Iowa Girl Eats » tilapia

Special Delivery!

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:06:07 +0000

Gooood morning!

I had a work shindig after…work…last night, then had to finish up an extra curricular writing project, so guess who offered to bring me a succulent, summer feast, so I wouldn’t have to cook dinner? My Mom! Just another perk of living close to your parents.

Included in my dinner delivery - grilled veggies, which made me realize that I’ve been ignoring grilled onions for far too long. They are nearly perfect.

Baked sweet potato fries. I think these were Alexia brand SPFs, and they were awesome! I’ve always been curious about them, and I may have to pick up a pack at the grocery store this weekend.

And lightly seasoned tilapia. Thanks Ma!

Oh, “dessert” consisted of approximately 1 million Lays potato chips. Seriously, why can’t you eat just one? Ugh!

I kept it a little more real for breakfast this morning with a fresh, light Greek Yogurt Cantaloupe Bowl!

Filled to the brim with thick & creamy Peach Chobani mixed with chia seeds, then topped with sweet strawberries and crunchy almonds.

Mmmkay, I HEART Peach Chobani! I think it’s my favorite flavor and it’s indescribably thick. Not thick like sour cream thick – rather, thick as in, it completely coats your mouth. Ugh, it’s incredible!

Frosty!

Do not adjust your computer monitor. You are not looking at Monday’s post, but you are looking at the same salad I had on Monday!

Due to some ”chop once, eat twice” activities on Sunday afternoon, I made two of the same salads to be enjoyed for lunch twice this week. It’s so nice to have a two, pre-made lunches that I know I can just grab and go with.

In the mix:

Baby spinach
Broccoli Slaw
Carrots
Roma tomato
Broccoli
Green onions
Goat cheese

With a ripe, white peach on the side. PEACHES ARE AMAZING RIGHT NOW!

Hello!

Gosh, is it feeling like it’s Friday to anyone else besides me? I’ve definitely had day-later syndrome this entire week. One more day, one more day, one more day!!!

TGIAF!

~~~~~

Do you like books that are turned into movies? Do you prefer to read the book or see the movie first?

Check it Off!

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:34:54 +0000

Hey buds!

Well, I have had a productive day! Checklist:

Work – done
Pumpkin Spice Latte – drank
- It was soooo good – everything I could have hoped for, and more!
De-humidifier – installed

If you need one of these guys, I suggest buying one soon, as they are all on sale/clearance for the season. I got one that was originally $199 for $100!

Kitchen – cleaned and sanitized
Walk – walked
- 4.25 miles in just under an hour. My ball & socket joints will be sore tomorrow, but it was so insanely gorgeous out!
Dinner – eaten

We had Crispy Tilapia Filets!

Remember when my Mom and I split that big package of fresh Tilapia filets from Costco? I made a portion of mine the “Old Bay Way” and she made hers dredged in light & crispy panko bread crumbs. Her description of it the next day sounded so delicious – I knew I had to steal the idea!

The Ingredients:

2 fish filets
flour (not pictured)
pepper
2 egg whites
panko bread crumbs
Lemon Pepper seasoning
garlic powder
onion powder
olive oil (not pictured)

Directions:

1. Get out three bowls. In one bowl combine flour & pepper. In the second bowl, whisk 2 egg whites. In the third bowl combine panko bread crumbs and seasonings listed above.

2. Take your fish filets and dredge in flour & pepper mixture on both sides. Tap off excess flour and transfer to egg whites. Dip both sides of filets in whites until coated. Transfer filets to panko & seasoning mixture and coat both sides.

3. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and sauté the filets for ~3 minutes on each side.

Presto!

CRUNCH-TASTIC! Seriously panko bread crumbs are one of the best things in my pantry. They are so crispy and crunchy, I’d swear this was fried. Thankfully, nothing is fried in the IGE household. No way, no how.

I also steamed some Fresh Green Beans to go along with the crispy filets. I like my green beans steamed until they’re pretty soft. Think canned green bean, soft. How about you?

Do you guys ever use panko bread crumbs? I just love “fake out” meals like this – all the fun of crunchy fried foods, but without the artery clogging health hazards!!

Check out some other things I’ve made with panko bread crumbs:

Oh, I got a couple questions today that I seem to get on a regular basis, so I thought I’d just share with you all!

1. Don’t your apples turn brown when you take them for lunch?

If you put them in gladware/tupperware container or a plastic baggie, no they really don’t turn all that brown. But even if they do – the brown is purely cosmetic. It doesn’t change the taste of the apple at all!

2. Do you use dressing on your salads?

Yep I do. Usually is a light Kraft variety of dressing – House Italian or Roasted Garlic – that I usually “dilute” with balsamic vinegar. It takes away the “bottled” dressing taste and extends my dressing so I get more salad coverage without adding too many more calories!

Got any more questions? Send ‘em my way. Maybe I’ll even setup an FAQ page

I am so jazzed about breakfast tomorrow – I’m trying something that I’ve been craving for a really long time!!

Stay tuned!

