Crispy- Oven Baked Fish

Trying to find something besides hotdogs, chicken nuggets and turkey rollups has really been a test lately.  Bailey (4) and Jozie (16 months) have recently decided to no eat, or even try, the dinner I cook and put on the table.  So every evening is a new test.  Some nights I will even cook what Bailey suggest... chicken nuggets.  But then when I get it ready and on the table she will tell me, "no I wanted fishsticks."  Ugghhh.
So I will be posting some things I finally find they will eat that are not the normal toddler food realm. 

The Crispy- Oven Baked Fish is a new regular in our house.  I use Tilipia usually, one night we had something else but Tilipia is always great.  I just pick up a large bag of the individually packed filets at the grocery store and just cook as many as we need.   I also use the generic brand (depending on what store I am shopping in) for the bread crumbs.  Honestly, you cannot tell the difference in Great Value, Hill Country Fair and Progresso... except of course the $1 or more you save at the checkout.

Jozie devours this fish like she is starving, usually eats her whole filet and wants more and its a favorite of Bailey's now.  I tell her its my homemade fishsticks and I cut it into strips on her plate and she is very happy.  To add to the meal she loves to squeeze the lemon on herself.

We add a nice salad and some rice, or occassionally mac n' cheese, depending on the girls moods.
The best thing about this meal besides that they eat it, is the short time it takes.  Its really quick for such a nice dinner meal, and the foil on the cookie sheet makes clean up a snap!

Below is the Pillsbury link to this awesome whole family favorite.

Ingredients:
1 egg or 1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
1/3 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2 catfish or tilapia fillets (3 to 4 oz each)
Cooking spray
4 lemon wedges

• 1 Heat oven to 400°F. Line cookie sheet with foil; generously spray foil with cooking spray. In shallow bowl or dish, beat egg and water with wire whisk until well blended. In another shallow bowl or dish, mix bread crumbs, lemon-pepper seasoning and garlic salt.
• 2 Dip fish into egg mixture; coat with bread crumb mixture. Place on cookie sheet. Spray fish with cooking spray.
• 3 Bake 10 minutes. Turn fillets; bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily with fork. Place fillets on serving platter; garnish with lemon wedges.

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/crispy-oven-baked-fish/21f740e9-6dae-4169-8da6-da4ec3b387c2

Make Your Own Trail Mix

This week is Healthcare Appreciation Week at work and they like to be nice and give us snacks in the afternoon.  Today was make your own trail mix and lemonade.  Well, of course its Country Time... duh, we are in Texas and its hot... like 95 degrees already everyday.
The make your own trail mix was a great idea and to see us all lined up and it going so quick and easy made me think it would be great for a kids party, like maybe our Halloween party for the kids.  It would actually be something all the other parents would not be mad about their kids taking home. :) Those are the ideas I LOVE and anything that Bailey can help with is awesome to her so this would be great for both of us.
There were pretzels, some mms and mini reeses, goldfish, dried cranberries, granola, peanuts, dried apricots, raisins and pecans.  You could easily add chocolate chips or yougart chips, dried blueberries, apple and banana chips for even more options.
Its something the kids could scoop up on their own with some fun stuff, things we know they like and some healthly stuff all in one cup!

Happy Trails. :)
I think this might also be a nice beach snack... glad I found this idea so I can make sure to stock up before our trip.

Lately we have found a new favorite snack.  We have been making "candy bars" with granola bars and smearing Nutella on top.  Bailey loves it and doesn't know its not really chocolate.  Its so quick and its good for her too!

Momma's Salmon Patties

Had these last night for dinner. We love homemade salmon patties.  I can honestly say this is the ONLY thing that I fry when I cook.  Anything else fried, which is very little, is done by Brent.  I hate to fry stuff but love salmon patties and fried okra and squash. 

Salmon Patties

2 cans of pink salmon; drained and skin and bones removed
1 sleeve of crushed saltine crackers
2-3 eggs
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp season pepper
2 tsp of dill weed (depends on your liking)

Just enough oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan plus a little. You want the patties to just barely float off the bottom of the pan. 

Remove skin and bones from salmon; drain well.
In mixing bowl, combine with egg, crackers, salt and pepper.
Make patties about 2 inches in diameter; fry in oil until brown on both sides about 10 minutes. 
Watch for grease popping and splattering... this is one reason why I hate frying things!

Brent loves to add some of this pepper sauce on his!
Serve with traditional homemade macNcheese or even boxed and green peas.
My mom used to serve with rice pudding too.

SUPER Sloppy Joes

Super easy and so gooooood... and NOT from a can!  You can even sub ground turkey and its great.

SUPER Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin (or ground turkey)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered
• Garnish: sliced ripe tomatoes, pickles, Deviled Potato Salad, recipe follows

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper, dill pickles and Deviled Potato Salad. Have plenty of napkins on hand!

 

 

Deviled Potato Salad:

5 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced

Coarse salt
1/4 onion
3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise, eyeball the amount
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon hot cayenne pepper sauce (recommended: Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish
Boil potatoes in water seasoned with coarse salt until they are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain cooked potatoes and return to the warm pot to dry them out. Let the potatoes stand 2 minutes, then spread potatoes out on to a cookie sheet to quick-cool them.
In the bottom of a medium mixing bowl, grate 1/4 onion using a hand grater. Add mustard and mayonnaise, paprika and cayenne pepper sauce to the grated onion and stir to combine. Add potatoes to the bowl and stir to evenly distribute dressing. Season potato salad with salt and pepper and taste to adjust your seasonings. Top servings of salad with chopped scallions.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-sloppy-joes-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/deviled-potato-salad-recipe/index.html