Skillet Charred Fish Tacos

Lucky for me, I planned this recipe the same week as the soy shrimp and got to re-use the green pepper sauce. This pleased me because I'll probably never use the sauce again and I hate to throw things out.

I love fish tacos. There's a place called Black Walnut Cafe by the mall that has great fish tacos. They also have good wine. So, we (my sisters and I because who else?) like to eat lunch there and drink wine (lots of wine) and go shopping on Tuesdays. I find that fish tacos are kind of like the perfect meal. They fill you up without the bloat, yet still have juuuust enough carbs to soak up any excess alcohol to keep you from fucking up your life by staggering around and knocking down displays in Lush. *pause* Moving on...

So I, again, did not account for how much a pound and a half of fish was, so I actually got smart and only cooked half (3 fillets in my case). I froze the other 3 for a quick dinner in the future. This recipe was pretty quick as well. Most of the time is spent prepping the toppings, and that really takes no time at all. Even the spicy mayo she has you whip up is delightful. Doesn't taste or smell like mayo so that was a huge win.

Nothing matches. *shrug*

Now, the green sauce was perfect on these tacos. I was harshly reminded that a little bit goes a long way, but I wasn't scarred for life or anything. I ate two of these and had to convince myself that this was enough. That was 3 hours ago and I'm still on the edge about that. If it wasn't such a pain in the ass to pull everything out of my glorious fridge, I'd probably be making another one instead of blogging. Anyway, this recipe gets a check mark in the "yaaaaas" column. 

Grilled Garlic-Soy Shrimp with Pepper's Hot Green Pepper Sauce

I skipped past this recipe a few times when searching for a new recipe to try because it said "grilled". I don't have a clue how to start our massive grill and, truth be told, I don't have any desire whatsoever to learn. Imagine my surprise when I actually read the recipe and found out you can use a cast iron skillet. Now that I can do!

When I purchased the shrimp, I did not realize exactly how many shrimp came in one and a half pounds (what the recipe called for) so this made a lot more than my little family could eat in one meal. Well, I'm sure it didn't help that I pretty much scoffed at these shrimp and had cookies for dinner instead - but whatever. What's done is done.

This recipe is also about as simple as simple gets. You marinate the shrimp in soy sauce and garlic and grill those suckers in a pan. Disclaimer: it's been 2 days since I've made this and the smell of soy sauce and garlic still lingers in my kitchen. I can't figure out where it's coming from. I've taken out the trash and wiped the counters and did all the dishes so I have no freaking clue. I just turned my scentsy on and now I don't smell it anymore. Yay!

Easy Peasy

I did not eat many of these because, as stated before, I pretty much had cookies for dinner. Collin, however, liked these quite a bit. I made the mistake of dipping a shrimp in the green sauce first and that was a big nope. I like spicy sauce but that shit was HOT. Collin mentioned the sauce would be better suited for tacos, and I agree. It's not so much a good dipping sauce as it is a pouring sauce. Yes, they are different. Somehow. It's like the gravy of hot as fuck green sauces. 

Anyway. I'll keep this one around to keep things different with shrimp.

SS: Three Cheese Penne

This wasn't supposed to be for dinner tonight. I had originally had something else planned, but the meat went bad and about knocked me out cold when I opened the package. I gave Calvin a choice for dinner and he picked this one. So, much to Collin's dismay, pasta it was.

I decided to pair this delightful little dish with a salad because, again, there were no veggies in the recipe. I usually puree veggies and stick them in the sauce, but I always like to try the recipe out as-is first. Lucky for me, I now have a fridge that does not freeze salad and so we did, in fact, have veggies with this. :D

This is another recipe that takes about 30 - 45 minutes. If you are feeding a baby while making this, then it takes closer to 45 minutes. If you are not, then you're looking at a shorter time. If you really don't want to dirty up multiple dishes, like me, then that also ups your cook time. I worked from home the second half of the day today so I started early and took my dear sweet time. (something I don't usually get to do when Collin is working nights)

This was pleasantly delightful. I really thought this was going to be bleh and, don't get me wrong - this tastes about like what you would expect, but the way the cheeses blended together was really good. Especially since she uses cottage cheese and everything is low fat. Whatever. It's pasta and I love pasta.

I used an oval pan instead of an 8x8 because I'm a rebel.

