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. 

Monday Aug. 8

Today marked the beginning of our "busy season." Football practice started tonight and will continue 3 nights a week for the next however many weeks. I'm not complaining, I love seeing my little man so happy and doing what he loves to do. I love sitting outside in my folding chair while I'm occupying Miss Thang and sweating so much that when I stand up, it looks like I wet myself. And I love having to come up with dinners that I can throw together in 5 minutes and the kids will wolf down in record time and still have a semi-full belly by the end of practice and get some nutrition out of it. I love this time. I really do. But, it also leaves me sort of stumped as to what to make on nights like this while also adding some variation and intrest.

I am trying something new this season. I realize that we will only have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night where we won't be getting home, having a small snack, running out of the door for some sort of practice, only to return to have dinner, shower, and do to bed. I want to keep track of what I make, how well we like it, and if it was quick to make and just as quick to eat. Then maybe I'll have an arsenal of dinners I can refer to next season.

Tonight I made a salmon dinner. I thought that I am not a salmon fan, but y'all, this dinner changed my mind. I guess after all, I just might be. It was pretty quick, easy, and yummy. It's also a Rachael Ray dinner, so you can bet that it was quite a bit of clean up as well. But, heck, it was quick, easy, and yummy. AND my kids ate it pretty well and didn't complain. As a matter of fact, they told me....wait for it..........that dinner was good!

Lime-and-Honey Glazed Salmon with Warm Black Bean and Corn salad
Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats cookbook pg. 253 (that's number 288 of non-repeating recipies)
*Also, side note, it wasn't really "glazed" so that was a little dissappointing, but good none-the-less

4 Tbs. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 med. red onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 to 1 tea. crushed red pepper flakes (I suppose you could leave them out, but I used 1/2 tsp. and couldn't
                    even tell they were in there)
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Juice of 2 limes
3 Tbs. honey (3 globs since Rach doesn't actually measure)
1 tsp. chili powder
4 6-ounce salmon fillets (I bought 1 large one and cut it up myself)
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
1 10-ounce box frozen corn kernels, defrosted (or cut the kernels off 4 fresh ears of corn, I did this with 3
                   ears and we had plenty and they were GREAT!)
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 to 3 Tbs. fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (I didn't use them since I didn't want to waste the extra)
6 cups baby spinach

Preaheat a medium skillet over medium high heat with 2 Tbs. EVOO (twice around the pan). Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, preheat a medium skillet over med-high heat with remaining 2 Tbs. EVOO. In a pie plate, combine the juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Add the salmon fillets and toss to coat evenly. Add the salmon to the hot skillet and cook until just cooked through. (I cooked the non-skin side first, then the skin side. My fillets were really thick, this way I could burn the skin and not the fish. The fish will flake easily with a fork when it is cooked through and ready.)

To the cooked onions, add the bell peppers and corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until they are heated through. Remove from heat and add the juice of the second lime, cilantro, and spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and taste to adjust seasonings. Serve the salmon on top of the warm black bean and corn salad. EnJoY!

Spring Break Menu, Shopping List, & Mondays recipie

This week is spring break for us so I have planned not only my dinners, but also my breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. I do NOT like to waste my time trying to figure out what I am going to make to eat when we have so much more things we'd rather be doing. I'm not saying that I will stick to the menu everyday. I may move things around and or delete things due to change in plans or whatnot, but I want to have the food on hand just in case it's needed. So, without further adu, I give you.....my menu and grocery list for this week.............

Menu:

Monday: Breakfast- Pantcakes (pancakes really, but my kids called them pantcakes when they were little & it stuck)

Lunch- Pizza Sticks

Snack- bugs on a log (aka celery with peanut butter & raisins)

Dinner- Baked fish with parsley, green beans, rolls, and baked apples for dessert

Activity- bake Angel cookies with M's Easy Bake Oven

Tuesday: Breakfast- Breakfast Tacos

Lunch- Ham & Cheese sandwiches

Snack- Fruit Kabobs with fruit dip

Dinner- Chicken Caccitore with wild mushrooms and rice

Activity- make cake balls

Wednesday: Breakfast- Toaster Struddles

Lunch- PB & J (going on a picnic, keeping it easy)

Snack- Orange smiles

Dinner- Baked ziti with sausage and a salad

Thursday: Breakfast- Green Eggs and ham (today is St. Patrick's Day...you'll see a theme today) with green milk

Lunch- hoping to go see daddy for lunch today

Snack- make Pistachio pudding (watch it turn green)

Dinner- Beef & Noodles in Thai Peanut Sauce with Mint Brownies

Friday: Breakfast- Cinnamon rolls (from the can)

Lunch- left open in case I skip something this week

Snack- popcorn

Dinner- no plan yet

Saturday: Breakfast- french toast

Dinner- Shrimp Satay on the grill with rice

Sunday: Breakfast- Cereal

Dinner- Chicken Enchiladas with refried beans and cheese and chips & salsa & guac.

