Tuna Casserole in a hurry!

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The weather was warm, and the workers at church had been tending the church yard all morning. There was fresh lemonade, which helped during the early hours, but now it was almost lunch time.  I had not gone to help that day, and I was at home.

My telephone rang; it was my husband, and he sounded almost frantic. He asked, “What can you fix real quick so these workers here at the church can have a nice lunch?”  He continued, "We have two cakes but that is all." 

I told him not to worry, that I would be there in about half an hour with something!

Quickly I put on 4 cups of water with some olive oil and a bit of salt into a large kettle. When it began to boil, in went 2 cups of white rice that I had rinsed well. Turning down the burner, I timed it for 18 minutes.

Next into another pot went 5 cans of green beans with some crumbled bacon left over from breakfast. I added some dried onion flakes and let the beans simmer.

While the rice cooked, I chopped up a head of lettuce; graded up a carrot, tossed in some sliced radishes, with a couple chopped tomatoes, for a salad. Also I made certain that I had plenty of my Famous French dressing in a mason jar.

I had a full loaf of French bread so I quickly and thinly sliced and buttered it.

The rice was nearly done, so I opened two cans of tuna, drained it and set it aside. Next I opened two cans of Cream of Chicken Soup and filled a measuring cup with 1 1/2 cups of milk from the refrigerator.

My timer bell went off and I tested the rice. It was perfect. In went the soup, the tuna, the milk and a quick stirring for another minute, turned off the heat and I put the lid back on.

The salad went into a large carrying plastic bowl and then into my station wagon. In the back of my wagon were some cardboard boxes that I used to separate groceries when I shop. In those boxes went my two kettles the bread, and not to forget, my famous French salad dressing.  I knew there were serving bowls at church, and my pots would travel well until we arrived.

Ten minutes drive to the church, got me there just in time to see all the fellows washing up for lunch. One of their wives had made coffee, set the table with napkins, paper plates, cups and plastic utensils. I could see the two cakes sliced and sitting on the table.

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AND the workers were also ready! Just like Jack Sprat and his wife, they licked the platter clean.

The recipe for the rice dish that went to the church was doubled. For your family you may need to divide it in half.

For our household it was always a quick fix for our dinner when meat was scarce and we were in a hurry. The chicken soup made the tuna almost taste like chicken.  Almost  that is !!

This post has been entered in Ann Kroeker’s, Food on Fridays at http://annkroeker.com/

Do visit her site and gather up some delicious and nutritious recipes.

Tuna Rice Casserole

2 cups water boiling

1 Tablespoon oil or butter

1 cup white rice

1/2 chopped onion (optional)

Reduce heat and simmer 18 minutes with lid on.

Add the next ingredients all at once and stir well and place lid back on and let sit a few minutes.

1 or 2 cans tuna drained
1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 cup milk

(Optional) 1 cup canned green peas