Sunday dinner

Do you ever have one of those days where everything just comes together and your dinner is just amazing? This is what happened to us Sunday evening. We knew we were going to have grilled burgers but I needed to come up with a side dish. Ryan was looking for something and found a watermelon salad. We decided that sounded good but I would need a couple of things from the grocery store. We had also watched Food Network in the morning and saw an ice cream sandwich cake that we wanted to make and I needed everything to make that. Maddie and I headed to the grocery and while we were there she saw Okra. We all love fried okra when we go out to eat but I had never made it. She asked if she could make it for dinner as well and I decided that if she's offering, I'll buy! We got what we needed and headed home. It all turned out AMAZING! So for dinner we had: burgers, fried okra, watermelon salad, and ice cream sandwich cake for dessert. Here's how you can make it as well!

For the burgers: 

We use 1 3/4 lbs. of ground beef and make 5 patties (we have a hungry growing teen boy so he gets 2 burgers usually). Then season them with a burger seasoning that you like. We have a Big Green Egg that we grill them on. We like to add cheddar cheese. Ryan and the kids eat their burgers on buns but I like to just put some mayo, mustard, and avocado on mine without a bun. 

What you'll need for the okra:
1 carton okra
3 eggs
1 c. flour
3/4 c. corn meal
1 Tbs. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 Tbs. Lowry's seasoning salt
1/2 Tbs. garlic powder
1/2 Tbs. onion powder
sea salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil

Cut off the ends of the okra then cut into bite size pieces. Put about 1 inch of veg. oil into a dutch oven (enough to cover the okra when you put in to fry), turn on the heat and get hot. 

In one shallow bowl: whisk 3 eggs with about 1/4 c. water. 
In another shallow bowl: mix flour, corn meal, Old Bay, Lowry's, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. 

In batches: dredge about 1/3 of the okra in the egg wash then transfer to the flour mixture. Carefully put into the hot oil and fry about 4-5 min. or until golden brown. Remove with slotted metal spoon and place onto a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with remaining okra. Maddie dipped hers into Ranch while the rest of us dipped into a Sriracha Ranch. 


For the Watermelon, Cucumber, Feta Salad: from Dinner at the Zoo
What you'll need: 
3 c. watermelon cubed or balled
1 1/2 c. sliced cucumber, seeds removed
2 Tbs. thinly sliced mint
1/3 c. crumbled feta
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

What you'll do:
Place the watermelon, cucumber, and mint into a large bowl. Squeeze lime juice over mixture, then drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper over. Toss to coat. When ready to serve, sprinkle with feta. 


For the Ice Cream Sandwich Cake: from The Pioneer Woman

What you'll need: 
12 ice cream sandwiches
1 pint strawberry ice cream, softened
1 pint Cookies over Texas ice cream, softened (or cookies and cream if you don't live in Texas and get HEB ice cream...to which I am so sorry!)
8 oz. Cool Whip, softened
1 c. sprinkles (if you want...we did not...I don't like them)

What you'll do: 
Line an 8 in. square pan with foil making sure to go both directions and have enough to overhang on each side. Place a layer of ice cream sandwiches in the bottom of the pan. Spread the strawberry ice cream over the sandwiches evenly using an off-set spatula. Layer another layer of ice cream sandwiches over the strawberry ice cream. Spread the Cookies over Texas ice cream evenly. Spread the Cool Whip evenly over the top like a frosting. Sprinkle with sprinkles if you'd like. Freeze for 1 hour or more. 

Remove the cake from the freezer and carefully remove the cake from the pan. Peel off the foil making sure to get all of it, it does stick to the sides and bottom. Slice and serve. 

Personal Fruit Pizzas

Since we've been home so much lately, thank you COVID-19, we've been having fun with food, especially desserts lately. I decided that we needed to try to be healthy so of course personal fruit pizzas came to mind. I also had butter milk on hand that I wanted to use. This is so easy, fun, yummy, and it fit the bill perfectly! The cookies are the perfect size and sweetness, plus you don't have to make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it. I halved the recipe and we still had enough cookies for the week. 

