Tilapia with mango salsa

Another super easy, super quick, super tasty meal!

Sprinkle tilapia with salt, pepper, EVOO or butter and bake. While baking, chop a mango, red onion, cucumber, cilantro & jalapeno and mix together. When tilapia is done, spoon mango salsa over top of fish.

Some people think mango salsa doesn't sound very appetizing. Do not think it until you try it! It took me a long time to try....AMAZING flavor!!!

Tonight I paired the tilapia/mango salsa with a salad, sun-dried tomato dressing, and uncle ben's 90 sec. rice.

Grouper Sandwiches with special tartar sauce

I baked grouper with a drizzle of EVOO and a sprinkle of basil, oregano, garlic, & a squeeze of lime. While that was baking, I mixed fat free mayo with relish, Dijon horseradish mustard, & pepper for a tangy tartar sauce. I toasted the buns in the oven.

Grouper sandwiches, salad with light Cesar dressing, and baked pineapples!

YUMMY!

Grandma Jones's BBQ Chicken

This is not your ordinary bbq sauce & as you can see from the picture, it doesn't even look like there is bbq sauce on the chicken. However, this bbq recipe is delicious! Let me also add...the recipe is actually for all kinds of chicken pieces with skin - legs, breasts, thighs, etc. However, I only use white meat breast without skin. Therefore, I stab each piece with a fork several times and put the chicken in a container with the sauce over night to marinate.

• Recipe:
• Heat 1 quart of vinegar & add 1/4 cup salt. Let cool.
• After cooled, add 2 well-beaten eggs, 2 cups oil (grandma used wesson, I used EVOO), 1 tsp. pepper, 1 tbls worchestershire sauce.
• mix

This recipe is for several half or pieces of chicken. I just cut the recipe in half for my marinade.

Place chicken in marinade over night. Grill and brush marinade on each piece while grilling.

I also put broccoli in foil with a bit of bbq sauce dumped on and grilled as well. Then used fat free mayo to make a slaw. DELICIOUS!!!!

Fancy Flounder

This dish is quick, easy, tasty, and smells great cooking!

1. Spray a baking dish with non-fat cooking spray.
2. In the bottom of pan sprinkle in 2/3 cup onion and 1/2 cup mushrooms (you can put more mushrooms if you like them).
3. Lay flounder fillets over onion/mushroom mixture.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of Fiesta/Mexican cheese on top.
6. Sprinkle 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs on top of cheese.
7. Bake for 15 minutes @ 400 degrees.

I also baked a pan of asparagus sprinkled with EVOO, salt, pepper, rosemary. Then paired the dish with 1/4 cup of shiritaki noodles. This is perfect for a busy night. You could even prepare the pan the night before and stick it in the oven when you are ready!

Camp Fire Tilapia

Growing up, my Mom would make camp-fire dinners, but with ground beef, carrots, & potatoes. This is my healthier version...

1. Lay out enough pieces of foil for each family member.
2. In the middle of the foil put 1 tilapia fillet, some tomato, onion, mushrooms, salt, pepper, and a little EVOO.
3. Roll the foil up so you have a little pouch. Poke one hole in the pouch.
4. Either bake in over or on the grill.
5. That's it!

I also microwaved a 90 second bag of Uncle Ben's Yellow rice.

Taco Salad

Hungry for tacos? Try my healthy version of taco salad or just stuff the shell and have tacos. I used the Ortega taco kit meal box. Cook 1 pound of lean ground turkey and mix in the taco seasoning packet while baking the shells in the oven. Cut up lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, & black olives. I also use Great Value shredded taco fiesta cheese and the salsa sauce from the Ortega kit. I set everything out for a taco bar. Everyone can make their tacos or taco salad to their own liking.

Stuffed Pork Chops

This one is a bit longer to cook than the others, so I save it for a night we don't have to go anywhere. Prep time is still relatively short though.

In a food processor mix about 1/4 cup onion (less if you don't love the taste and just want a little flavor), 2 apples, 1/4 cup celery, 2 tbls parsley, 1/2 tsp salt. Pour into bowl and mix in 2 cups bread crumbs. I always use panko, but use any kind you desire.

Recipes always say to cut a pocket into pork chops for stuffing, but I find it much easier to hammer the chops, put the stuffing in the middle, fold over, and hold together with a toothpick! Bake for about 20 minutes with foil covering the baking pan @ 350. Remove foil and bake for another 20 - 30 minutes.

I paired this with some 5 minute boil-in-a-bag rice and a can of french style green beans. Even heard one kid bragging to some people over the XBOX intercom that he was eating some really good pork chops and stuffing! :)

Pasta & Sauce

Tonight was a good ol' night of easy comfort food. Angel hair pasta, frozen meat balls from your grocer's freezer section, a can of Hunt's spaghetti sauce (which I always add a bit of oregano, basil, & garlic to). I heated a 1/2 loaf of Italian style bread with butter and garlic. Also, made side salad's with sun-dried tomato salad dressing.

And of course, for me, a substitution of tofu noodles instead of pasta since I can't eat pasta anymore. Anyone looking for a healthy alternative to pasta should try the tofu shirataki noodles. Many people say it tastes just like pasta. I don't agree, but it's a good substitution!

EASY! EASY! EASY!

Caribbean Jerk Grilled Chicken

Here's another really quick and easy one!

I marinated 4 chicken breasts in about 1/2 cup of KC's Masterpiece Caribbean Jerk Marinade. Then I threw them on the grill. I also grilled a can of pineapples, 1 green pepper, 2 jalapeno peppers, and 1 onion (all drizzled with oil & sprinkled with salt/pepper).

While everything was grilling, I cooked baked potatoes in the microwave. I also went to the grill periodically, turned the chicken over, and brushed additional coats of the marinade on.

Again, if you don't like the veggies we grill, throw on your favorites!!!!

Grouper Sandwiches with slaw

Tonight was a HUGE hit and I didn't even have a plan. I remembered reading an easy recipe for grouper and tried to remember some of the ingredients in the dish. (That's just the way I work in the kitchen...never follow a recipe).

First, I sprayed a baking dish with cooking spray and place grouper fillets in the dish. Then I sprinkled with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and a squeeze of lemon. I'm sure the recipe called for butter, but I skipped that step--I don't need the added calories and no one in my family knows! :)

Then I covered the grouper with 1/4 cup lime juice and 1/4 cup orange juice - freshly squeezed. Sliced another lime and orange and covered the grouper with the slices.

Baked in the oven @ 350 for about 20 minutes.

While it was baking I pureed some tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, salt, pepper for a saucy salsa. I combined mayo, horseradish, and relish for a tartar sauce. And I added 1/2 cup of fat free mayo to a 1/2 bag of slaw.

Final product - horsey tarter on toasted bread with citrus grouper sandwich, light cole slaw, fresh broccoli, and corn chips with fresh saucy salsa. Of course, I skipped the chips and used the saucy salsa on my broccoli. MMMMMMmmmm Good!!!

One thing I did remember about the recipe is that it was delicious paired with a glass of Cabernet. SURE WAS!!!

Chicken Ceasar Salad

For tonight's meal I brushed 4 chicken breasts with ceasear salad dressing and baked. Then, I opened a bag of Dole's Ultimate Light Ceasar Salad Kit, mixed together, cut chicken and threw it on top!

SUPER QUICK! SUPER EASY! SUPER DELICIOUS!