Fast, Easy and Delicious

this is the tilapia recipe I talked about in the last post. this is fast and easy and not to mention Healthy and delicious!

like I said this is fast and easy…you can use other types of fish if you like.

you will need 4 fresh tilapia fillets

2 cups of Italian bread crumbs

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 9×11 baking dish

olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

in pie plate or deep plate combine bread crumbs and cheese. coat each piece of fish on both sides.

Spray the baking dish with the non stick spray and place each piece of fish in the bottom. when oven is at 400 degrees place baking dish in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. the crust will be golden brown and the fish flaky…your cook time may vary depending on your oven so check fish often so that you do not over cook it.

you can serve this with so many different side dishes. 

I hope you enjoy this dish and enjoy your fish! 

No it’s not just a cartoon. if you love summer and fall vegetables you will love this dish. There are so many different ways to make it. the following recipe is a healthy alternative and the taste is just fantastic!

one great thing with this recipe, you can make it your own with different spices or seasonings. go crazy have fun with it.

Ratatouille is a great dish in its self or a complement to Beef or fish dinners. My husband and I love to have this with and oven baked tilapia.

for the Ratatouille you will need the following:

2 onions sliced

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 small eggplants sliced

2 small zucchini sliced

2 small yellow squash sliced

1 small acorn squash sliced

1 red bell pepper sliced

1 green bell pepper sliced

1 yellow bell pepper sliced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

8 medium tomatoes peeled and chopped (optional)

1 small bunch of fresh basil chopped

Water

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Tomato Paste (optional)

you will need a large deep skillet. Saute Onion in the olive oil and add the other vegetables one at a time in the order given above.

Stir in the basil and cook for two more minutes adding extra water if needed. I am unable to eat tomatoes so rather than using the tomatoes I like to just use water or vegetable stock. if you are going to serve this with beef you can use a beef broth to carry over that flavor. I have made this with fish sauce when making fish to go with it. the fish sauce is an acquired taste.

season with salt and pepper cover and turn down the heat. simmer for 20 minutes.

remove lit and simmer for 5 more minutes you can thicken with tomato paste or with corn starch…if using corn starch, in a separate bowl mix 1 to 2 tsp of corn starch with 1/4 cup of broth or water. when mixture is combined pour over vegetables stirring constantly. this will thicken quickly. when to the desired thickness remove from heat and allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

if you would like to have the recipe for the oven friend tilapia that recipe will be posted later this week..weather permitting.

we are in the middle of a very bad ice storm and we are not sure how much longer we will have electricity…so keep watching for that recipe!

If you like fried squash but have to cut out all the grease. I have the perfect receipe for you.

you will need 2 large yellow squash or 3 medium.

wash and slice…you will want them thin enough to bake but not to thin..if you cut them to thin they will burn.

1 cup of bread crumbs (I like to use Italian bread crumbs)

1/4 cup of Parmesian cheese

1 tsp cajun seasioning or more to taste

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

preheat oven to 375 degrees

place sliced squash in a zip lock bag and drizzle with oil. shake to coak all of them. then put bread crumbs and cheese in zip lock bag. seal and shake to cover all of the squash again. open and put in seasioning. close and shake once again.

remove squash from bag and place on non stick cookie sheet and place in the oven to bake. I do not time the squash but rather judge by the color. I like to bake them until they start to brown.

I love to serve this with turkey burgers or even baked fish. this is a great way to get kids to eat a vegetable.

I hope when you try this you enjoy it!

if you like squash this is a fast and easy casserole to make. you will need 3 medium sized squash for this recipe. you can also use frozen squash if fresh is not available.

for this recipe you will need:

2 qt baking dish

1 stick of promise 50/50

1 pkg ritz crackers

2 eggs

3 medium yellow squash

1/4 cup onion

1/2 cup bell pepper

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup colby jack cheese shreaded

1 tbs creole seasoning

1/4 tsp chyenne pepper

1/8 tsp white pepper

preheat oven to 375 degrees

put squash in a 2qt sauce pan and cover with water. bring to a boil and cook until tender. remove from heat and allow to cool. while that is cooling melt 2 tbsp butter or promise in a non stick pan. then add 1/4 chopped onion and 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper. cook until the onion startes to carmelize. place crackers in a ziplock bag and crush. add seasioning to bag and shake. drain squash and mash, add cheese egg and crackers. mix then add onion and bell peppers. stire together. place 4 or 5 pats of butter in the bottom of your baking dish. stire in 2 pats into squash mixture. pour mixture into pan and bake until golden brown on top. remove from oven and allow to cool a little. serve warm.

this is something my husband can eat year around!

