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?

Brown Bag Success: A couple of recipes

I reviewed this book here, earlier this week. I thought I would share a few of the recipes.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies

1/2 cup of margarine, softened

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 medium zucchini, grated (1 cup)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350º. In large bowl, ream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well. Add zucchini and chocolate chips. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Drop cookie mixture by tabelspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until browned.

Servings: 4 dozen

Calories: 71; protein 1 gm, carbohydrates 10 gm, fat 3gm

Exchanges: 1/2 bread, 1/2 fruit

Very Berry Muffins

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. margarine

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup lowfat milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2-1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375º. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In large bowl cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add dry mixture. Mix well. Fold blueberries into mixture. Spray muffing tins with cooking spray or line with paper liners. Pour batter 2/3 full into muffin cups. Bake 25 minutes or until light brown.

Servings: 12

Calories: 211, protein 4 gm, carbohydrates 33 gm, fat 7 gm.

Exchanges: 1 bread, 1 fruit, 1 fat.

Enjoy!!!

Sweet Potato/Squash Pancakes

I've been trying to spend some time blogging lately although time is so scarce of late, and the computer so difficult to use...but I did visit a friend's blog and was distressed to learn her family didn't like her sweet potato pancakes...which are a favorite in our house. We will be having them today for meatless Friday at the request of my children. BTW, do you all keep meatless Fridays even when not in Lent? Just wondering as some of my Catholic friends do and some do not. We have been doing so for several years now, but neither my husband nor myself were raised to do so.

Some cooking tips for pancakes in general.
1- You must not rush them. I find when I turn too soon, they look fine outside and are uncooked inside.
2- Get your griddle good and hot, but then, as you are cooking turn down the flame. I suppose as the pan retains its heat, your pancakes get a nice golden color outside and are undercooked inside. I usually end up with my stove turned down quite low.
3- You must sample as you cook, lol, my favorite tip of course. I find making pancakes for a large brood of hungry children usually requires an excessive amount of time at the stove, as I generally need to quadruple the batch of an ordinary recipe to feed my hungry clan. I sample as I go, pancakes are delightful hot off the griddle sans butter and syrup, saving me the calories, but also insuring that my pancakes are properly cooked all the way through without burning the outside.
4- I may use a little butter on the griddle for flavor, but find my best success is with a dollop of olive oil. I heat the oil on the griddle then spread it around and pour off the excess into a small coffee cup. I will use that excess to re-grease pan if necessary. The oil doesn't smoke because I am always turning down the flame.
5- It may sound cliche, but always use fine seasonings. I buy korintje cinnamon in bulk. For a pound bag of this fine seasoning I generally pay less than $5.00 and trust me, you can taste the difference. Incidentally to buy less than 2 oz. of the same seasoning packaged in a usual jar, it is $3.85. I'd rather have a pound in a foil bag and use a small jar to store it in! I also grate my nutmeg fresh.


Now for the recipe:

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 cups of milk
4 tsps melted butter plus more for skillet, or oil for skillet
2 whole eggs
1 sweet potato, cooked until tender, then pureed

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix together and whisk until smooth. Cook batches in buttered skillet until bubbles form on surface, then turn over and cook until dark golden brown.

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NOTE: When I make this recipe I usually use butternut squash which I've baked and pureed and frozen in one cup quantities. I do believe the sweet potato would make for a nicer flavor than the squash, and definitely for a more beautiful color, but my family loves this plainer version and we use it because it is what I have on hand!

My children love to slather on the butter and syrup, but I think these pancakes stand alone just fine and usually have my fill at the stove, without any toppings whatsoever.