Weeknight Dinner: Blackened Tilapia

So.
I don't cook fish for J as often as I've promised in the past.  His cardiologist told him at one point that he should eat fish 2 or 3 times a week.  I promised to try and cook fish once a week.  I'm not great about the follow through.  Fish will never be my favourite.
Tilapia is not a particularly strong fish, and will often take on the flavour of anything that has been cooked with it.  In the past, I've used tilapia for fish tacos and coated it in cornmeal and served it with salsa.  The spices of this version were lovely, and J and I both enjoyed it.
Once again, I found a recipe on Budget Bytes that was quick, easy, and fish for those of us who don't enjoy it.
I present to you now Budget Bytes' Blackened Tilapia:

Take Out at Home: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

So.
While J and I both like pizza, I don't often make it at home.  He will often order a pizza when I have a dinner meeting, so we don't go out for pizza much.  When we do, we usually order a large so there will be leftovers the next day.  The nice thing about making pizza at home is that we also have leftovers for the next day.  Sometimes when we go out, I'll order an individual pizza for myself.  I like unorthodox ingredients, and have sampled a few different Buffalo chicken pizzas, but my complaint is always the same:  restaurants use their Buffalo chicken fingers, and the breading is just too much with everything else.
While cruising Budget Bytes, I found this recipe for a Buffalo Chicken pizza.  I love Beth's recipes, I love Buffalo chicken...how could this not be a winner?  Even my suspicion of cream sauce as a base could not deter me from the ultimate objective which was a delicious dinner that J and I would both enjoy.
How do I know he enjoyed?  I've been asked to make this again, and I probably will.  For football season on a day that we're here and sitting in front of the TV for 12 hours of college football's best.  Or perhaps an afternoon of NFL.  What I do know is this:  the cream sauce sets everything else off to a T, and I can't imagine making this any other way.
I present to you now Budget Bytes' Buffalo Chicken Pizza:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Potatoes Vinaigrette

So.
It's no secret that I'm suspicious of cream sauces and dressings.  I'm not a fan of creamy salads or spreads on sandwiches.  Frankly, I prefer things I've made myself so I know exactly what's in them.
Summer salads often run into this problem for me, especially at a BBQ or picnic.  I would prefer to add my own dressing, and I skip the salads for the raw vegetables that I'll often eat without the dip (I'll also eat salad leaves straight out of the serving bowl.  I like plain raw vegetables)
J sometimes talks about his mother's potato salad, and how she'd use mustard and little to no mayonnaise.  I never make potato salad, so when I saw this it reminded me of J's talking about a mustard based potato salad.
It also reminded me of France, where I had a host mother who would take leftover boiled potatoes and cooked haricots verts, and toss them in a dijon vinaigrette for lunch on Sunday.  Frankly, it reminded me most of eating outside on a sunny day in France.  Good times.
I present to you now from the June 2006 issue of Everyday Food, Potatoes Vinaigrette:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Crunchy Ice Cream Loaf

So.
I'm climbing back on the wagon of the Magazine Challenge.  It's a little daunting to see the number of recipes that I've flagged as wanting to make compared to the number I've actually made. I'm hoping to stem that tide over the summer with a large number of recipes that hopefully will be keepers, even if I never get back to them again.
Now that the pool is open (the heater is fixed, and I am willing to go in...HOORAY!!) J and I are starting to invite friends over for a swim and a BBQ.  We need easy make-ahead items that can be served as we need them.  This dessert is a case in point.  It's not just passing around a plate of cookies, but it's still ice cream for a warm day.  Plus, I needed 6 cups of ice cream and bought a gallon so there was enough left over for ice cream cones for the kids who were suspicious of a dessert that they were going to have to eat with a fork.
Everyday Food claims that the dessert tastes like fried ice cream, and surprisingly they're right.  The crunch of the cornflakes and the hint of cinnamon are reminiscent of the fried delight from a Mexican restaurant.  I'd eat this again.  This took all of about 10 minutes to put together the night before.  I'd make it again too.
I present to you now from the July/August 2006 issue of Everyday Food Crunchy Ice Cream Loaf:

