Irony, Thy Name is Tuna Casserole

We are broke this week and can't go to the grocery store. That means we get to play Mike's favorite game- "Make Do With What We've Got in the Pantry!!" I hate that game. He stockpiles soup while I stockpile reduced-price mac and cheese. I guess that's why I have a big ass and he doesn't. We shopped strategically last week so we have the essentials- cereal, milk, macaroni, pasta, pasta sauce and apples. (What? I eat an apple a day.) We're okay. Culinarily bored. But okay.

Last night I had time to make a real dinner and I didn't want to make pasta so I did some searching and I found the main ingredients for one of my favs- tuna and egg noodles for tuna casserole! I love tuna casserole. I would eat it all the time but Mike hates tuna. Since we were playing his favorite game I told him I was going to make it and he said he'd be willing to play along. I looked through my cookbooks to find a recipe that didn't require cream of mushroom soup or any other ingredients we didn't have. I found one that used sour cream and mayo, both I always have on hand. I threw some carrots, peas and onion in the mix to give it some flavor. Boy was it going to be awesome. Mike was willing to try it and I was excited to eat it. Adventure!

Oh my God was it disgusting. I didn't have the required amount of noodles or tuna so I reduced the rest of the ingredients accordingly. Or so I thought. I was supposed to reduce by 1/3 but I only reduced by 1/4. That's what I get for doing math in my head, on the bus, with Fergie blasting on my iPod. I took one bite and had to force my way through the serving. As I was about to apologize to Mike he had gobbled his serving up and was about to get more. I gave him what was left of mine and threw back an orange soda to wash away the taste. Blech. So gross and so ironic. He hates tuna but loved the casserole. I love tuna but hated the casserole. Go figure.

I am taking away a few lessons here. 1) I am really lucky to have Mike. He really will eat anything I make. He may be willing to try tuna (there really wasn't that much in the dish to begin with) but I know he draws the line at mustard. I can live with that. 2) Always, always, do math on paper. I may be really good at math, but I need to remember that I'm a visual person for a reason. 3) Never make that casserole again. Unless I have what the recipe calls for. Even then I don't think I can bring myself to do it.