more fish

We had Crunchy Yogurt "Fishsticks" last night and I have to say it's hands down my new favorite. Maybe not the best fish I've ever had, but easily my #1 pick coming out of my own kitchen. Sooo yummy.
So yummy in fact that the kids both ate their whole serving!!
And that is big news people, because aside from processed freezer fishsticks, my kids do not eat fish.
But they gobbled these up.

I had tilapia fillets and wanted to make them fishstickish, but tasty enough for us adults, so I was "fishing" around the internet for ideas and came across this one. Which was a spin off of one of PW's chicken recipes. And since we all know PW recipes are a pretty sure bet, I went for it.

I had four fillets and cut them each into fourths, trying to go for the fishstick feel. They were really more like mini fillets, but oh well.
I mixed up some plain yogurt (I just used all of what was left in my container which was about 2 cups), garlic (two cloves, minced), parsley (dried; just sprinkled til it looked good) and the juice of a lemon (actually a lemon and a half) and some salt and pepper.

I added the fish chunks, made sure they were well covered with the yogurt mixture and let it sit for a good hour. (my fish was still partially frozen so I let it sit out on the counter instead of in the fridge.)

Then I simply dredged the yogurty fish in plain Panko whole wheat breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs on to coat. I put the breaded fish in a 9x13 cake pan sprayed with cooking spray and then put the teeniest pads of butter on top of each piece of fish and covered the whole thing with foil, putting it into the oven at 400°.
I baked mine for about 20 minutes and then removed the foil, baking for another 10 or so. (my oven is off kilter and I would guess in a correct oven that these would probably be good for 20 minutes total.) At that point they were done, but didn't look golden or all that crispy so I turned on the broiler real quick to just let them brown a tad. Beautiful!

These were absolutely the perfect breaded fish... golden crunchy on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside. Ryan commented that it didn't even have a fishy aftertaste at all... just delicious. And my kitchen didn't smell like I was baking fish... it just smelled yummy!

I am so glad I tried this way of preparing tilapia; it's a fabulous way to use more of the plain, unflavored yogurt I've been buying and trying to incorporate into our recipes, and the whole family loved it. I think that's a first!!

Tilapia and Veggies

This was a super quick and easy meal that we'll definitely have regularly around here.
I pared down this recipe here for what I had on hand.

Three tilapia fillets for the four of us (the kids split one), a handful of fresh green beans, grape tomatoes, 2 tbsp lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and some salt and pepper. Oh and I chickened out at the last minute, thinking the fish might be just a little on the plain side for me and added just a tiny splash of lite Italian dressing to the veggie mix before I put in on the fish.

I quartered the tomatoes and cut the green beans into about 1 inch lengths and mixed all the ingredients (minus the fish) together. Then I put each fillet on a piece of foil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and topped with a few spoonfuls of the veggie mix. Fold up and seal the foil making little packets around the fish (leaving enough room inside for everything to steam nicely) and bake at 425° degrees for 20-25 min. That's it!

It was really good! Ryan and I really liked it and Savannah ate most of it, though she wouldn't admit that she liked it. Sawyer (after making him try it) said he loved it (with ketchup) but only ate a few more bites. Over all I think it was a hit for us and I love how simple and healthy it is.
I served it with brown rice, and sides of peas and mandarin oranges.

Cheesy Tilapia

I saw this recipe on a blog documenting A Year of Crockpotting. I've taken quite a few recipes from there actually, because I love using my crockpot. This is my favorite so far.

This was a recipe using the same method of wrapping the fish in foil packets as my favorite salmon recipe. The foil traps all the moisture and juices in, making a beautifully tender fish, never dried out. This recipe simply calls for a crockpot instead of an oven, and I found myself wondering which was more energy efficient; using the crock pot for 3-4 hours or using the oven for 30-40 minutes. Anyone know the answer to that?
I definitely like having it prepared and out of the way before the dinner hour though!

Here's the recipe:

Cheesy Tilapia

• 3 or 4 Tilapia filets (or any other favorite white fish)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar is fine, parmesan is yummy!!)
• juice of 2 lemons
• 4 chopped garlic cloves
• pinch of salt and pepper

1. mix all ingredients except for the fish in a bowl
2. lay out pieces of foil for each piece of fish
3. rub sauce mixture on both sides of each piece of fish
4. fold foil over fish to make seal packets
5. toss the packets into the crockpot and cook on high for 3-4 hours; fish should flake easily with a fork

Ryan and I really liked this fish. One discovery I made was that the sauce was extremely watery when first taken out of the crockpot... I had cut some up for the kids and when I returned to the packet to transfer the rest of the fish to my plate, the sauce had thickened up and turned "cheesier". I used parmesan cheese and the whole thing was really yummy.

Salmon Tuesday

Ryan was at work a little late tonight, so I fed the kids leftovers and he and I had a "grown up" dinner by ourselves after they were in bed.
Normally I stick to my all-time favorite baked salmon (YUM!), but since we just cooked that up last week with my parents in town, I was ready to try something different with the couple of salmon filets we had left.

Kim left me a recipe that sounds oh-so-good (thanks Kim! I love getting ideas from everyone!!), but since I didn't make a big grocery trip this week and I didn't happen to have the herbs or parmesan or white whine, I thought I'd save that for another time.

What I did have on hand was an unopened bottle of Trader Joe's Lemon Dill Sauce, so I poured a little of that over the salmon and let it soak in before grilling... and it was sooo yummy! I don't know why I was so (pleasantly) surprised... Trader Joe's has seldom disappointed... but I was honestly savoring every bite of that fish. I'm going to stock up on that sauce! It'd be awesome on a salad with a little tuna or salmon in it too. Tonight we enjoyed a nice salad on the side of our Lemony Dilly Grilled Salmon, and with a nice cool beverage (Captain's and diet Coke, thankyouverymuch), it was the perfect spring/summertime meal. Too bad it was already cold and dark out by the time we enjoyed it!!

Cheesy Tuna Noodle

Hold on to your hats, the kids ate a meal!
Well, that may have something to do with the fact that it's little more than they're stand-by of mac and cheese, but still... they ate it! With a little extra protein!!

Here's my super quick, super not-good-for-you, Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole:
2 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, prepared
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cans of tuna, drained
mix together
ta-da!

This is one of my favorites. Don't ask me why. And I'm not a big leftover fan, but I will eat this every day warmed over out of the fridge until it's gone.

Tonight We're Taking Dinner Out

Well, my menu was sort of thrown for a loop this past week, as I was really sick on Thursday and not really up to par on Friday and Ryan didn't want to stick to the menu and cook meals that the kids probably wouldn't even eat.
Friday we had planned on taking dinner to the Malones and visit with them and the new baby, but I didn't want to go near Yuri not being too sure about my stomach. So we're headed over there this evening and we're taking along my favorite Salmon Baked in Foil, along with an Apple and Pear Salad, some fresh baked bread, and for dessert... Creamy Lemon Squares. These are my absolute favorite... I could eat them all summer long. I found the recipe at the very beginning of the summer after searching high and low for a good lemon bar recipe. I love lemon bars, but I'm pretty picky about them. That is to say, I'll eat just about all of them, but I love the creamy ones, more like cheesecake than the ones that are too gel-ly. These are perfect! And I love that the crust is made of Nilla Wafers instead of Graham Crackers... very yummy! If you like lemon, give 'em a try.