Dinner, Routines, and a New School Year!

I should have taken a picture!!

I made tilapia tonight! So what is the big deal you say? Well, since hubbins has been laid off, I have not really cooked. I was on vacation from domestic duties because I was working several part-time jobs and taking classes. Therefore, my husband took over the cooking and cleaning. I appreciated it, but I am glad to have the jobs back (I'm much fussier and more regimented). That being said, I'm still in vacation mode, lol. It has been a tough week getting back into the swing of things.

I already posted about Monday. Now, the rest of the week has been recovering from hubbins running things for the last 14 months. Plus, I've been doing a huge reorganization of our school supplies, and I debuted a new organizational system for our homeschool this year. We needed a fresh approach!

It has been tough. I have insisted that the children start maintaining their chores up to MY standards! We started with their rooms, and inspections were supposed to have started already, but I gave them an extra week to get into form. All those months of Daddy-standards are making meeting Mommy's a bit rough. But I have faith that we can overcome this, they are excited Daddy is back to work and our future is brighter.

Monday being scratched from the list, Tuesday and Wednesday we had left-overs. Today I had to cook. I made Garlic Alfredo Tilapia, served over rice, with farm-fresh-picked-by-my-children green beans. It was delicious, and even the non-fish eater (self-proclaimed) and the one who has not quite decided about fish loved it! Since it was such a hit, I thought I would share, and I'm sorry, I should have taken pictures.

Garlic Alfredo Tilapia

4 tilapia fillets

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. Creole seasoning

3 Tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup Alfredo sauce

Preheat oven to 425º. Brush tilapia with oil, season with Creole seasoning to taste, place in 9x13 baking dish. Bake until no longer translucent and fish flakes easily with a fork (about 10 minutes). Melt butter, stir in garlic until it mellows, stir in Alfredo sauce and simmer. Keep warm until fish is ready. Pour over fish to serve.

MY variation:

I made my own Alfredo sauce, adding extra garlic to the recipe. I also made brown rice. I removed the fish from the baking dish, put the rice into that dish, placed the fish atop the rice, and poured the sauce over it. Served with long, steamed, fresh green beans, the plates looked nice, and everyone gobbled it up! It was also rather inexpensive, and they want me to make it again!! A winner on all fronts!

On the menu for tomorrow: Yellow Squash Patties (maybe) and Chicken with Thyme and Garlic Sauce. Both are new recipes as Daddy liked to make the same things over and over and we need a bit of a change. Note: That is not a complaint, we are grateful for his efforts around here and loved EVERY SINGLE MOMENT of the time he was home. We are just having fun breaking out of the routines we've had for a while now! Ever want to break out like that?