Mom Mondays - what to make when there's no food in the house!

Something that never ceases to amaze me is how resourceful my mother is. She could probably be on one of those survivor shows and teach people how to make something from nothing.

She also seems to have an infinite amount of resources that she has compiled over the years. Mainly books. But she is an expert on just about everything. We have friends who call all the time to get medical advice from "Nurse" Jane!

One day this week I literally had no food in the house and I needed to make something for dinner but I just had a bunch of odds and ends in my cabinets and fridge - nothing to make a meal from (I thought). Then I was inspired by the lone can of tuna on the shelf. A tuna sandwich? Nope. One tuna sandwich to split between both myself and Stephen was NOT going to cut it. But tuna croquettes? THAT would feed us both and then some!

What are tuna croquettes (crow-ketts) you might ask? Delicious. Nuff said. Okay, for those of you who have never heard of them, they are basically fried tuna patties. This is a very old recipe that my mom got from her grandma and who knows where she got it from! It may be as old as canned tuna itself!

Now I changed the recipe a bit because I only had one 5 ounce can of tuna and the recipe calls for 14 ounces. I also made them into tuna "nuggets" instead of patties. Not sure why, just felt like being different! Amazingly, This only costs $1.40 to make the entire recipe yielding 52 nuggets! 

Ingredients:

9 1/4 oz can of tuna (but I made it with only a 5 oz can!)

2 Tablespoons butter 

3 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

2 slices of bread

1 cup breadcrumbs 

1 egg, separated 

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons Worchteshire sauce 

Directions:

1. Make white sauce (mix butter, flour and add milk gradually in a saucepan over low heat).

2. Add lemon juice and Worchteshire sauce

3. Add tuna, egg yoke, and soft bread crumbs (I just added 2 slices of white bread minus the crust)

4. Chill mixture 30 min-1 hour

5. Shape into patties (I made mine into 1 inch balls which makes them nugget-sized!)

6. Dip each ball in egg white/water mixture, flour, again in the white/water mix, and finally in breadcrumbs ( I used Panko to make the nuggets extra crispy on the outside!)

7. Fry in saucepan over medium heat (I used 2 Tbs olive oil)

8. Set on paper towel to cool and soak up any extra grease - enjoy!

This honestly makes a lot of food for not having much in the house! Let me know in the comments if you have a similar "in-a-pinch" recipe!