Tip of the Week: How to lighten-up store bought items

Does this sound familiar? You love tuna salad but hate the abundance of mayonnaise on the store-bought version, yet you are too lazy to make your own? Me too! This is what I do: I buy a cup or a pint of my favorite kind of Whole Foods tuna salad (Lemon-dill or Mediterranean - YUM) and then I pour it into a larger container and add a can or two of plain canned tuna packed in water. Then I stir it up and it becomes delicious low-mayo tuna salad that I can make 4 meals out of (I tend to stick to a half cup if I'm having it on grainy bread or crackers but go for closer to a cup on lettuce with chopped veggies). This actually saves money and calories! There are lots of ways you can stretch other items too: add plain lemon juice to store-bought organic oil and vinegar dressings (I recommend this over buying low-fat versions which often just have more sugar in place of the healthy oils), add chopped rotisserie chicken and apples or grapes to store-bought chicken salad, add chopped veggies to a pasta salad...you get the idea. Add, stretch and enjoy the feel of lightening your waist and your wallet!