Thursday, September 12, 2013

Future Plans

Life is crazy busy while at home. We have lots to get prepared before out next stent out west. We'll be gone for several weeks again. Wyoming is our destination (again!) and I am stoked. Hey, maybe I'll even find Lake Louise this time around!

We're leaving a few weeks from now, and although I love traveling, it's been really wonderful to be at home and to be with Ryan. I still don't have a schedule- we have days that are kinda the same where as we do a lot in the mornings- come home for nap time- and prepare meals at home. It's been wonderful this week in particular.

My dad and an old friend of his stopped through while on the way to Columbia, Missouri. I made some new things- out of my regular scope of recipes. It was really hot the day that they made it into town, so I made a cucumber juice. Now, this is a treat. I adapted it from Sunny Anderson's Mean Green Cucumber Juice recipe on the food network. If you look it up- definitely use less sugar. It's really sweet and delicious. I would try it first just as the recipe calls! It's wonderfully fresh and delicious especially on a hot, sticky day.

The other things that I made for our meal were firsts too. I made an almond encrusted tilapia- from a repertoire of  other fish that I have created. And, Brocolli and cheese quinoa.  It was a delightful meal- wonderfully summer.

Almond Crusted Tilapia:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond slivers, pounded into a coarse grain (I did this in a ziplock bag with a dough roller)
1/4 cup corn meal
1/2 cup panko
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. cumin
1-2 eggs
fresh lemon slices
salt and pepper
as many tilapia filets as you think you can eat! I made 7 large filets

Heat Olive Oil in a iron skillet to medium high to high.  Once oil is hot, place dipped fish in hot oil. Pan fry for about 3-4 minutes each side until golden brown. I set up a cookie sheet covered with cornmeal once they were finished frying, and placed them in a warm oven at 350 degrees so that I could complete the other filets. As to not crowd the pan, I did two filets at a time. Once the oil is good and hot,  some of it may be soaked up in the fish, so I did have to add more from time to time.
Tilapia is not a flavorful fish, so this is a well seasoned recipe. The lemon really brings out the flavors of the fish and the almond crust! I used lemon liberally! Another suggestion to add or have at the table is a lemon garlic aioli sauce.... a simple mayonnaise with lemon and garlic... YUM!

The broccoli cheese quinoa is easy and indulgent. I used steamed broccoli, Colby jack cheese, 2 cups cooked quinoa. My one trick here is stone ground mustard added in to the mixture. I added one tbsp. of that zesty stuff and it was delicious. Use the amount of broccoli and Colby jack cheese to your taste....

Brocolli Cheese Quinoa

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 bunch steamed broccoli
1/2 block of Colby jack cheese, shredded
1tbsp stone ground mustard
1tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix together cheese when quinoa is hot to make sure it melts!

I hope you enjoy these recipes. I did. It was a wonderfully satisfying meal and perfect for a summer night.

I've been a busy bee. I opened my etsy shop! I have a few other items to post for sale, and I've been running to get prepared for our next stint in Wyoming! I gotta be in tip top shape to hike with Ryan on my back! I know it's getting close to winter there, so I've got a lot of packing to do with warm clothes.

Still, I'm excited!

One last piece of information. The disposable camera I had from Leidy Lake was damaged at Walgreen's. So, I have no pictures from that lovely day at the first of the summer. At least I wrote it down! A verbal image is almost as good, right?

I'd love to hear from you! Comments and suggestions on anything you'd like to see on the etsy store, or things I should create on my trip, paintings, etc. This is my 89th post, so I'm thrilled! That's pretty good, right?

Happy Thursday!


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Oh I hope we get a chance to meet in wyoming.... sorry about the damage to the leidy lake pics, I would of Loved to see them but maybe it's for the best and was ment Just for you, Adam and Ryan to share together... miss you!