Friday Night Fish

I haven't done a post about food in a while. I figured, since it is Lent, and Friday nights are fish night, why not go all out and make my own version of  a typical WI Friday night Fish Fry!

Since I believe in being as healthy as possible, plus I don't have a deep fryer, so I decided to bake my fish.  The first thing I did was season my fish. I soaked it in beer. (Any beer will do)

And seasonings. As well as a little bit of flour, mix them together and put them on your fish.

Make sure to grease the pan so it doesn't stick. Then bake the fish according to what type of fish you are making. I made tialpia, so it was in the oven 8-12 minutes at 350 degrees. 

While that is going one, work on your sides. I made steamed broccoli, French Fries and a simple salad.

(Homemade dressing- vinegar,lemon juice,and pepper)

Then cut up some lemon, put is all together on a plate, add a little tarter sauce and bam! 

ENJOY!

Ciao.

Yummy yummy chicken pot pie

Good Morning,

<div align="center"><a href="http://tobystailsblog.blogspot.com" title="Toby's Tails"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmlFExW5Z2nymRfQPX6LLZMcRmiT0HsSQ6Q7WlvYop2JtRs09yrBuPpyMusuQ-YnYTf_iWUWNbKnFdtQQHRUtr2-jrAm5sylC4Lx-ZhWolX9hyA7J7dyJmfKrFzzJjTleO-ljsXXNmvY4/w497-h373/2013-02-26" alt="Toby's Tails" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I have a wonderful husband. All the time I was sick  just wanted a good old fashion Chicken Pot Pie. I thought I would share the yumminess with you.

Crust: (This is for two small pot pies- it covers the bottom and the top- not the side)

            1 Cup Flour

            1/3 to 1/2 cup milk

           3 Tbsp butter

           2 tsp sage

          Pinch of salt

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add milk and butter and kneed  until a ball forms. Put int he fridge

Inside(aka soup):

    1 can of cream of chicken soup

    1 cup of water

    1/4 cup milk

    peas

    cooked chicken cubed

    carrots

    beans

   corn

1. Mix everything together in  a sauce pan. Bring to a boil.

Put together:
              Roll out the crust- set some int he bottom of the pan. Pour the soup in. Cover with the rest of the crust. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

(I think if I were to make this again, I would brush some butter on top of the crust to give it a flaky texture and taste. What do you think?)


 And for some of my It's Okay's for the week:

...to be super excited for the 48 degree weather we had yesterday....

...to have crazy food cravings and NOT be pregnant but PMSing...

...to love the idea of paperwork just to be able to listen to music...

...to be super excited that the peppers I planted have sprouted.. YAY!...

and

...to want to wear sun dresses and have the body to wear sun dresses...

Ciao,

Dinner meals

I have some more frozen meals. I know in fall I was all about the cranberries. They are super yummy. Now, I'm all about sweet onions and experimenting with Greek yogurt.

So to start a recipe:
 I call this chicken and veggies

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of chopped Broccoli
• 1/3 cup of chopped sweet onions + 1/8 cup chopped super fine for later
• 1/4 cup carrots
• 1/4 cup yellow peppers chopped
• 1 whole tomato sliced and diced
• 1 tsp of homemade ranch mix (I found a good one on Pinterest)
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• 1 tsp of celery salt
• Homemade sauce (see recipe below)
• 1 to 2 chicken breast cubed. 

Add everything to the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until done. 

Homemade sauce:

 For this I experimented and I didn't use exact measurements. In the process, I did end up messing up and had to fix it. But here is what I used and did below.

I caramelized the extra onions, and then added butter, chicken broth, flour and yogurt all to the fryer. I stirred and whisked it all together until it came a sauce. 

Other ones I made included:

Chicken and peppers:

• 1/2 of a big red pepper
• 1/2 of a big green pepper
• 1/4 cup of onions
• 2 chicken breast cubed
• 1 potato cubed (I only had one and needed to use it up)
• A dash of salt and pepper
• 1 tsp of red wine vinegar. 

Add 1 cup of chicken broth and cook on low 4-6 hours. 

Rice soup/stew

• 1/8 cup of red pepper
• 1/8 cup of green peppers
• 1/4 cup of sweet onions
• 1/2 cup of celery
• 1/4 cup of broccoli
• 1/2 cup of carrots
• 1/4 cup of tomato sliced

Add one cup of rice and 2 cups of chicken broth. Cook on low for 4 hours or until done and soupy like. 

So, those are just a few more frozen  meals I've made. What do you like to do when you cook?When making these, sometimes I like to put on music and sing along. I just make sure to try not to dance so I don't end-up cutting off a finger. Trust me, from experience  cutting off part of your finger really hurts. Of course when they can't reattach the skin you lost, you end up with a nice scar.