Recipe:
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8
Serving size: 1 1/4 cups (I've gone by this both times now and it really is enough food)
Calories 284, Fat 7g, Carbs 44g, Fiber 7g, Sugar 8g, Protein 16g

Ingredients:
1 (13.25 oz) box whole wheat penne pasta (The box I had was 16 oz and I wasn't about to measure that shit out so I dumped the whole box in)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced
1 tbs minced garlic
1 (23.25 oz) jar Prego Light Smart Traditional pasta sauce (because I added in more pasta, I dumped in 8 oz of regular tomato sauce and added a bit more seasoning)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese (I used what I had in my fridge...low moisture part skim)
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley  (yeah, I free sprinkled the dried shit on top until it looked good)

1) Prepare pasta per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2) In a skillet (or the now empty pasta pot) heat the olive oil over medium high heat and cook onions and garlic for like 3 minutes until the onions are soft.

3) Reduce heat to low and add in pasta sauce(s) and seasonings. Cook that shit until hot.

4) Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 and coat an 8x8 dish with cooking spray. Then toss the cottage cheese, ricotta and 1 cup mozzarella in a bowl and combine.

5) Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the pasta.

6) Transfer half the pasta to the baking dish. Spread half of the cheese mixture on top of the pasta. Top that with the second half of the pasta followed by the remaining cheese mixture. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella on top.

7) Bake uncovered until the cheese melts - like 20 minutes. Then sprinkle the parsley on top.

The cheese mixture is pretty damn good. 

SS: Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole

Today I wanted something quick and simple for dinner, so I flipped through the Skinny Suppers book and landed on this recipe. I think I've expressed our love for jalapeno poppers before and thought - hey, low cal poppers? Okay.

Also. Before I go on. I've never called it "Supper". I've always called it "Dinner". What about you?

Moving on. This was quick and easy (true to the nature of the book). I love that it called for quinoa, which I'm always trying to find new things to do with instead of the standard "rice" swap. I'll pay attention to the fact that she adds a cup of liquid to the casserole in case I want to toss quinoa in any casseroles I come up with.

This came out of the oven and I noticed when I was spooning it into bowls that there is no color. Then it hit me: there are no veggies in this casserole. I usually try and incorporate veggies most of the time, especially when it comes to dinner, and this bothered me a bit. I'll probably toss in some peas or maybe even diced squash next time - I know, I know, this takes away from the "popper" vibe, but it will make me feel better. This was also incredibly spicy. Like, so spicy that I didn't really want to finish it. I would probably omit some of the jalapeno next time. Overall, some adjustments will be made, but I would probably make it again.

One of those "hard to photograph" meals.

Recipe:

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves: 6

Serving Size: 1 heaping cup

320 Cal, 10 g Fat, 25 g Carbs, 3g Fiber, 2 g Sugar, 30g Protein

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (4-oz) can diced pickled jalapenos, drained - I just chopped up some jalapenos from a jar I had in my fridge.

3 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, soft

3/4 cup plain 0% Greek yogurt 

2 tbs. Frank's Red Hot Sauce

1 cup shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar

2 fresh jalapenos, sliced

1/4 cup Panko

1) In a large pot, boil chicken and 2 tbs. diced jalapeno (from the can or jar). About 12-15 minutes. Cool on a plate and shred OR toss those suckers in your Kitchen Aid (still hot) and shred with the paddle attachment. Toss the water and jalapenos down the drain. 

2) Meanwhile, combine 2 cups of the chicken broth and the quinoa. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover about 12-15 minutes until the liquid is gone. Uncover and fluff with a fork.

3) Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

4) Ok, this isn't how the recipe goes, but it eliminates a bowl and it worked out fine for me. Toss the cream cheese, yogurt, hot sauce, remaining 1 cup chicken broth, remaining diced jalapenos (from the can or jar), 1/2 cup cheese and cooked quinoa to the chicken in the Kitchen Aid. Mix it all up. 

5) Pour mixture into a pan and top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, sliced jalapenos and Panko. Coat the top of the casserole with cooking spray and cook for about 20 minutes or so. 

Chipotle-Honey Chicken with Mango-Avocado Salsa

First, I would like to start out by saying sorry to my sister Suzy for making this without her. I needed simple and low carb and this was my winner.

The bulk of the work here is the marinade. After that's done you pop it in the oven and make the salsa and that takes all of about 5 minutes. (It took me longer because Andrew demanded food in the middle. I also found out that, like Calvin, avocado is not to his liking). This came out beautifully.

I omitted the onion from the salsa because I can't stand raw onion.