Secret Recipe Club: Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

So.
When the form came out asking if I wanted to participate in the Secret Recipe Club for July, I filled it out saying yes.  Why, I'm not quite sure.  I live in a great denial about the fact that June for me when I would need to make said recipe is a month filled with report card editing, graduation, and me eating out and grasping at the shreds of my sanity as we wind down to the end of school.  It's not that I don't like cooking, I just don't do it in June.  I need to remember this for next year so I freeze some meals and keep my debit card from smoking like this year.
But if I hadn't said yes, I wouldn't have been assigned the wonderful blog of LeAndra, who tends Love&Flour.  LeAndra and I have many things in common.  We both like to bake, we both love chocolate chips more than lettuce, and we both watch The Game at the end of November.
I find it interesting that LeAndra is a Buckeye turned Gator fan.  My experience of college football fans (and especially OSU fans) is that they have an almost visceral allegiance to their team for life.  Case in point, J lived in Gamecock country for a while but paid for the ESPN college football package so he could watch U of M on Saturdays.  He now does the same here in Canada, giving us the *big* sports package so he can watch the B1G 10 Network and College football when we're home.
In my married life, I have learned that college football is a religion, and Saturday is the day of holy obligation.  J has started counting down until we're back at the Big House in our new seats that will be more in the end zone and less facing the setting sun.  I am ignoring him because it means I will be back to school.  Ahem.  It's not time for football yet.  Right.  What I made.
I perused LeAndra's blog and had a hard time deciding between these cookies and chocolate cherry cookies.  I actually bought everything to make both, but the flavour combination of chocolate and peanut butter won the day!  The others come soon.  What else would I do with a bottle of cherry lambic?
I present to you now Love&Flour's Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Summer Edition

So.
It's halfway through year 2 of the Magazine Challenge.  I am so glad that this month is a double issue.  I need some time to catch up.  According to my stats, I've made 21 recipes so far from the 5 - 2006 issues of Everyday Food that I've perused so far this year.  What's good about this is that I've made more than 4 things per month of the magazine, especially when you consider how little I cooked in June.  But I do need the summer to rest, recuperate, and catch up.  There are some salads that I marked that I haven't made yet.  J and I will be eating those for lunch in the coming months.
The July/August issue of the magazine is perfect for summer:  it's the grilling issue.  I was interested in a couple of the burger recipes, and the shop once eat for a week has a menu that I actually want to make all of.  I'm thinking perhaps next week for 5 days.  You grill things and reserve parts for future nights.  I'd like to try and keep up.  As well, there are some really good looking desserts.  Being home all the time means that we're going to go through more dessert.
Here's what looks good from the 2006 issue of Everyday Food:

• Crunchy Ice Cream Loaf
• Salmon with Mustard Sauce and Asparagus
• Grilled Steak and Potato Salad
• Garlic Marinated Chicken with Grilled Potatoes
• Cobb Salad
• Grilled Vegetables Tostadas
• Cheddar Horseradish Burgers
• Tandoori Style Chicken Burgers
• Chocolate Ricotta Icebox Cake
• Rustic Plum Tart
• Raspberry Buckle

11 recipes.  That makes sense for a 2 month issue.  Let's see what happens.

Planning: July 4-10, 2014

So.
It's been a month.  Really.  Between report cards, the end of the year, and grad, I had few shreds of sanity remaining before leaving for a family wedding in Cincinnati and then gallivanting off to Toronto for Canada Day and a Blue Jays game where I got horribly burned shoulders.  With sunscreen.  Argh.
But now that the itching has subsided and we're home until going to Seattle at the end of the month, it's time to start cooking again!
Seeing as we haven't been to the grocery store in weeks, it's going to be an expensive experience at the grocery store today.  Plus, we're having friends over tomorrow, so there's a little more than usual to pick up.  But despite all that, and the fact that I'm going to be making lunches again, it should be a nice week.  The pool is open, there's propane in the tank for the grill, and I'm ready for summer!  Here's what we're eating on the mountain this week:

Lunches

• The end of the burritos from the freezer.  These have been great.  I have more beans in the freezer, so I'll whip up another batch before I go back to work.
• Sandwiches, chips and pickles.  Super easy, super quick.
• Pasta Salad with Broccoli and Peanuts.  There should be enough for 2 days here.
• Wonton Soup, and maybe fresh bread.  We'll see.