~~~~~

What kind of salad dressing do you like to use?

Summer Inspired Dinner Series

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:38:33 +0000

Hello!

Well I mentioned it this morning, but tonight I’m kicking off a week-long, Summer Inspired Dinner Series! With bright mornings, warm nights and carefree summer days coming to an end, I thought, what better way to wave goodbye to summer than with a week of dinners that are easy, fresh & celebrate my favorite summer tastes?!

Up first: Baked Tilapia with Grilled Asparagus & Wild Rice!

YUM!

The tilapia was my second mystery item from Costco My Mom and I split a big pack for $5 each! I’ve mentioned this before, but Costco is a wonderful place to buy fresh seafood if you live in the Midwest, like me.

I really love the fresh, light flavor of Tilapia so I simply seasoned my filets with an Old Bay inspired mix. I combined:

Dried basil
Lemon pepper
Garlic salt
Cinnamon
Onion powder
Red pepper
Ground ginger
Paprika
Ground mustard
Salt & Pepper (unpictured)

Feel free to add or delete any spices. I just looked online to see what was in Old Bay and used whatever I already had on hand that matched. I combined everything in a seasoning shaker I just happen to own:

Next I seasoned each side of the Tilapia filets with the mix, placed them in a non-stick sprayed oven-safe dish, and topped with a few, wee pats of butter. Then I squeezed a wedge of lemon over everything and put it in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes, or until it was flaky.

Meanwhile, I cleaned up some asparagus and fired up the grill. Hello! Fresh asparagus + grill? Totally summer!

I let these babies char and rolled them every couple minutes, until they were done.

Finally, I took some help from Uncle Ben and popped a Wild Rice packet into the microwave to heat up. Easy!

When I assembled my plate, I couldn’t help but smile. Easy, breezy dinner for an easy, breezy summer night. Perfect!

I’m so glad I simply seasoned my Tilapia filets instead of breading or sautéing them in oil. It was the perfect amount of spice, and I could taste the fresh fish.

I served lemon wedges on the side for squeezing

The grilled asparagus were smokey and perfectly cooked. I like my asparagus a little crunchy. How about you?

Wild rice, Ben’s request, was a perfect side dish. This particular product didn’t have a lot of preservatives or funky ingredients. Plus, it was ready in 90 seconds!

Now…what would a good summer dinner be without a perfectly summer dessert?? Nothing! That’s why I made Grilled Pineapple with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert – wheeee!!!

I just grilled fresh pineapple until they were slightly charred and while we ate, I put them in a gladware container with a lid so they could steam and get soft.

When it was time for dessert, I dished out some vanilla ice cream and placed my pineapple around it.

I don’t think you need me to describe how incredible this was…cool, creamy ice cream + sweet, smokey pineapple…WOW!

Well – I am a FULL and HAPPY lady The Summer Inspired Dinner Series is off to a good start if you ask me! Tonight’s dinner met all the requirements: fresh ingredients, insanely easy preparation and TOTALLY the taste of summer!

Stay tuned tomorrow morning for a fun announcement – until then, have a super night!

~~~~~

Do you ever cook fresh fish?

This was actually my first time cooking white fish and it seriously couldn’t have been easier…it was actually easier than cooking chicken because you don’t have to trim it, you can tell when it’s done, etc. Loved it!