Who doesn’t love a great tasting, quick & easy weeknight meal?! I don’t think anyone loves them more than us parents that are preparing them! After a long day at work and school, the last thing you want to worry about is what’s for dinner. Wouldn’t it be nice to end your day relaxed with family instead of feeling like you have to rush around to get something on the table?  This delicious, make ahead chilled Tuna, Veggie & Wild Rice Salad is the perfect simple dinner any night of the week & the leftovers are great for lunch the next day too! Yum!

I’m a huge fan of Bumble Bee® Solid White Albacore Tuna, With it’s firm texture, light color and fresh taste, Bumble Bee® Solid White Albacore is the perfect ingredient to deliciously enhance almost any recipe, while adding a variety of nutrients (including lean protein, healthy fat and important vitamins and minerals. *See their website for full nutritional facts) to your family’s diet. Seeing is believing and Bumble Bee® Solid White Albacore Tuna is quality you can see from the moment you open the can.

Meaty pieces of albacore tuna are tossed with seasoned wild rice, green onions, shredded carrots, colorful red and yellow peppers, tiny broccoli florets and extra virgin olive oil in this tasty salad recipe. What makes this salad so great is the convenience of preparing it ahead of time!

If you have a few extra minutes on the weekend, you can easily have this ready to go for the upcoming week. Start by preparing your wild rice according to the package’s instructions. Cool the rice completely and store it in the refrigerator Drain the water out of your can of albacore and add the tuna to a large glass serving bowl (preferably with a lid for easy storage later) along with the other fresh ingredients.

Toss everything together well, cover, and place the salad into the refrigerator to chill and let the flavors mingle for at least 30 minutes. You can of course serve this salad room temperature but we love it chilled. Either way, it’s delicious! This salad is wonderful served in romaine lettuce leaves, by itself or along with some with steamed veggies on the side. Enjoy!

Try more mouth-watering recipes & discover for yourself why

 Only Bumble Bee Albacore Will Do!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Whether you are observing the season of Lent or are trying eat a more lean diet, keeping a few cans of Bumble Bee Albacore Tuna on hand in your pantry is always a great idea. When I was younger my mother used tuna for basic recipes like Tuna Noodle Casserole or Easy Tuna Melts. While those recipes are still good, I’m always looking for new and fresh ways to incorporate Albacore Tuna into my family’s meal plans. These Tasty Tuna Burgers are a great dinner idea heading into spring and all through the summer!

A good meal made with tuna always starts with good tuna. We prefer Bumble Bee Albacore Tuna compared to other varieties like Chunk Light because it’s mild, light in color, firm, meaty and has a fresh taste. It flakes apart beautifully into nice large pieces when you are using it in any recipe. It’s also very good for you!

Adding responsibly wild caught Albacore Tuna to your diet provides you with a variety of nutrients including lean protein, healthy fat and important vitamins and minerals. Don’t miss out!

My family loves these burgers because they are quick, easy and most of all delicious! I think you’re really going to like them too!

After you drain the water from the can of albacore tuna, place it in a medium sized bowl and flake it apart slightly into large chunks with a fork. Add in some freshly grated carrot, finely chopped green pepper and onion, then season it with a little salt and pepper. Add whole wheat breadcrumbs, a little low fat mayo and an egg.

Mix everything carefully together until it’s combined well.

I like to use a 1/2 cup sized measuring cup to evenly make my patties. I take the tuna filling, press it into the cup with the back of a spoon, then turn it over into the pan or on a plate, gently push down and continue shaping the edges with the spoon until I get the perfect shape.

After preheating a nonstick skillet with a little extra virgin olive oil, add the burgers and let them cook through until the edges are nice and browned- about 4 minutes on each side.

Add the burgers to a bed of spinach or spring lettuces or to a toasted whole wheat bun. Top it with a piece of sharp white cheddar cheese, a juicy tomato, lettuce and onion for a delicious, satisfying and flavorful meal!

You know how good Albacore Tuna is for you, so think outside the box and try these Tasty Tuna Burgers today or come up with a new tuna creation of your own! Check out the Only Bumble Bee® Albacore Will Do site for more fresh and delicious recipe ideas to get you inspired in the kitchen today!

What’s your favorite Albacore Tuna recipe?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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The weather is getting warmer and that usually means we’ll be spending more time outdoors.  One of my favorite things to do when Spring comes around is to get cooking out on our grill.  Grilling chicken, hamburgers or even hot dogs always makes for a simple, but delicious meal.  The meal wouldn’t be complete without some yummy sides though.  This simple Shrimp & Tuna Macaroni Salad is a tasty side dish that will go great with your favorite grilled meats, serve a crowd and can even be eaten by itself for a light meal.

When it comes to macaroni salads, I really like to keep things simple.  I try not to steer to far away from the classic-style macaroni salad that most people grow up with and come to expect at a cookout.

For this recipe, elbow macaroni is cooked al dente, completely cooled then blended with albacore tuna, extra small shrimp, finely chopped onion, celery, creamy mayonnaise, freshly grated carrot, green peas and chopped red pepper for a Macaroni Salad your family is sure to love.

