Friday, August 20, 2010

Noo-noos & tuna

Noo-noos and tuna are a special childhood memory for me. With the exception of my first few years of life, my mom was a working mother. She wasn't like many working mothers today, who sometimes resort to the option of eating out, frozen dinners, or even having the kids cook dinner themselves. She always had a hot meal on the table for our family of five (well, that's how many we had living under our roof as a kid), despite working all day and being exhausted. Some nights, to avoid having to clean a large mess and taking too much time, she would make noo-noos and tuna. She always said that was her idea of a cheap gourmet meal. I realize now how inexpensive and easy it is to make, but at the time that meal was almost as if I were striking gold. Throughout the years it was a treat, a comfort food, a time that Mommy and I would share together, and a good laugh when people would hear what we called it. Today I still love this little meal and I have carried it over into my own family, remembering my Mommy and how precious all of her hard work was to me; even when the hard work consisted of something small like making this simple meal seem like the entire world.
Noo-noos are the kiddie name my mom used for noodles, but she only calls them that when it comes to this meal. Note: My mom has a lot of kiddie names for things. Dinky dink being the name for drink. To make them, you simply boil elbow macaroni (or shells if you prefer) until they are soft, strain them, add a small can of tomato sauce, fill up the can of the tomato sauce with water half way and pour into the noodles, and stir while adding salt and pepper as desired. Josh also likes to add crushed red pepper to his, but I just think he's crazy.
The tuna sandwich is obviously another easy thing to make, especially the way my mom did it. You just add mayonnaise. To me, the tuna is vital to the noo-noos, because I have never had them without it. Josh is fine with a peanut butter sandwich or something of the sort, but I feel as though no tuna sandwich takes away from the entire experience.
This is one of my special meals from childhood! To answer any question as to whether or not I am too old to call them noo-noos, I will have to say definitely not. Josh even calls them that. :)

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Thanks for reading my post! & God bless! :)