Dijon-Cilantro Tuna Salad

I’ve loved tuna salad for as long as I can remember. I was definitely that one weird kid in middle school to bring tuna salad kits (the ones with the mini can of tuna, packet of mayo and relish with some wheat crackers) for lunch. People moaned and groaned about the smell, but I didn’t care. Tuna was one of the few sandwiches I remember liking. I hated peanut butter back then, and I thought my sister's love of ham and margarine sandwiches was a little strange.

In college, I remember arguing with a boyfriend over how to make the perfect tuna salad. He insisted it wasn't tuna salad unless it had celery, and I whole-hearted disagreed. Sweet pickle relish and mayo was all that was required. Besides, I've never been a huge fan of raw celery.

But last month, I found this variation in Bon Appetit and I’ve been obsessed ever since. When I don’t have leftovers to pack, I make this tuna sandwich.

Plain fat free yogurt makes it healthier than using mayo, and it has the sweet relish I love, but also the celery my college boyfriend insisted on. Plus, red onion, cilantro and tangy mustard. Perfect.

The recipe calls for tomato, arugula and whole wheat bread, but this would be great on crackers alone. In fact, I might have the leftovers for snack tomorrow.

Because I liked the accountability of making my food journal public, I think I'll include it again today. If this isn't something you like reading, let me know. I love suggestions to make the blog better.

Breakfast: Ezekiel sprouted English muffin topped with a roma tomato and a slice of 2% natural sharp cheddar. I toasted the English muffin at home, but melted the cheese in the microwave at work. Didn't want to mess with the broiler on the toaster oven in the breakroom. Coworker commented that it looked good. On the side, glass of skim milk and 1 tbsp half and half in my coffee.

Lunch: Dijon Tuna salad on Great Harvest honey wheat bread, baby carrots and an apple

Snack: 2 oz. lean deli ham with 1 tbsp light cream cheese spread on it, rolled around about ¼ of a bell pepper, sliced. Apparently my mom used to make a similar appetizer but with olives rather than bell pepper. Interesting.

Dinner: An Asian noodle dish I might share share later this week, plus sautéed snow peas with chestnuts, and a steamed chicken dumpling I found at Aldi's. It doesn't come close to my favorite take-out steamed dumplings, but I guess it's OK in a pinch.

Dessert: A re-run of the vanilla yogurt with strawberries. Gosh, this is good. My grandma used to serve fresh fruit with vanilla yogurt for dessert. It's comfort in a bowl.

Kashi Pizza and a Day in the Life of Jen

Sorry to be MIA. Last week I lost all motivation. My week started off great and I even managed to work out some. But by midweek the time I spent in the gym dwindled until by Saturday I had become a full-fledged couch potato.

I’m back at the whole exercise thing today, but not because I want to be.

I photographed some of my meals last week, fully intending to post them, but honestly, I rarely cooked. Unless you count heating up this Kashi frozen pizza as “cooking.” And by the way, this was *supposed* to be three servings, but I ate the whole thing. And the entire bunch of asparagus. Who knew roasted asparagus could become my new trigger food?

Today’s eats weren’t much better. They were, in general, lacking in nutrition and fresh produce, but I stayed within good calorie (or points) range. Plus, I’ve packed up tomorrow’s foods already, ensuring I actually eat some vegetables besides lettuce tomorrow.

So here’s a day in the life of Jen:

Breakfast: Running late. Threw leftovers for lunch in super cute lunch box, plus an apple and a cheese stick. Grabbed a packet of instant apple and cinnamon oats from my parents’ house. No time for coffee from home, had to drink disgusting office Folgers made with 10 scoops of coffee!?! (I kid, but seriously, it tasted awful) Tossed in two tubs of coffee mate (30 cals) to make it somewhat drinkable. Blech.

Lunch: Oops. Forgot going away lunch for our temp. Luckily, it was Max and Erma’s, so I had the hula bowl lunch portion with the breadstick. Remember when Wendy’s had these with their salads? I heart breadsticks.

Snack: Had the string cheese with a couple Kashi party crackers from my desk drawer.

Dinner: Reheated Chicken with Arugula Bread Salad. No picture. It didn't look good and it didn't really taste good, either, especially reheated.

Dessert: 6 oz. cup Yoplait light vanilla yogurt and about 1/2 cup fresh strawberries. I don't normally buy yogurt with fake sweeteners, but I had coupons, it was on sale, and I can stomach the Yoplait. Plus, fruit herbal tea — Celestial Seasonings Black Cherry Berry.

Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach

Finally, a minute to myself. Last night I ran errands, ate a late dinner and headed to bed after catching up on Lost and American Idol. Today has been super busy, too.

I've been so tired that I've really slacked on workouts. I did squeeze in another Couch to 5K training session yesterday afternoon at my company's gym, but it was slow going and hard to get through for some reason. At least it helped me relax a bit, so I finally got a good night's rest.

I admit I haven't cooked much this week. Tuesday was bascially snacking through dinner. And it wasn't good at all. Popcorn, a cookie, a piece of fruit.. I'm sure there was more to it, but I honestly don't remember. I fell asleep on the couch by 8 p.m. again. I'm the life of the party, apparently.

I think Monday night was the only time I actually made dinner, and it was Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach. Basically, it was packaged gnocchi boiled, then spinach and garlic and pine nuts sauteed in butter.. then toss them all together. Anyone — even if you think you can't cook — can make this. Promise.

It was delicious, too. I heart gnocchi and spinach is easily my favorite green. The only thing that was missing was the parmesan because I was out. Great for a night where you still want something fresh but the thought of cooking is just too much to handle.