We don’t eat a lot of seafood meals at our house, but I’m always trying to introduce or incorporate different foods to our children without making a huge deal about it.  This macaroni salad is nice because the shrimp are pretty small, and even though we don’t eat them on a daily basis, the pasta is a familiar food which makes this salad something that my kiddos will eat without to much hesitation.

This recipe makes quite a bit of Macaroni Salad.  It can be made ahead of time and is perfect for a large family get together.  If it’s just made for your family, you can enjoy the leftover salad throughout the week for lunch or another cookout later on in the week.  My husband really likes shrimp, so he was very happy to eat this salad for a side with his sandwiches for lunch.  You can also serve this on top of a fresh bed of Spring Mix Greens or Spinach! Yum!

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*Linking up at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage

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Labor Day weekend is coming up and then my kiddos are off to school!  It always feels like then end of Summer as soon as they go back, even though the weather will still be fairly warm for at least another month or so.  I love Fall, so I won’t be too sad when the seasons change, but for now I am going to enjoy the warm feel of the sunshine and fun with my family outdoors and in my garden.

Do your children get off the school bus hungry every day?  Well mine do!  I am always trying to make sure that I have something fairly healthy and filling for them to eat as soon as they come inside and get cleaned up.  I was recently asked to participate in Bumble Bee’s Back To School Recipe Challenge #BumbleBee101 !  Since I am always trying new things in the kitchen, I thought this would be a great opportunity to incorporate that sometimes overlooked ingredient- Tuna into a yummy recipe that my whole family would love.

This Italian Tuna Pasta Salad is a fantastic after school snack!  Garden Rotini Pasta is tossed with Albacore Tuna, sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, artichokes, red peppers, red onion, black olives, crumbled Feta cheese and Italian dressing to jazz it up a bit.  The star of this Pasta Salad is definitely that Albacore Tuna with Sun Dried Tomatoes that comes from Bumble Bee’s Gourmet Collection.  It’s delicious!  Even if your children don’t think they like tuna, this tuna and pasta salad is so flavorful, that I think they won’t mind!

This chilled Pasta Salad isn’t just for after school snacks though.  It makes a great lunch served with sliced apples, or is the perfect dish to pass for a Family Gathering or BBQ.

It can even be made on the weekend and placed into individual containers and refrigerated to make packing your child’s lunch, or your own lunch quicker on those busy weekday mornings!

Whether you are looking for something new or are trying to add more of that great Omega-3 into your diet, I think you and your family will really enjoy this simple, but delicious dish!

Check out more Gourmet Tuna Flavors & Tuna Varieties by Following Bumble Bee on Facebook and Twitter!

*I was provided several Bumble Bee Tuna samples and a gift card to purchase ingredients to create a recipe for their Back to School Challenge.  All opinions are of course, as always, 100% my own.

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*Linking up at:

Living Well Spending Less,Best Blog Recipes,Savvy Southern Style, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, Buns In My Oven

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In our house, when I make sandwiches for lunch it is usually along the lines of PB & J and Turkey and Cheese.  I have a few picky eaters, so Tuna Fish sandwiches aren’t usually on our menu.  My husband was home during lunch time last week due to the remodeling of our downstairs bathroom, so I decided to make us a “grown up”  lunch.  I added celery, onion, red grapes and apple to the tuna and mayonnaise for a nice flavor and some crunch.  I love to serve this chilled salad on warm toasted bread with lettuce and tomato.  During the summer, this Tuna Salad is also wonderful served on a bed of  lettuce and served with freshly brewed Iced Tea.

*Linking up at Ginger Snap Crafts,  Mostly Homemade Mom, Mom On Timeout, The Taylor House, Feeding Big, The Lou Lou Girls, Skip To My Lou

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Spring is such a busy time of year.  The days are longer and I know for our family, we seem to have a to do list that is a mile long.  When the weather is finally this nice, it’s hard not to spend every minute preparing your yard and gardens for the upcoming summer.  This week my husband has been working very hard getting my new garden area ready.  He is also building me raised beds this year, so I am very excited to plant vegetables this weekend and share some garden photos with everyone next week:).

After a long, busy month, we will be taking time this weekend to honor and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country.  If you cannot make it to a service being held in your area, consider watching one of the many Memorial Ceremonies that will be broadcast on may news stations.  I enjoy having a picnic with my family on Memorial Day, but I want my children to know the meaning of Memorial Day too.

I save this Tuna Macaroni Salad recipe for special summer family picnics, like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.  Don’t get me wrong, I could eat this type of side dish more often, but it’s obviously not a healthy food choice.  I have seen many “light” and “skinny” versions of macaroni salads which work out wonderfully for some people.  I am going to be completely honest here- I don’t eat macaroni salad all of the time, so when I do,  I am not going to waste any of my calories on anything but the real deal!  I am warning you now, this is not a light version, but it’s a great macaroni salad!   I save myself time by making this the night before it is served, and you need the flavors to blend together nicely as well.  This is not a fancy salad, but it is very easy to make, tastes great, serves a crowd and goes well with anything on the grill.  Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your loved ones!

*linking up at Mom On Timeout

*linking up at Joyful Homemaking

*linking up at The Taylor House

*Linking up at I Gotta Create

*Linking up at Best Blog Recipes

*Linking up at Cooking With Curls

*Linking up at Sewlicious Home Decor

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