Ciao,

Homemade salad dressing

This week, I was bored with all the store brought salad dressing that we had in our fridge (we only have one in our fridge so that should say alot)

So, for dinner this week, we used a salad dressing I made. pomegranate

Pomegranate Vinaigrette Salad Dressing:

• 1/4 Cup of white Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup of Apple cider Vinegar
• 1/8 Cup of organic pomegranate juice
• 1 Tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp of lime juice
• 2 Tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1/2 tsp of sea salt
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder

Put it all in a jar or spray bottle  and shake it all up. You can store it in the fridge (that's what I did) but take it our about  half hour before you use it since my oil did solidify. (I think that means that my fridge is too cold). 

Enjoy your new Salad dressing. 

Ciao,

Frozen Meals

About  a month ago, I posted how my husband I used Pinterest and made a bunch of frozen meals. Well, we finally finished them. So I have started to come up with my own frozen meals. (Some
of the meals my husband and I didn't like very much)

 I have come up with 3 different meals to try  something soon.

Cranberry Chicken
2 chicken breasts
A can of cranberry sauce (I used homemade)
3/4 cup of minced Onion
1 tsp of minced Garlic
4 potatoes cut into quarters

Place in freezer bag, date and freeze. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until Chicken is done

Comfy Chicken
2 Chicken Breast
2 tablespoons of apple butter
1/4 Cup of cheddar cheese
Carrots
Onion
celery
Broccoli
Onion soup mix
garlic seasoning
Poultry seasoning
1/4 to 1/2 cup of chicken broth

Cut the veggies and place in freezer bag, then add the chicken and everything else. Freeze
When cooking- add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chicken broth and cook on low for 4-6 hours, serve with Mashed Potatoes
( Jeff, a Friend and myself had this last night. It was really yummy)

Salsa chicken
Chicken Breast
1 Cup of salsa
1/2 cup of chicken broth
celery
Onion
Green pepper
Carrots
1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of Cilantro

Cut up the veggies and place in freezer bag. Cut up chicken into cubes. Place in bag- add everything else and freeze.  When cooking add 1 cup rice and a little bit of water. Cook on low for 4 -6 hours. I would suggest serving this with Rice. If you want to be adventurousness  put the rice in the slow-cooker with everything else.

Enjoy!

What's for Dinnner

Yummy yummy salmon.

A few weeks ago Jeff and I made Salmon, and for those who don't know me, I am not a fish person But this salmon recipe that we made is just too yummy to not share. I found the  following Salmon recipe on line :

Salmon Recipe

The recipe on line called for the following:

1 1/2 pounds of Salmon Fillets              2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tsp Lemon Juice                                      2 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 Garlic clove Minced                    1/3 cup of brown sugar

Salt for taste

Jeff and I didn't like that. We thought the recipe called for too much salt( There is salt in Soy Sauce all ready so why add extra?) and we thought is called for too much sugar. So we cut the ingredients to make it, well, healthier. 

Here is what we used:

1 lb of Salmon                                                  2 teaspoons of Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce                              1/8th +1/2 TBSP of Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon of minced Garlic

We mixed the seasonings(soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and brown sugar) together in a big bowl  and then we put the salmon in the bowl and made sure it was covered with the seasoning. We put the bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes (you can do longer- it makes the taste stronger).

Once we took the salmon out of the fridge we had the oven set to a lo broil for 10 minutes. After that we flipped the salmon and moved the oven to a hi broil  for 8 minutes, flipping the salmon again at 4 minutes.  We took the salmon out of the oven and set it on top of the stove for 2 minutes.

 A tip- make sure to put a piece of foil on the bottom of the broiler pan. The first time we made this recipe we didn't do that, and had burned on sugar which is very difficult to clean. Also, the changes w made to the recipe makes the taste of the salmon come out more and with out the olive oil, it makes it more dry. If you don't like that, feel free to play around with the recipe and then post on the comments what you did.

On the side I made a Cucumber Vinegar Salad.

Spinach                                                             Feta Cheese
Cucumber sliced                                                Green Pepper- sliced and diced
Green Onions slice and diced                               1 1/2 table spoon of white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice                                dash of salt and pepper.


I put all the greens together. I mixed the lemon juice with the vinegar and salt and pepper. I put that on the salad, and enjoyed.

Well, that's my yummy dinner. What's yours?
Ciao

P.S. Right now Hurricane Sandy is hitting the east coast. Please keep all the people out their in your thoughts and prayers.