Now. I try really hard not to be a snob, but I have come the the conclusion that I just don't like cooking or eating chicken with bones. It's hard for me to tell if it's done and the amount of tough spots I bite into gross me out. There's just nothing like going in for a bite and getting a big mouthful of tough ligament. *gag* That being said, the only change I would make here would be that I would switch to boneless skinless chicken. The sauce is so amazing that Collin even commented on it. It is a bit spicy, so Calvin drank a lot of milk with this dinner, but that's not a complaint - that just sounds like his problem. The guys also didn't touch the mango salsa, which I figured, so that will either be consumed solely by me or eventually thrown away. It complimented the chicken very nicely though. 

Suzy, to answer your question, yes we can make this when you come into town. :)

John's Fried Chicken Wings with Spicy Honey Butter

I think I mentioned that we hosted a fight night last night. Once mom found out, she started pulling things out of her freezer and pretty soon, we had a random assortment of foods to serve. I decided on these wings, because who doesn't love wings, and the armadillo bread while mom showed up with beer brats with the fixings and my mother in law brought a delightful tray of gluten free goodies. Pair all this with cheese and crackers, Collin's fresh new batch of home brewed beer and good friends and you've got yourself a party.

I'll go ahead and take this time to say that I did not remember to take a picture of the wings. I wish I had, because they turned out beautiful, but I can't un-eat them and therefore you will get no picture. I will, however, post pictures of a few other things (taken mostly by my sister) just to give this post the aesthetic feel you are used to. Cause I know you all love my professional photos.

Karen's (MIL) beautiful tray of gluten free goodies.

These wings are pretty standard. She has you marinate them in a brine, coat with flour and fry them up. I made the first batch small to see if her cook time was true (it is) and realized that they had a tendency to stick to the bottom of my fry basket. Because of this, I grabbed my tongs and tried to give the second batch a little stir while they were frying. Well, something went wrong and I wound up splashing hot grease on my hand. Freaking. Ouch. After applying cold compresses and an oatmeal/milk mixture I found out that you aren't supposed to apply cold compress and that mustard actually works wonders to get rid of the lingering (oh, God did it linger) sting. For future reference - mustard all the way.

It looks much better today.

Ok, so. The spicy honey butter. She tells you to slather this all over the wings, but people were grabbing the wings left and right so I never got a chance to. Honestly, I'm not sure I wanted people's honey butter fingers everywhere either so I left it in a bowl for people to apply to their wings if they wanted. My dad loved the sauce. I had a small taste but, because I was hosting and running around everywhere, I never got a chance to fully taste the wings/sauce and they were gone in record time. I don't think many people tried the sauce, but it also didn't matter because the batter was spot on. I'd make these again for a crowd except next time I won't be a dumbass and splash hot grease all over myself. 

I'll leave you with a picture of me and my beloved new fridge, even though I look like a pork and a half in it. Hence my reasoning for the new "Skinny Suppers" book. (side note: I'm just a hop, skip and a jump away from pre-baby weight! :D)

The apron adds bulk...yeah, that's it! Also, I LOVE MY FRIDGE.

Skinny Suppers

So I was browsing Instagram the other day and came upon a new cookbook called Skinny Suppers by one of the "fit mom" accounts I follow - I think her name is skinnymom. I've been having some trouble coming up with meal plans lately because Chrissy's book isn't exactly healthy and her recipes generally take a while to get through. Because of this, I am going to incorporate recipes from this Skinny Suppers book into this blog. Since I won't be cooking completely through this one like I am for Cravings, I'll post the recipe in each blog post. These are all generally under 350 calories and take around 30 minutes to make. Perfect.

So even though I plan on mixing it up - I think it's worth mentioning that I'll be trying a new Cravings recipe tonight for the fight night we are hosting, and I'm making the armadillo bread again - nom. In addition, I've got a few of her recipes coming up in my meal plans.

Oh, and since I got my beautiful new fridge today I can actually store food in it and I'm super excited to get back in the swing of things.

Anyway, here's to mixing it up!

I look weird but Calvin looks cute AF so I went with this one. 

Pepper's Pork Stuffed Cucumber Soup

We are a cucumber loving family. So much, in fact, that I had to hide the cucumbers from Collin so they would last until I was able to make this recipe. This one intrigued the hell out of my sister because she had heard that cooked cucumbers were the shit and Chrissy makes a big deal about them as well. I was pretty excited now and decided to make this last night because I was bloated from all the cheese and bad food and this is carb free.