What you'll need for the personal buttermilk cookies: 

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. salted butter, room temp. 
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
4 1/2 -5 1/2 c. flour
Powdered sugar


What you'll do: 

-Preheat oven to 400º
-Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
-Cream sugar and butter in a stand mixer for 3 min. or until fluffy. Mix in the eggs. Add salt and baking powder and mix well. Add 1/4c. buttermilk, vanilla, almond extract and blend. Add 2 1/2 c. flour 1/2 c. at a time. Add the remaining 1/4 c. buttermilk. Then blend in the reaming flour. The batter should be smooth and elastic like. If the batter is too sticky add more flour. 
-Sprinkle your rolling surface with powder sugar and roll the dough out until it is a 1/4 inch thick. 
- Using a large mouth mason jar, cut out the cookies and transfer onto baking sheet. 
-Bake for 10 min. Allow to cool then frost. 


Frosting for personal fruit pizzas:

8 oz. cream cheese
13 oz. marshmallow cream fluff

-Mix ingredients together and frost cookies when ready to eat. 


Making the fruit pizzas:
Top with cut up fruit like:
Apples
Blueberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blackberries
Bananas
Peaches
Can also drizzle with a bit of honey

Caribbean rice

Adapted from A Spicy Perspective website

We LOVE Caribbean rice and we used to have it alot when we lived in Florida but since moving, we have had trouble finding it (the boxed kind). But we found a fish recipe that was screaming for a Caribbean rice side. I found a recipe that I thought would work and changed it up a bit to fit what I had at the house. It has a tropical flavor with a hint of spice. It was THE BEST rice I've had! We will definitely have this more often. 

What you'll need: 

2 c. rice (long grain or Minute rices works)
2 Tbs. Cream d'Coconut
2 c. water
2 cloves minced garlic, 
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. butter
1 1/2 c. diced bell pepper (red and yellow)
1/2 c. diced red onion
1 c. diced pineapple (reserve juice)
4 oz. can chopped green chilis
1/2 finely diced jalepeno
1/4 c. chopped cilantro

What you'll do: 

Add the rice, cream d'coconut, garlic, salt, allspice, cayenne, any pineapple juice you have, and 2 c. water. Stir well. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and remove from heat. 

Meanwhile, add the butter to a skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers and onions. Saute for 2-3 min. until just softened. Remove from heat and add the pineapple, green chilis and jalepeno. Add to the rice and toss to combine. Stir in the cilantro. Enjoy! 

Grilled fish and tropical salsa

Adapted from EatingWell website.

I didn't get a picture of dinner tonight but I wanted to post this because it was just so good! The recipe calls for Salmon but we have Halibut left over from Alaska last summer so that what we used. We also didn't grill the halibut because we didn't feel like firing it up, so I just broiled the fish. But, OH MY, was dinner good tonight! This salsa would be amazing with grilled shrimp, chicken, or pork. We served it with Caribbean rice as well. 

What you'll need: 

1 lb fish fillet (or shrimp, chicken, or pork)
2 c. coarsely chopped fresh pineapple
1 c. coarsely chopped fresh mango
1/2 c. chopped bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, or green...or a combo)
1/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lime peel (I didn't have a good lime, so I omitted this)
3 Tbs. lime juice, divided
1 small jalapeno, finely chopped
2 Tbs. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. avocado oil
1/2 tsp. pink Himalayan salt
pinch of cayenne pepper


What you'll do:

Salsa: combine the pineapple, mango, bell pepper, red onion, 2 Tbs. lime juice, chili pepper, and 1 Tbs. cilantro in a bowl. Set aside and let the flavors marry. 

Fish: Rinse the fish and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub the fish with avocado oil and sprinkle with Himalayan salt. In a small bowl, combine the lime peel, 1 Tbs. lime juice, 1 Tbs. cilantro, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. At this point, you can grill or broil the fish for 8-12 min. or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Top with salsa and Caribbean rice.