Oven "Fried" Tilapia with Low-Fat Tarter Sauce

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

This is one of my favorite ways to have "fried" fish but without all the grease. Plus, paired with my homemade tarter sauce and it is perfect!

What It Takes:
4 Tilapia Fillets
1 Egg
2 T Milk
1 1/2 C Panko Bread Crumbs
1 t Dried Parsley
1/4 t Fresh Ground Pepper
1/2 t Onion Powder
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/8 t Cayenne Pepper
Pinch of Salt
1/2 C Parmesan Cheese


How to Do It:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with foil and spraying with olive oil Pam.


Beat egg and milk together in a pie plate.


Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate pie plate.


Dip a piece of tilapia into the egg mixture. Coat very well, pressing the crumbs down onto the fish, with Panko crumbs. Continue with all of the pieces.

Place fish on the baking sheet. When all four have been well coated, spray the top of the breading with more olive oil Pam.

Place baking sheet in the oven and cook fish for 10-12 minutes. Until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

While fish is cooking, prepare the tarter sauce by mixing together:
1/2 C Light Mayonnaise
1/4 C Sweet Relish
1 T Sugar
1/2 t Dried Parsley
1/4 t Onion Powder

I place the mixture in the fridge until the fish is ready.

Menu Monday

Monday: Panko Crusted Tilapia, Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday: Rib-eye Steak, Lobster Tails, Broccoli and Baked Potato
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Legs, Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Corn
Thursday:  Barbacoa Pork, Sweet Corn, Black Beans and Rice
Friday: Turkey Sloppy Joes and Oven Potatoes
Saturday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal and Banana Pancakes with Ham Steak
Lunch: Leftovers or Out
Dinner: Pork Soft Tacos (from the leftover Barbacoa Pork) and Black Beans
Sunday:
Breakfast: French Toast and Bacon
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Shrimp Fajitas, Black Beans and Rice

Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry

Serves: 4-6, depends on the portion

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

I made this stir-fry with the veggies just hanging out in my fridge and some other pantry items. SO good!


 What It Takes:
2 Chicken Breasts, small, bite size cubes
2 T Cornstarch
2-3 t Vegetable Oil
3 t Sesame Oil (I use the red chili sesame oil)
10 Asparagus Spears, cut in bite size pieces
2 Zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and then make half moon pieces
4 Small Carrots (2 Large), cut at on a biased into discs
1 Sweet Onion, cut in half and then in half moon pieces
4 T Soy Sauce
4 T Honey
1 T (overflowing) Sriracha Sauce
1 1/2 t Fresh Grated Ginger
Salt and Pepper to Taste

How To Do It:

Heat oils in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat chicken in cornstarch. Add chicken to skillet and cook until cooked through (~5-8 min).
Add all of the veggies to the skillet with the chicken and cook until crisp tender but not soggy (6-10 min), season with salt and pepper.
While veggies are cooking, mix the soy sauce, honey, Sriracha and ginger together.
Add sauce to cooked chicken and veggies and let heat through and thicken for 1 minute.
Serve with Jasmine Rice.

Spicy Bok Choy

Serves: 2-4 (depends on the "head" of bok choy you get)



Prep Time: 5 minutes



Cook Time: 5-10 minutes







What You Need:

1 Head of Bok Choy, cut into 1 inch pieces (stem and leaves)
2 Pieces Bacon, cut in small pieces
2 t Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste

How To Do It:

Place bacon pieces in pan over medium high heat to render the fat. When bacon is starting to cook, add 1-2 teaspoons of oil. The amount of oil can depend on how much fat the bacon renders. Add garlic and cook 1 minutes to infuse grease and oil with garlic flavor.

Add the bok choy pieces and stir to coat with grease and oil. Lower heat to medium and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cover and let wilt for 3-5 minutes.

Menu Monday

Well, we had a couple of "eat out" nights so I am using quite a few of my recipes from last week this week. I'm a stickler for using what I have on hand!!

