Frugal Food: English Muffin Pizza and Protein Packed Tuna Melts

You may have read my previous post about doing battle with your kid’s school lunchbox. Here are two great recipes that make great, healthy, filling snacks when your crew comes home hungry:

English Muffin Pizza

Ingredients:
1 Whole Wheat English Muffin, split in half (two pizzas)
1½ T Marinara sauce
½ mozzarella stick

Directions:
Spread the marinara sauce on each muffin half. Grate the mozzarella stick over the pizzas. Note, you can double the recipe (2 English muffins to make 4 pizzas) in order to use the whole stick. (You could grate any mozzarella, but I always have mozzarella sticks on hand to pack in lunches…) Now, place it in your toaster oven or convection oven or broiler and heat through until the cheese is melted.

I started doing this with bagels, but when I realized that I could buy English muffins for cheaper and that the muffins had less calories, I made the switch. My son devours these! DO NOT microwave these. It is faster, but the bread will get rubbery.


Protein Packed Tuna Melts (4 sandwiches)

1 can Tuna packed in water, drained
1 can Sardines, drained
1 T Ranch Dressing (or Mayo)
1 t Season All Spice (or our family favorite, Adobo, a traditional Spanish spice)
8 slices Whole Grain Bread
4 Cheddar Cheese slices (the real stuff, not the processed cheese food)

Combine the first four ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Be sure to break up the sardines to disguise them! Spread the mix on a slice of bread and top with cheese slice. Top with another slice of bread and place in your sandwich maker or Panini grill. I actually use my George Foreman grill. If you don’t have any of these, you can go old school and just grill it in a pan spritzed with cooking spray. Use a plate to press the sandwich and repeat after flipping the sandwich with a spatula.
Many thanks to Missy Chase Lapine, The Sneaky Chef, for the idea of adding the sardines. Mixed in with the tuna, it is a great way to boost protein intake and Omega 3 fatty acids and it only subtly affects the taste.

If you are watching calories, you can use less filling or half a slice of cheese for each sandwich.

I enjoy eating these quick meals just as much as my kids do after a long day at school!

This post originally appeared in Maribel's Frugal Families blog for Chesapeake Family in October 2010.