First thing's first. This is easy to make. Prep time is like 15 minutes. Basically, you mix a few things in with ground pork and then hollow out the cucumbers. I used a jalapeno corer that Collin bought on a whim a few weeks ago. I made fun of him for buying it, much like I did when he bought the cherry pitter, but both have become very important things in my kitchen and I love them now. I did feel bad tossing the middles out, but I didn't feel like eating them right away and I couldn't think of a whole lot I could do with cucumber pulp...so into the trash they went.

Anyway, when it came down to stuffing them I went my favorite stuffing route: stick the mixture in a plastic bag and snip off a corner. This seemed like the easiest way to me and it worked out pretty well. I also had about half the pork mixture leftover. So I froze that for future use. So basically, you mix, core, stuff, and boil. Easy.

I did not use the kind of mushroom she suggests bc I didn't feel like going on a wild goose chase.

When you put this into bowls, Holy Jesus it is hot. Like I'm talking it's boiling when you put it in your bowl. Be careful. This is when I am thankful that I bought a little plug in fan for my kitchen. I use it mostly to cool Calvin's food quickly, but I use it for myself a lot. Like every day. I can't stand hot food. Hot fries are the worst. Collin thinks I'm nuts, but it makes me so mad when I get piping hot fries. He's all like "That means they're fresh!" and I'm all "Yeah, but now I have to wait 10 minutes to eat them!" It's so annoying. 

Moving on...

In my bowl. You can see the cucumbers are nice and soft.

Taste: This was pleasant. My method of pork stuffing, while easy and quick, did not push the pork all the way into the hollow space of the cucumber. Some made it, but most of the pork stopped halfway down. I'm not really sure how you would rectify this, but I need to figure it out because the cucumber with the pork is so freaking good. The cucumber by itself was very so-so. It tasted about like what you would think a boiled cucumber would taste like. I may actually use the leftover pork to make meatballs or something. It was just so good. Once I figure out how to stuff the entire cucumber, I could see myself making this for my lunches for the week. Collin did not care for it at all, but this is nice and filling and low carb for me. I'll keep it. 

Cheesy Armadillo Garlic Bread

So I hosted a cheese night last night. Basically, everyone brings all the cheese and the cheesy snacks/things you can and we drink wine and eat. There was an appearance of Likewise, which I've talked about before, and I'd say the night was a success. A delicious, cheesy success.

Since I've had no real posts lately, I dug through the book and looked for recipes with the word "cheese" in the title. Once I found this I pretty much knew it was the winner. It sounded amazing (even though it has mayo in it - gag) so I figured I'd give it a go.

This is easy to put together - there's not much to it - but damn if it wasn't harder than you would think to spread the cheese mixture down in the crevices of bread. At first I thought I would be fancy and use a spoon...then that spoon turned into merely an aid until I ditched it all together and shoved the cheesy goodness in with my hands. There really is no other way. If you know of one, I'm all ears.

I took a "before" pic even though it doesn't look like anything resembling bread.

Once this was done and I took it out of the oven, I could barely get a picture in before Collin's greedy little hands were all over it. Ask my sister - threats were made. 

*drool*

I went in for a bite and noticed one thing first hand. The pieces were not as easy to pull off as you would think. They kind of break off and you have to manhandle the bread to get a good hunk. I'm not sure if this can be fixed by cutting in a little deeper or if this is just how it's going to be. Either way, I don't care. Once the first bite was in my mouth nothing else mattered. I thought the fact that there was mayo in it was going to deter me from more than the obligatory taste, but this was not the case. This was Ah-Mazing and Collin asked me several times throughout the night (and this morning) to make it again. 

No problems there.  

Repeat Offender

I've never made anything from this book twice, until today. I was craving the Brussels sprouts salad with almonds and grapes so bad so I halved a batch for lunch tomorrow and I can't wait to eat it. It's actually going to go quite nicely as a low carb meal considering I'm meeting my sister tomorrow night for tacos and drinks. Can't screw up the whole day.

So my fridge has been on the fritz...and by that I mean it works a little too well. It freezes e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Literally everything I put in there gets frozen, or almost frozen, and makes salad and vegetables virtually inedible. I had milk in there that expired 3 weeks ago but, thanks to its constant half frozen state, it is still good. I guess you could say that counts as an upside, but when I buy lettuce and salad and herbs, etc. when I pull them out I don't want them to be so frozen they are translucent. You ever tried to bring frozen salad back to life? You fucking can't. And before you ask the question, "Have you tried turning it down?" (like everyone seems to ask, like I'm an idiot or something) it is on the very lowest setting. I'm one step away from shutting the entire fridge down.

