatened with meds.
One compromise I had to make was eating tuna. I’m not a vegan but rarely eat eggs because of the cholesterol. I eat cheese only rarely because I feel bad for the cows and some dairy makes me sneeze. I almost exclusively use non-dairy milks and ice cream. And I don’t eat any fish. So pretty much a vegan but I’m not picky about it. If there’s chicken broth in healthy veggie soup I don’t lose sleep over it.
But reading up on it, it seems that tuna will help my lipid levels and fill me up. So in the short term I’ve added it to my diet so I have some non-carb protein. I eat a lot of tofu too but there’s only so much tofu and Impossible Burgers I can eat in a week. I’ve also given up pizza until I get down to a reasonable weight which is one of the only times I have real cheese. Admittedly I’m cheese fiend when I’m not careful, with a particular weakness for Cracker Barrell Aged Cheddar. Since cheese is high in calories and fat and cholesterol, it’s something I’m avoiding as much as possible for now.
Here’s the easy recipe for my tuna spread.
-1 large can of solid white tuna in water
-1 small avocado
-1 stone ground mustard (use enough to make the tuna creamy. I didn’t measure but maybe 3 tbs. I squirted it into the food processor)
Add tuna and a soft avocado to food processor and blend, adding mustard until you get the creamy texture.
Meanwhile, peel two cucumbers and run a fork down the sides to make grooves. Cut in thick 3/4″ slices. If you have a pastry bag, use that. I prefer to use a plastic sandwich bag with the end cut off. this way I don’t have to clean it. I cut a corner off a sandwich bag and added a frosting tip inside followed by all the tuna. If you don’t have a frosting tip, you can still squeeze the tuna through the bag and it’ll look like little tuna poops, but you know, in a cute way. I added some tomatoes as a garnish.
I’ve been making the tuna, avocado, mustard mash every week, without the fancy piping part, and it’s really been keeping me full. My arteries will thank me I’m sure.
Happy Cooking!
Tracy
Tracy L Carbone's Bit of Everything Site 