Back when I was a new wife and a new mother, a temptation came my way in the form of a Jewel Food truck, a grocery store on wheels. He came in with a catalog and brought your food to you when you chose from a catalog. I only bought two or three things in the whole year it came by our house. However, one item I bought multiples times. But, once we moved in 1970, I never bought anything from Jewel again. I don't think a truck was in that area. The thing I loved the most was a boxed item, one I had to add a can of tuna and mayonnaise.
However, a few years ago, I decided to make it without the box of ingredients. I remember there were pasta shells, a packet of relish, and a pouch of seasoning. Even though I decided to make this several years ago, I just got around to making it. As I said before, I had to add mayo and tuna So, here is the recipe I figured out.
pasta shells
1/3 cup mayo (NOT Miracle Whip)
2 Tbsp sweet relish (maybe a bit more)
1 packet Lipton Recipe Secrets Vegetable Recipe Soup and Dip Mix
1 small can tuna, drained
I ate it warm, but tomorrow will eat it cold. I like it both ways. How much pasta? I used the pasta package from the Suddenly Salad. ??? Shells is what it was made with originally. So, I stuck with shells, but I am sure any pasta would be good.
Use Mayo, not MW. I like sweet relish, but I am sure it would be good if you substituted or added dill relish. The soup mix was not softened when I started eating it but was better about ten minutes into eating. So, stir soup mix and relish into mayo as pasta is cooking to reconstitute the soup mix.
As I figured out this recipe, I measured nothing. So, maybe you will want to change the amounts. Plus, add-ins would be good.
Tommy said it was "edible" with a face that said he did not enjoy it. He dislikes tuna. He would like it better with a can of chicken instead of tuna. I would make it with the larger can of chicken breast which I have.
It has been 52 years since I bought this boxed meal from the truck. In my opinion, this tasted the same.
Just now, I realized the sodium content was very high! Maybe there is a different brand of vegetable soup mix with a lower sodium content.
Dinner on Thursday night was the baked chicken, Tommy a thigh and a breast for me. He ate 1/2 of his thigh. I ate half a breast. Part of the baking needs to be frozen. It was good to have chicken because the beef hurt my gastrointestinal system. So, since I felt better today, I was able to make lunch for two more days, and dinner protein for ten or more days. YAY! I froze three breasts and three thighs.
Update: I found another vegetable soup mix--Knorr. I will try this one Saturday or Sunday and tell you how this cmpares. But, the Knorr has a bit less sodium.
Have you ever heard of Jewel Tea? Did you ever buy a product from their truck?
My aunt had Jewel tea dishes.
ReplyDeleteChef,
DeleteI have seen those but never owned them.
I haven't heard of Jewel trucks. Up on our area we have "Schwans" which delivers food in a truck. Our neighbors used to use it, but I haven't seen it around in awhile. I haven't tried it, but some of their stuff in their online catalog looks good. I'm tempted to try them just to deliver milk.
ReplyDeleteOne,
DeleteI have never seen one since I moved from the Memphis area. From then on, I lived in small towns. Milk delivery for most people would be a real boon. Your husband could build a milk box for the milk delivery to keep it safe and at a safe temperature and to keep it from freezing just in case you were not there.
My Mom was a regular customer because the Jewel Tea guy went to our church. She used their pine cleaner and the whipped topping mix all the time. She also has a large collection of the Jewel Tea dishes that belonged to my Grandmother.
ReplyDeleteLana,
DeleteHis going to your church was handy. I sometimes missed his visit. I have never seen any of the dishes, just ones on the internet. How interesting.
My mother didn't drive so we had Jewel T as well as Charles Chips delivered. Back then we also had deliveries of dry cleaning, from the pharmacy and from the liquor store.
ReplyDeleteMy mother drove, but we only had one car. I know we had milk and ice delivered, but not the other stuff. All those deliveries were certainly time and money savers.
DeleteYum!! That pasta salad sounds a lot like one my grandmother used to make!! I've tried to replicate before but never could it to taste the same & I think it's probably that secret ingredient of the Lipton soup/dip mix! Going to have to try it out & see how it compares - thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Jewel Tea before! I don't believe they ever made it out this far west. I used to have our milk delivered by a local dairy - their milk was the best of the best! So fresh and so creamy.... and pricey! It was worth it though. However, they quit their home delivery service a few years ago after doing it for over 130 years, I was quite sad. Now I get my milk at Costco & while I like it and it's cheaper, it isn't the same as straight from the dairy!
Bri,
DeleteI found a vegetable soup mix with less sodium, so I will make it with chicken, probably on Saturday.
I hope this helps you recreate the your grandmother's pasta.
That milk is fresher than I have ever had!
Our neighbor across the street when I was a little girl, had the Jewel Tea truck come by about every week or two. I thought they must have been so rich to have their food delivered.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom always had a car to use to go to the grocery stores and get whatever she needed. Mom did have a little old man in an ancient truck come to the house once a week with fresh eggs. One time she asked him to bring some fertile Bantam chicken eggs for us to incubate so we could watch the chicks hatch. Two chicks hatched. A Bantam hen and Bantam rooster. I still remember one morning mom woke me up because the chicks were starting to peck at their shells. I watched the whole time until those two little chicks finally fought their way out of the eggs. Thinking back, getting to see those chicks hatch was better than a Jewel Tea truck coming to the house every day would have been.
susie,
DeleteYou always have great comments. I absolutely know the hatching of the chicks was a better experience! Thanks for that.
I had never heard of Jewel Tea so I looked it up. Apparently my grandmother was a fan because I inherited her tea pot and casserole dish and they are the Jewel Tea Autumn Leaf pattern. I had no clue
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteWhat a surprise for you!
Your recipe does sounds delicious. It's exciting to recreate a taste that you've remembered fondly for over 50 years!
ReplyDeleteThe recipe contains approx. 1,130 grams sodium per half-cup serving (Suddenly Salad pasta cooks up to four 1/2 cup servings). The Lipton mix is the main culprit, with 3600 gr sodium per packet.
Much as I love a good tuna/pasta salad, I have to pass this up bc high B.P. runs on both sides of my family. I also have to avoid the pasta as well. Sometimes it sucks to be me! :^p
Sue,
DeleteI figured it out after I made it and will never do that again.
Remember, I don't use the seasoning in the SS when I made this.
DeleteWhen I lived in Chicago, "Jewel" is where i did my shopping.
ReplyDelete"Visiting Aunt Jewel" we called it.
Urspo,
DeleteInteresting--Aunt Jewel...lol.