Shopping List:

(remember if there is a * then you need the item for a recipe...everthing else is for our weekly needed stuff)

*1 green bell pepper

*2 red bell peppers

*scallions

lettuce

strawberries (for the kebobs)

apples (for the kebobs)

bananas

*sweet onion

*1 cup wild mushrooms

*1 1/2 lbs shrimp (large, raw, peeled, deveined) throw in freezer as soon as you get home

*sausage

*4 white fish fillets (your favorite, we usually do tilapa)

* 1 1/4 lbs. lean flank steak cut into 1/4 in. strips

lunch meat...ham

hot dogs

*2 cup bag shredded mexican cheese

block of colby cheese

*15 ounces ricotta

*parmesian cheese

bread

cereal

breakfast bars

Mrs. Buttersworth

poptarts

Nilla wafers

*ziti noodles

*black bean sauce

*2 28ounce beef broth

*1 cup chicken broth

*8 ounces tomato sauce

pistachio pudding mix

*dry roasted peanuts

Gatorade

melting chocolate

*2 rolls of Pilsburry rolls (whatever you like...they are for sides)

*1 roll of Pilsburry breadsticks

Toaster Struddles

2 frozen pizzas

Monday:

Breakfast: pantcakes (recipe from Bisquick box...altered a bit)

2 cups Bisquick mix

1 cup milk

2 eggs

2 Tbs sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

dash (in our case...a whole lotta) cinnamon

Stir to combine. Pour onto greased griddle. Cook till edges are dry and you see bubbles in the middle of the pancakes. Turn, cook until golden. Can serve with a side of bacon or sausage, fruit and milk or OJ.

Lunch: we ended up goning to a movie and ate lunch at Target. Let me tell you, Target is a great cheap place to get lunch. The three of us ate for $9. The kids each had mac & cheese, apples & caramel, milk. I had nachos & a soft drink.

Snack: Since we ate popcorn at the movie and a late lunch we didn't have a snack.

Dinner: Baked fish with parsley, green beans, rolls, and baked apples.

Baked Fish with parsley (Gooseberry Patch Quick & Easy Pg. 82)

1 lb. fish fillets

1/2 cup butter, melted

2Tbs. lemon juice

1/4 cup minced onion

1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. dried parsley

Place fillets in a lightly greased 13" x 9" baking dish. In a small mixing bowl (I melted my butter in a measuring cup and used it to mix in) blend together remaining ingredients and pour over fish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 4 to 5 servings. I also put the rolls in the oven and baked it all for 30 minutes.

While the fish was baking I made the green beans. I snapped off the ends and put them all into a large skillet with some water (just to cover the bottom of the pan), covered the pan and boiled for 5 mintues. Drain the water from the skillet and add some minced garlic, diced onion, a dash of nutmeg, 2 Tbs. butter, and seasoning salt. Saute until the beans are golden and the onion is translucient, about 4 or so mintues.

I also make my own tarter sauce for the fish since I don't really like store bought. I don't measure anything when I make this, I just eyeball it and taste it. To make the tarter I mix together about 2 cups Mayo, 1 Tbs. yellow mustard, 1 Tbs. sugar (we like it sweet), 2 Tbs. sweet relish, a dash of paprika, salt and pepper.

Baked apples:

Core 2 red apples (for 4 people) and put into a baking dish. Add a pat of butter in each and sprkinle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Top with marshmallows and broil until marshmallows are brown. (I usually use red hots instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg, but wouldn't you know it, we were out of them and I didn't realize it!)

I did not get any pictures. But I'll try to for the rest of the week. I did this fish recipe for the first time. We thought that it was ok. I usually just throw some fish in a baking dish and season it up with seasoning that we like and bake it till it flakes apart. But I wanted to try something else. It was good, but not great. There was a TON of  butter and the seasoning was just ok. Not very strong.

EnJoY!

Herbed Fish Cakes with Brussels sprouts with bacon and shallots and rolls

I used cod. I wasn't sure how the kids would like this dinner, especially the brussels sprouts. But they LOVED it and devoured it in a few minutes. Even my husband liked the sprouts and said that anything is good if you cook it with bacon :) I also halved the fish cakes recipe.

Herbed Fish Cakes:
3 1/2 lbs. fresh or frozen halibut or cod fillets or steaks, thawed and skin removed if necessary.
1/2 c. mayo
6 Tbs. seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. parsley
1 Tbs. basil
1 1/2 tea. Old Bay seasoning
1 tea. oregano
1/2 tea. ground black pepper
1 Tbs. evoo

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Put fish into a large pot and cover with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until fish is fork-tender, about 5 min. Drain.

Put fish into a large bowl and fold in mayo, bread crumbs, mustard, parsley, basil, Old Bay, oregano, and pepper. Shape into 12 cakes, about 1 inch thick.

Heat oil in large, ovenproof skillet over med-high heat. Add the fish cakes a few at a time and cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 min. per side. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake 20 min.

Brussels Sprouts with bacon and shallots:
2 tea. evoo
4 slices bacon, diced
1/4 c. minced shallots
One 10 oz. bag frozen Brussels sprouts, thawed
1/2 c. chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in large skillet (I used the one from the fish) over med-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring until golden brown, about 3 min. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, about 1 min. Add the Brussels sprouts and broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer until sprouts are crisp-tender, about 5 min. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Rolls:
I popped open a tube of Pilsbury rolls and baked them while the fish is in the oven.

Plate and enjoy!