Fish Tacos....

Fish Tacos
From For the Love of Cooking

Fish Marinade:
2-3 fillets of halibut, cod or tilapia
Zest of one lime
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
Combine ingredients in a zip lock bag and marinate for at least 1 hour. Note: Don't add lime juice to marinade because the acid from the juice will cook the fish.

Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of paprika and oregano
1 tsp olive oil
Remove fish from zip lock and place on a plate. Season to taste with salt, pepper, oregano and a bit of paprika on both sides. Heat olive oil in a skillet, once hot add fish and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until tender and flaky.

Cilantro and Lime Cole Slaw Salad:

2 cups of green cabbage shredded (or buy the bagged cole slaw mix with carrots)
1/2 - 1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Make this salad right before you serve the tacos so it stays crunchy. Combine all ingredients until mixed thoroughly.

Sour Cream Sauce:

1/2 cup sour cream
1-2 tsp of your favorite hot sauce
Stir until combined thoroughly.

Other Ingredients:

Corn or Flour tortillas
Cotija cheese, grated
Cilantro & Lime Cole Slaw Salad
Sour cream sauce
Guacamole
Cook tortillas (dry) in a hot pan for 45-60 seconds on each side. You want them soft & pliable. Top the tortillas with fish, cilantro & lime cole slaw salad, cheese, guacamole & sour cream sauce. Enjoy.


***I made these tonight and love them. It seems that most fish taco recipes have fried fish, these were nice and light because they weren't fried. The only thing I would change next time is to only use 1/2 of a lime juiced for the coleslaw, I used a whole one this time and it was too much.

Improving Salsa

I love and prefer homemade salsa as much as the next girl. But really, how often do we actually make homemade salsa? For me it's like two or three times a year. Not nearly as often as I like. But I've recently discovered a trick to improving the sorry excuse for salsa that comes from a jar. And it only takes about 5 minutes.

In a blender, blend

• one jar of salsa
• one can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 a purple onion
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro...I plop it in...stems and all
  
• juice from one lime
  
• about two tablespoons sugar
• dash of salt

Certainly not homemade salsa, but definitely enjoyable.

Ice Cream and Fruit Dinner

Vanilla Ice Cream
Favorite Fruits
This is one of Kevin's families traditional meals. Most people think I'm crazy when I tell them we have this for dinner, but if you need something light maybe after a huge lunch this works great. And the kids think they are in heaven. You can also serve french bread to make it feel more substantial.

Taco Stuffed Shells......

Taco Stuffed Shells
The Blog Chef

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 4 once package cream cheese
12 large pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (shredded)
1 ½ cups tortilla chips (crushed)
3 green onions (chopped)
1 cup sour cream


Step 1: In a fry pan cook ground beef and add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and allow to fully cool. While burger is cooking cook the pasta shells, drain and toss well with butter.
Step 2: Pour salsa in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Step 3: Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with taco sauce.
Step 4: Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Step 5: After 30 minutes, uncover, and sprinkle crushed chips and shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses on top. Cook for about 15 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, black olives or whatever you think goes good with tacos!

We really enjoyed these!!! They were so yummy. The only thing that I am going to change next time is to put the chips on after everything is cooked. Baking it with the chips on it gave the chips a weird crispiness...next time I will add the cheese's and bake and then put the chips on when serving.

I put olives on it and sour cream after cooking and they were so good!!!

strawberries

Does anyone have a great strawberry shortcake recipe? Strawberries are such a good deal this week that I want to make some! And while I'm at it... do you have any other delicious strawberry ideas?

berries, cream and sugar

Okay, so this may be absolutely disgusting to some of you and it's probably not healthy at all... but it reminds me of my childhood. It's not really even a recipe--but here goes. Cut up your favorite berries (growing up we would use boysenberries), add a dollop of sour cream, then sprinkle with brown sugar. I like to mix it all up so that the berries are covered. Enjoy.

Rotisserie Chicken Salad....

This isn't a recipe...but was so dang good I had to post about it. My sister told me about Costco's rotisserie chicken salad. I went and purchased it today along with some croissants to make sandwiches. After a few bites, I had to take a picture to share. This is really good on a croissant with tomato on it, but is even extremely tasty by itself! Go buy it, it is the best!!

Fruit Kabobs

So this really isn't a recipe. Not much different than your average fruit salad. And even still, not very original. But last night, I put our fruit salad on sticks. It was a great trick for getting kids excited about fruit. Even Reid, my non-fruit eater, ate a whole fruit kabob of fruit he usually won't even try. There's something about putting it on a stick that made it fun.

So...

• chop your favorite fruit
• slide it on a stick
• sprinkle a little sugar on top
• convince your kids to eat it
  

Crunchy Sweet N Sour Chicken.....

These are soooo good. Make them and your family will be happy. My hubby asked for seconds, then about 1 hour later, asked me to make him more. Very yummy.

Crispy Sweet and Sour Chicken
from Stephanie's Kitchen

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
Oil for frying

For the batter:
1 cup pancake mix
1 cup water
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
jar of sweet and sour sauce for dipping (la choy brand is awesome)

Mix together! It should be about the same consistency as a regular pancake batter.

Heat oil hot enough that when you place a wooden spoon into the oil, it begins to bubble. Dip chicken pieces into the batter and than place gently into hot oil. Cook until lightly browned. Place onto paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Dump Cake

1 can cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple (undrained)
1 box yellow cake mix
walnuts (optional)
1 stick margarine

Preheat oven to 350. In 9x13 pan dump in cherry pie filling and undrained pineapple. Mix well.
Pour on top dry cake mix. Cut up margarine in squares and put on top of cake mix. Put walnuts on top. Cook until browned on top. 20-30 min. Serve warm with Ice cream.

I lived on this when pregnant. Very easy to make and tastes great warmed up with ice cream leftover.