On the bright side, I'm getting a gorgeous (yes, gorgeous) new fridge delivered next Saturday so until I get that beautiful baby up and running in my kitchen my posts will be scarce. This book requires many a fresh ingredient and I just can't bear to throw away any more food.

Sorry ya'll. But, hey, at least my lunch tomorrow will be fabulous!

French Toast Casserole with Salted Frosted Flakes

As a child I was not a french toast fan. I could eat pound after pound of waffles and pancakes, but french toast never spoke to me. As I grew older, it was still not something I craved, but I made it a few times when Calvin was old enough to eat it for breakfast and it was good...but not like pizza good. Anyway, we took the boys on a mini vacation to Galveston yesterday and I thought it would be a nice breakfast to send us on our way.

Thank God I read the recipe the day before because you have to let it sit in the fridge overnight. No big deal - it makes for no messes in the morning. Once the morning gets here though, you have to let it sit for 30 minutes at room temperature and then bake the fuckin thing for an hour. I knew this when I made the recipe, but by the time it was done Calvin was already eating cereal. So much for that. I figured I could probably get him to taste it and if it was good, he would eat a little bit of it anyway. It makes a whole 9x13, so I was really banking on this being delicious like I've heard.

Looks pretty smooshy, but I think its supposed to be like that.

I was starving by the time this was ready, as I usually am by the time food is done...I think I need to get a better handle on my hunger level to food doneness clock. I scooped a big helping into my bowl and took a big bite. 

It tasted like rum. There is rum in this recipe, so that's not exactly out of nowhere, but I was shocked at the strength of the taste. It was like I poured straight rum on bread and took a bite. There were no other flavors...just rum. I took a few more bites to make sure it wasn't just a rummy bite and, as it turns out, that's just how the dish is supposed to taste. I checked and double checked the recipe and I put the correct amount of rum in so I was just completely confused. I don't particularly like the taste of rum (spiced or not) so I dumped the rest of my bowl in the trash, completely disappointed. I had hoped the rum would give it a hint of flavor...not completely overpower the entire dish.

At this point, I was glad Calvin had already eaten because even though I'm sure the alcohol cooked out - he doesn't need to know what rum tastes like at this early of an age. So I packed up the casserole and we dropped it off at my mom's house on the way out of town. She likes rum and I wanted to see what she would say, so when I gave it to her I told her it made too much and we would never eat it all. She took a bite and immediately asked if there was alcohol in it, which made me laugh and also gave me confirmation that I was not crazy. 

Anyway. Collin said he didn't really taste the rum and said it was good so I am super curious to know if mom and I are the only ones. Make this and let me know.

Roasted Jalapeno and Chorizo Queso

I am a chips and queso (well, chips and any kind of dip really) kind of girl. I even have a t-shirt that proclaims my love for the stuff. I'm not very picky with how it's made and it never lasts long. I usually do the standard Velveeta and Ro-tel, with Italian sausage if I'm feeling fancy, and call it a day. Collin is the same way so when I announced that we were having queso for dinner he wasn't exactly upset.

What he did notice, however, was that I was doing things differently. She has you roast some jalapenos first and when he saw them on the baking sheet he didn't take it well. "What are you doing? I thought you were making queso? Why are you doing them like that?" And so on and so forth to the point where I told him to get the hell out of the kitchen or I was going to kick his ass. He left, though I think it had more to do with the fact that his show came back on in the other room rather than my threat. In any case, I was safe to continue in peace until commercial time came back again.

This is more work that I like to put into queso, but since this was our dinner I was alright with it. I also bought the wrong kind of chorizo at the store and wound up with some sausage chorizo stuff. Whatever. The package said chorizo on it so it still counts.

It looks like I cut up a hot dog, but I swear I didn't.

This was good. Standard queso taste, though surprisingly not spicy for the amount of jalapenos she has you stick in there. I had to add about 3-4 more raw ones to get the kind of kick we like. I did not feel the need to keep eating it after I was full, which is unusual, but Collin had 2 big bowls. This was so standard, in fact, that I wouldn't go out of my way to roast the jalapenos again because they really don't add anything to it. Just chop those babies up raw and toss them in until they make your lips numb. 

Anyway. Standard or not, this gave me an excuse to make queso for dinner so everybody wins.