Elementary Chef

My daughter-in-law, bless her heart, is one of those people who only cooks when she has to. With three children and an elderly mother to care for, plus a job doing radio news, who can blame her?

Thing is, Doreen knows about some good convenience foods I’ve never tried.

I am not kidding when I say I had never had Tuna Helper. Before this week, that is.

Halloween Night, what with one thing and another, was pretty hectic at the Schuett manse. Granddaughter Nickie, a 14-year-old with stage aspirations, (and looks to match) had volunteered to be a ghost at a charity Haunted House. So she was bustling about, getting costume elements together, and presumably a bit of homework done too.

Little Carley (18 months) was fractious and wanting attention, not to mention “just one more�? candy from the big bowl waiting for trick-or-treaters. Grandma Ruth and I had been assigned the task of handing out candy to the neighborhood goblins, and were probably as much a source of Carley’s problem as anything else ;>)

Baby Tori was equable as always, but still needed to be held and attended to.

Our original plan had been some sweet-and-sour chicken, a frozen kind Doreen gets, so I could try out their new rice cooker. I’d tried the chicken earlier, at Costco, and was impressed enough to serve it myself.

I do a lot of the cooking when I visit, since for me it’s no chore, and often gives me a chance to connect with my son, who is the primary chef at his house. Somehow, though, the plan went pear-shaped and so Doreen suggested Tuna Helper.

Now, back in the 70s or 80s when this stuff was invented, we tried Hamburger Helper and nobody – I mean nobody – could eat it. Even my husband, the King of Salt and Big Flavors, could manage more than a bite. It was way too much of something, for sure. I remember this because we ended up having peanut butter sandwiches for dinner, which as you can imagine hasn’t happened too often with the Elementary Chef in residence.

By the time Tuna Helper appeared, I was more than willing to give it a pass.

I was surprised to find it’s actually pretty good stuff. I might even (eek!) pick up a box to have on hand for those rare occasions at my house when nobody has time to cook. I’d probably throw in some jarred pimiento and one of those teeny cans of sliced olives, but that’s me.

If Paul is the KSBF, then I am the Queen of Tinkering With Food. (…and that’s a subject for another blog post. Stay tuned!)