Dinners

I had a look through my Pinterest board, as well as the magazines for some inspirations.  I seem to be eating a lot from Budget Bytes this week.  That's really not a bad thing.

• Peanut-crusted Chicken, rice, and broccoli
• We're having people over, so burgers, hot dogs, chips, veggies and Potato Vinagrette.  Those coming are also bringing something.
• Buffalo Chicken Pizza
• Chicken, garlic and broccoli Skewers and Foil Potatoes
• Cheddar Horseradish Burgers
• Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Desserts

This gets its own category.  Just because.  There's a few things I'm planning:

• Crunchy Ice Cream Loaf
• Secret Recipe Club Stuff (coming Monday!)
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

When I lay it out like this, it's quite the week.  But it all sounds good.  And think of all the recipes I'll have to share!

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Steak Quesadillas

So.
J and I are always up for a quick, yummy meal.  I don't like to cook on week nights, and save big showy recipes for weekend hobby cooking when I have large amounts of time to dirty every piece of cookware in my kitchen.  But Monday to Friday I need something fast and simple or we go out.
These quesadillas are perfect.  It seems like there's a lot of steps, but I discovered that there really weren't that many dishes in the sink when I was done, and they went together relatively quickly.  I shredded the cheese and sliced the onions while the steak cooked, and then I cleaned up while the quesadillas baked.  We got 3 quesadillas out of the recipe, and that was a nice sized meal for the two of us:  one and a half each.  I often buy my steaks at Costco and divide them into servings for the 2 of us.  I used one of those strip steaks for these.  With a little steak rub, they were delicious.
It's June, and I've already made a recipe from the June 2006 issue.  That's an all good thing, seeing as June is crazy.  But when things are like this, it's not hard to make things for us to eat during the week.
I present to you now from the June 2006 issue of Everyday Food, Steak Quesadillas:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

So.

When I was growing up, my favourite type of square was the Hello Dolly, also known as the Magic Bar.  I don't really know why.  My mother made dozens and dozens of squares every Christmas, and she never made Hello Dollies.  Perhaps it was just the novelty of those that my mother never made.  But chocolate chips, nuts, coconut and sweetened condensed milk on a cookie base?  Count me in.

As an adult where I could make Hello Dollies, I never do.  J and I like to have sweet treats in the house, but we seem to eat them very quickly.  So when I saw this recipe in the March 2006 Everyday Food, I was intrigued.  It used lots of pecans and chocolate chips, but that would make them yummy.  When they were finally done, I was just as happy that we had Home Church that night and I could take the squares with me so that J and I wouldn't eat them all.

They're not Hello Dollies, but J doesn't like coconut.  They're just as good...or even better.

I present to you now from the March 2006 issue of Everyday Food Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars:

Planning?? Whining?? You be the judge

So.
While I was well aware that XP was going away, I did nothing about it.  My laptop now is sloooooow, and I can't get the internet to open on it.
This wouldn't be a problem if the cat hadn't decided to be sick.  Last week, she saw her regular vet 3 times and spent 24 hours in emergency care for a tapeworm. (My cat has now had 3 enemas.  She hates us all when she's not being petted and snuggled.  But she's clean as a whistle, inside and out)
The laptop money went to the vet.  And then some.  Bleh.
So, the long and the short of this is I don't know when I'll be back up and running with pictures and everything.
But J and I have found a bunch of fun recipes to try in the meantime.  Southwestern Chicken Spaghetti, Steak Quesadillas, Chicken Taco Skillet.   It's Tex-Mex week around here, apparently.
I'll be back soon, once I've figured out how to make the cat pay for my laptop.  She must have some saleable skill...right?