More Secret Snack Dinners

This is how lazy I've gotten on my own here without Jack, people. Tuna melts! But I'm not ashamed.

It isn't that I don't want to cook a "real" meal for myself or that I don't think I deserve it. It's that I honestly like this stuff. I really, really like making a meal of a baked potato with left-overs on top. I really like tuna melts. I love grabbing some tortillas and a can of refried beans for fast tostadas.

This little habit of making simple snacks for dinner is a tradition, in a funny way. When I was a kid my Dad traveled a lot-- he's a geologist who, and in those days, was sent all over the country (and sometimes out of it) to work on various projects. My Mom mostly kept right on serving "proper" dinners while he was away but would also, every now and then, just make something easy. Sometimes it was a meal of French Onion Soup, and sometimes it was Tuna Melts, and sometimes we'd just have artichokes (I loved that). By the time we were teens, we'd told her that we quite liked these snack-like dinners and it became the norm when it was just the three of us. I think we all felt we were getting away with something, which made it more fun.

Jack is back tomorrow and I've made sure I have our traditional meal of cheese, bread and wine on hand and at the ready. And then, because Jack really does prefer "proper meals" I'll get back in the habit of preparing them again. In the meantime I'm thinking about tonight's secret snack dinner.

Comments

[Michelle]

I hear you! I kind of like making these little simple dinners when LB is away - it reminds me of when I lived alone in my very first apartment. That, and I like to cook myself something fancy and easy that we can't afford to buy two of - like seared tuna :) yum!!

[Sophie]

That looks good, what a beautiful photo! And I love those dinners too!

[Manggy]

I agree, nothing to be ashamed about! :) That looks good, in fact so good that when you mentioned artichokes I was imagining some artichoke-sandwich thing already.

Welcome back (in advance) to Jack!

[Psychgrad]

Great picture! I have been thinking about dinners that are more basic. Yesterday, we had breakfast for dinner and it was kind of a nice change. I'll have to keep tuna melts in mind for a future supper. I like the addition of the tomato.

[Aran]

This really looks good... Yum... I love evrything on bread although I am on a semi gluten free diet. maybe that's why this looks so good!

[Cakelaw]

Hi Ann, I'm with you! Those easy snack foods are great when there's nothing else in the house or you really just don't want to go the whole shebang and cook a fancy meal. I love baked beans on toast - not glamorous, much maligned, but good!

[dhanggit]

i love doing fast snacks & simple recipes too when im alone. melting cheeses on top of bread or croissant are part of my daily routine when alone. i havent tried doing tuna melt but the way you describe it sounds really delicious :-)

[Pasticcera]

No shame, I love tuna melts too and can't remember the last time I had one, hummm sounds like and easy peasy luch or dinner coming up. Thanks for the idea and enjoy that wine, cheese, a loaf and thou!

[Adele]

Hooray for snack dinners!

My father went away on business trips regularly when I was young, and my mother would use the time to take a break from preparing full dinners. We ate things like fried rice, French toast, and plain pasta with mountains of cheese melted on top. My sister and I liked those meals a lot more than the usual stir-fries with rice.

(I still like plain pasta with mountains of cheese.)