Spinach and Crab Elbow bake

I made this last week, but  was busy with other things and did not get around until this week for posting this. Last week Tuesday I was experiemnting with dinner. I decided I wanted to make  Spinach and Crab mac and Cheese, but then, I was thinking of chaging the name. You see, it turned out more like a pasta bake instead of a macaroini and cheese. So, I present my experimentation:

Spinach and Crab elbow bake

Ingrediants:

 3 Tbsp butter                                     3 Tbsp White wine

 1 C. Frozen Spinach                           2  C. milk

 1 egg                                                1 tsp. minced garlic

 2 Tbsp graterd parmasin Cheese

 1 Cup of Colby and Monteray  Shredded cheese blend +1/4 C.to save for later

 1 Cup of  Italian Shredded cheese blend +1/4 C.to save for later
 Elbow noodles

I heated up the butter in a sauce pan and put the white wine  as well as the frozen spinach. When the spinach was cookes, I added the milk, beated egg and cheese. I made a creamy cheese mixture. While I was making the cheese mixture, I boiled the noodles. After the cheese mixture and noodles were done, I miked them all together in a baking dish, topped it with bread crumbs and the left over cheese and but it in the oven(350 degrees) for 30 to 40 minutes. 

It was a very yummy dish, and Jeff really liked it .

What's for Dinner : Chili

Fall is coming, and it is the prefect time of year to have all that yummy fall food. Something I have recently acquired a taste for is Chili, but only if it is made a certain way. I love to eat my mom's chili, but don't really like it when I'm at a restaurant. I don't know what it is, I'm just a picky eater today. With the weather cooling off, Jeff and I decided to make our own homemade Chili today. We basically experimented, but it was really fun. We cranked up the music and began the chili making process.


For seasonings we used the following:
2  1/2 tsp Garlic Powder                    1 1/2tsp  Paprika
2 Tbsp Chili Powder                          1  tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper               1/4 tsp Chives
1/4 tsp Steak Seasoning

For the meats we used:
1 lb of Ground beef               1.25 lbs of Ground Turkey

For the veggies we used:
1/2 of a  fresh red pepper              1/2 of a fresh yellow pepper
1/2 of an fresh orange pepper        1/2 of a medium red onion
1/2 of a large  fresh white onion       1 can of black beans

For the Sauce we used:
2 cans (15 oz) tomato Sauce
1 Can (15 oz) Stewed tomatoes (with the water they were in)
3/4 Cup of water
1 can (12 oz) of Tomato paste
a little less than 1/8 of a cup of Whiskey
1/2 Tbsp of Jalapeno juice

For serving:
Cheddar Cheese                                 Oyster Crackers

The Process:

1. We cut up all the fresh veggies and set aside
2. We  mixed the meat together. We had the oven burner on Medium heat and browned the meat  until it was almost all browned. Then we added in the red onion and the white onion. We sauteed all of them together. After the meat was browned we drained the fat and set aside.

3. We put the liquids  in the crock pot and turned the crock pot on low. We mixed all the liquids together and then threw in the seasons. We then threw in the peppers, meat and onions and the black beans. We mixed  everything all together. We cooked it on low for 4 to 4 and a half  hours stirring occasionally.

Serving:
We topped our Chili with some fresh Shredded cheddar cheese and some crushed up saltine crackers. Jeff also topped his with  some extra cut up onion.

How did it taste?
During the cooking process, while stirring, there were times where I would take little taste test. It tasted pretty good. Jeff say it tastes what Chili should be.  It is a mild chili- not too spicy so if you want spicy, I would say you can add more spices to it. Jeff loves spicy Chili, but I don't so he added more chili powder to his.

So if you want a fun Chili Recipe, here you go!

Ciao,

What's for dinner

Today I used my crockpot and made homemade Macorini and Cheese.

Yum, right? Well, the recipe that I found online goes as follows:

2 cups of Skim Milk

1(12oz) can of Evaporated milk

1 1/2 Cups of Cheddar Cheese

Salt

Pepper

1 egg 

2 cups of uncooked Elbow Macaroni

I was suppose to whisk everything but the cheddar and Mac together, pour it into the crock-pot- then add the cheese, and pasta, stir and keep on low for 3 to 4 hours. Very easy to make.

The taste...well, this Mac and Cheese was missing something. So, now it is time to play. I think I might try to make this again and again until I find the perfect way to make crock-pot Mac and Cheese. 

Some ideas that I currently have are:

• Add butter- I know that butter isn't supper healthy, but I feel it would taste a bit more flavorful. .
• Less milk- it was very milky, not what I like. 
• Seasonings- I did use some garlic and parsley, which helped a bit, but I would defiantly season this. 
• Different types of cheese: Maybe use Cheddar, Colby, and Mozzarella? 

I don't really know, but I do want to try this again and change some things up. I really hope that this works out. If it does, the official recipe will be posted.