Monday: Fish, Bok Choy, Bread
Tuesday: Sesame Chicken with Asparagus Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry and Jasmine Rice
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Thursday: Leftovers!
Friday: Beef and Bean Burritos
Saturday:
Breakfast: Probably fast food because we are hosting our 2nd annual egg hunt at our house!
Lunch: It is a potluck egg hunt so I will contribute: Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Pineapple Cupcakes, Eclair Cake and Italian Sandwich
Dinner: What ever is leftover from our egg hunt!
Sunday:
Breakfast: Breakfast Burritos
Lunch: Either eat out or have leftovers
Dinner: Panko Coated Oven Fried Tilapia, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Veggies

"Healthier" French Bread (No Kneading Required!)

Serves: 24 Slices

Prep Time: 90 Minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 Minutes

This is a no-knead french bread that I bumped up the "health" factor by substituting a little whole wheat flour in place of the refined white stuff.


What You Need:
 1/2 C warm water
2 packages dry active yeast (4 1/2 t from a jar)
2 C VERY hot water
1/3 C oil
3 T sugar
1 T salt
4 C all-purpose flour
2 C whole wheat flour

What It Takes:
Combine the warm water with the yeast and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the hot water, oil, sugar, salt, wheat flour and 1 C all purpose flour. Stir with a wooden spoon.
Add yeast mixture and stir.
Add the rest of the flour and stir. Leave spoon in dough and let rest 10 minutes.
Stir dough and let rest for 10 minutes.
Repeat the stir/rest process for a total of five times.
Divide dough in half.
Turn out half the dough on a lightly floured surface. Press into a rectangle and then roll toward you like you are making cinnamon rolls. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Repeat with other half.
Cover with kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft free place for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees,
Make three slits in the top of each of the loaves and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Oven Potatoes

One of the big ways that I cut calories at dinner time is to make oven potatoes instead of using french fries or tater tots with a hamburger or sandwich. Monday night was no different! We at MM favorite sandwich, PW style with a side of my yummy taters.

Not only are they a dinner staple but, I love to make extra potatoes so we can have them for breakfast in a skillet or scramble.

Serves: 4    Prep time: 10 minutes    Cook Time: 30 minutes

What It Takes:

10 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite size chunks
2-3 t vegetable oil
dried parsley, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder

How To Do It:

Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Place potato chunks on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle oil over potatoes and toss to coat.
Season potatoes with as much of each seasoning that suits your taste buds. Toss to evenly coat potatoes in spices. If the seasonings look a little sparse, season again and give it a light toss. Spread the potatoes out into a single layer.

Place baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes.

Menu Monday

Monday: The MM sandwich, PW style and oven potatoes
Tuesday: Cheese Stuffed Ravioli with Turkey Spaghetti Sauce and Homemade French Bread
Wednesday: Tilapia, Jalapeno Cheddar Bread, Spicy Bok Choy
Thursday: Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken and Rice
Friday: Leftovers or Beef and Bean Burritos
Saturday:
Breakfast- Banana and Oatmeal Pancakes and Bacon
Dinner- BBQ Chicken Pizza
Sunday:
Breakfast- Breakfast Burrito
Dinner- Leftovers

Healthy and Delicious Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

These pancakes are so yummy plus they are so much healthier than a regular pancake. If your used to boxed pancake mix, these will take a few extra minutes to prepare but are so worth it! Serve them with some peanut butter and a little syrup, YUMMY!

Prep Time: 10 minutes   Cook Time: 10 minutes  Serves: 6 (2 pancakes serving)

What You Need:
1 1/2 C quick cooking or old fashioned oats
1 T baking powder
1/2 t (scant) salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 C whole wheat flour (if using old fashioned oats you may need to increase to ~3/4 C)
1/2 C white flour
1 T brown sugar
2 C milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 t vanilla
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 C apple sauce

How To Do It:
Combine all of the dry ingredients until well blended. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla, banana and apple sauce. Let sit 3-5 minutes. If you feel that the batter is to thin, add a little more wheat flour until it reaches your desired consistency.

Make pancakes in a pan or on a griddle set to medium to medium-high. I can make 12 1/2 C pancakes on my griddle in two batches. I just use the 1/2 C measuring cup. Cook until sides look slightly dry and there are bubbles forming on the top of the pancake (~ 3 minutes) then flip and cook for ~1 minute.