Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

As I've stated previously, hubby and I have been on a little kick to try and lose weight. I'm proud to say that I have lost 20 pounds since January and I am feeling so much better about myself. I don't usually brag about things like this and I hate feeling like I'm rubbing it in people's faces. But I have been working my butt off for the last 4 months and I am proud of what I have accomplished. The biggest thing was changing my eating habits. At the beginning, I did work out some, but then in early March, I developed bronchitis and was told to take it easy for the next few weeks. That interrupted my schedule and I haven't gotten back into the swing of things. :/ Hopefully I can jump back in soon and keep working on my weight loss. For now, I'm very much satisfied with my results and I think I will definitely continue to stick with it. :)

As for today's recipe - since we have been very careful with our meals, we have stuck to a lot of tilapia and chicken breast. Most of the time I don't do a whole lot of seasoning or fancy extras. But I found this recipe and decided I really wanted to try it. Since then, I have made it 2 or 3 more times. It is delicious, and the parmesan gets all crunchy and crusty on top and tastes sooooo good. It's very simple to make and is a tummy pleaser when you want something with a little more flavor. The original recipe called for garlic salt, but I try not to add salt to many of my recipes so I just used garlic powder. 

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Photo taken on my iPhone... sorry about the quality!

Ingredients

3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

4 tilapia fillets

Directions

Preheat over to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, and oregano. 

Coat the fillets in the crumb mixture. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. 

Bake for 8-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. 

See? Told you it was easy!

Xoxo, 

Jen

Teriyaki Salmon with Mushrooms

I'm happy that my computer is back up and running. I have a few things going on and the month of May is a crazy month in the world of teachers, but I promise that I will try and update as often as possible.  

Before I begin with the recipe - here's a photo I wanted to share of a friend of mine.  Her name is Jenna, and she came over this weekend and made Guava Dip.  It was absolutely delicious, and she wanted to be sure that I posted her photo on the blog!  That is probably her favorite recipe and she goes crazy every time I make it! ;) I'm really excited that so many of my friends like the blog and follow it! I hope I can continue to make you guys happy and keep you as readers!

So today's recipe comes from a Cooking Light cookbook, and to be totally honest, every recipe I have made from here has been absolutely phenomenal. They are light, and really quick to make.  This one in particular was really fast. There's not a whole lot to say about it. I love seafood - all kinds, in almost any way, shape, or form. So I had this recipe tagged to try, and I'm very glad that I did! 

Teriyaki Salmon with Mushrooms

Ingredients 

1/8 cup red cooking wine

1/8 cup low-sodium teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1 teaspoon olive oil

4 oz presliced baby portobello mushrooms

2 skinless salmon fillets (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick)

Combine wine, teriyaki sauce, and brown sugar in a small bowl; stir to dissolve sugar. 

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add mushrooms, and saute 4 minutes or until tender. Add 1/3 of the teriyaki mixture to mushrooms. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Spoon mushroom mixture into a bowl; set aside. 

Heat pan over medium-high heat; add fillets. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned on all sides. Add mushrooms and remaining teriyaki mixture into the pan; cook 2 minutes. Transfer fillets to a serving platter, and top with sauce and mushrooms. Yield: 2 servings. 

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals

Pan-Fried Shrimp

I have a massive backlog of recipes and photos, and everytime I upload pictures, I kind of get stressed out that I haven't posted about them. lol
My goal is to upload as many things as possible this week - unless it turns out to be a crazy week again. :/  I really have been keeping busy in the kitchen and I have so much great stuff to share with you guys, but it feels like my days don't have enough hours in them. I'm counting down the days until my spring break. lol

This meal was really tasty. I made these shrimp with the veggie stir fry from my last post, and they were delicious. They were also fairly easy to make. I used pre-peeled shrimp, so it made my work that much quicker. :)

Pan-Fried Shrimp

Ingredients

1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 lb shrimp - peeled & deveined

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 large egg, beaten

2 tsp water

2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Combine the panko and cilantro in a shallow dish. 

Sprinkle the shrimp with salt & pepper. Combine the egg and water in another shallow dish. Dip the shrimp in the egg mixture, then dredge in the panko and cilantro mixture until covered. Place in a single layer on a plate. Repeat the process with the remaining shrimp, egg, and crumbs. 

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp, cook for 2 minutes on each side (or until done). Drain shrimp on a paper towel and serve. 

Recipe adapted from:  Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals

A Pink Twist on a Weekend Favorite...

So Eddie & I just finished devouring this and thought I needed to share right away. I was cleaning out magazines, which I do a couple times a year, because they start stacking up.  However, before tossing them, I always tear out recipes I'd like to try.  I came across this one from Everyday with Rachael Ray and tore it out, but since we still hadn't had lunch, I decided to make it for today's lunch... after all, it is pink!  I love gourmet burgers, so I definitely thought this was deeee-lish.

I didn't have all the ingredients listed, so I substituted and did a few things differently. All those changes are included in my post (for the original recipe you can click the link at the bottom of the post).

The recipe was fairly simple, and I halved everything in the original recipe, since I'm only cooking for two.  What I like about it is that you can really add things as you like... you can top them with onions, spinach, anything really. I opted for Baby Bella mushrooms because I had them on hand and didn't want them to go bad. :)

Open-Face Salmon Burgers with Honey Mustard

Ingredients
3 Tbsp whole grain mustard (regular deli mustard will do as well)
3 Tbsp honey
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
2  6 oz skinless salmon filets, cut into cubes
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp Olive oil
Softened butter, for spreading
1 English muffin, split and toasted
2 Tbsp feta cheese, for topping

Directions


In a small bowl, stir together mustard and honey.

Using a food processor, pulse the salmon to finely chop. Place salmon in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 Tbsp of the honey mustard mixture, the parsley, Old Bay seasoning, and lemon zest. Mix well and form 2 large burgers.

In a non-stick skillet or griddle, add the burgers and mushrooms and cook, turning the burgers once, over medium-high heat. Cook 6 minutes for medium-rare, 10 to 12 minutes for medium-well.

Lightly butter the English muffins. Top each muffin half with the salmon burgers, mushrooms, remaining honey-mustard sauce, and feta cheese.


Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray - 30 Minute Meals

Enjoy!

Xoxo, 

Jen