As a child my mother use to make me healthy snacks for after school. I was a child with allergies and was always sick. I have found that over the years the taste for healthy snacks has stuck with me. I keep in my house apples, oranges, sliced carrots and other vegies that I can just grab a hand full and snack on. some of the best are fresh green beans, clean them and snip the ends. although you can purchese them now like that. the Green Giant brand has every kind of vegie you can think of. they have many types good for snacking in the fresh produce isle of your grocery store. Green Beans, Snow Peas, Sugar snap peas, Carrots, Broccoli and Caulifower, and Bell peppers. these are all great things to keep in baggies in your fridge and when you or you children get home from work or school grab a hand full. they have the crunch and the taste that keeps you happy until Dinner. if you have to have something to dip them in, stay away from the vegie dips they can be high in fat and calories. I opt for the hidden valley fat free dressing…and only a table spoon is enough. you just need a small amount for your vegies. This last New Years eve my husband and I stayed home and made a finger food snack bar for the two of us. We had several different types of nuts, remember when buying nuts to make sure they are not honey roasted, salted or any of that, that adds sodium and calories and fats that you just do not need. we had the following.

Green Beans

Snow Peas

Sugar snap peas

Green and Yellow Bell Pepper

carrots

Broccoli

Cauliflower

apples ( I like to serve with a reduced calorie peanut butter or honey butter)

bananas

walnuts

almonds

Lucky Dip(recipe to follow)

baked whole grain chips

to drink we had

Crystal light

Water

 Honey Butter recipe

when you think of honey butter you think of Butter…not mine….for my honey butter you need the following.

2 tbsp of reduced fat peanut butter, 2 tbsp honey….mix together….you have honey butter.  the reduced fat all natural peanut butters are also very good.

Regipe for the lucky dip

1 chicken breast cooked, chuncked and cooled

1 can black eyed peas (rinsed to remove salty taste)

1 can reduced sodium tomatoes and green chilis

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 green or orance bell pepper cholled

1 small bottle of fat free italian dressing

combine all ingredients in a bowl, pour half the bottle of dressing and stir let sit in the fridge to chill and combine all flavors. after an hour taste to see if you have enough dressing on the dip. if not add whaever you feel it still needs. then chill for another couple of hours or over night. even if you think you hate Bakc Eyes Peas, you need to try this it is soooo good!!!!!!

well I hope the next time you are going to have people over for finger foods you will consider serving some of what we love to have.

this is also a great thing to have game night!

This is a fun thing to make for the kids to eat. it’s a snack that kids love to make and eat. we love to make this at Halloween, at Christmas time we call it raindeer poo.

This is also something fast and easy to make to take to a party or as a desert for one of those superbowl and game night type nights.

what you will need:

1 bag chocolate chips

1 bag peanut butter chips

1 box powdered sugar

1 box kix ceriel

in a microwave safe bowl melt chocolate and peanut butter chips. pour ceriel in a large bowl and then pour melted chips over the ceriel. stir to cover completely let cool then sprinkle some powder sugar over the ceriel and stir, keep sprinkling until all cerile is covered completely with powdered sugar.

you can change this up by adding vanilla chips rather than peanut butter, or you can add carmel chips. you can even add butterscotch chips. so creat your own way of making this. we have in the past added a little marshmallow cream.

go crazy, and enjoy!!!!

this is not a fast recipe but it is comfort food with a twist.

I like to make things a little healthier than my the original recipe if I can. I looked at the original recipe and I have posted it along with the changes I made to make it healthier. my changes are listed in ( ) .I hope you like it regardless of how you chose to make it.

what you will need for this recipe

1 wire wisk

1 wire strainer

1 cullinder

1 non stick skillet

1 wooden spoon

1 soup ladel

1 soup pot

10 medium potatoes peeled and cubed

1 small onion

1/2 pkg bacon ( Turkey bacon )

1 stick butter ( 1/2 stick smart balance 50/50)

1 cup cheddar cheese ( 1 cup Kraft 1% cheese)

( 1/2 cup fat free sour cream)

1 cups Chicken broth ( 1 cups reduced sodium chicken broth)

1 to 2 cups heavy cream ( 1 to 2 cups of skim or 1% milk)

2 to 4 tbsp flour (whole wheat flour)

cook potatos in water until they are close to tender. then drain and set aside. in non stick skillet brown bacon, drain and set aside. in soup pot melt butter and add onion and Bacon. cook until onion until tender. add flour to make a rue. start with 2 tbsp and slowly add more until you have a thick paste. when a paste forms then slowly add chicken broth using a wire wisk to prevent lumps. stir until smooth add 1 cup milk and stir again. add potatoes and other cup of milk if needed. bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. cook until potatoes are tender but not too soft. add sour cream stire to combine the sour cream will make the soup creamy without adding the heavy cream. ladel into bowls and top with cheese. no crackers needed for this soup it is a great soup to have when you just need some comfort food.