Mango Fish Tacos

I love this dish! Even if you don't like fish it is super yummy and doesn't have a fishy taste to it at all. It is really easy to make and if you get the frozen individual wrapped tilapia at Costco you never have to touch the fish. Sorry I don't have a pretty picture. Nice job on the Pics Marisa, it makes me hungry just looking at them.

Ingredients
Salsa:
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled mango
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper and orange
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut, toasted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Fish:
1 pound tilapia fillets or other firm white fish
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons canola oil
Remaining ingredients:
8 (6-inch) tortillas
2 cups finely shredded red cabbage
8 teaspoons reduced-fat sour cream
8 lime wedges

Preparation
To prepare salsa, combine the first 8 ingredients; let stand 30 minutes.
To prepare fish, place fish in a shallow dish; drizzle with 2 tablespoons juice. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning fish occasionally.

Remove fish from marinade, discarding marinade; pat fish dry with paper towels. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Dredge fish in panko, gently pressing to adhere. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Cut fish into chunks.
Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas. Top each with 1/4 cup cabbage, 1/3 cup salsa, 1 teaspoon sour cream, and 1 lime wedge. Serve immediately.

Yummy brownies

I got this recipe from the blog My Kitchen Cafe. We made these while Bret's parents were in town and they were really good. I wasn't so sure about them at first--but they tasted awesome after sitting in the fridge overnight. They're really good after being chilled thoroughly. So these would be a good one to make a day ahead. I even liked them after they were in our fridge for a week (a rarity for me).

German Chocolate Brownies
from The Lion House Entertaining Cookbook

1 German chocolate cake mix
2/3 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tub Coconut-pecan frosting (yes, the kind you find above the cake mixes at the store)
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13 pan. In a large bowl using a pastry blender, cut in butter with the cake mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press 1/2 the mixture (about 2 1/2 cups) into the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot crust. Drop frosting by tablespoonfuls over chocolate chips. Mix 1/4 cup of milk into the remaining cake mix/butter mixture. Stir to combine. Drop this batter by teaspoonfuls over the frosting. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into squares and refrigerate until served. (These brownies really do taste best cool.)

Breadsticks

I made this tonight with our baked spaghetti. I got them off of an awesome recipe blog that a friend of a friend told me about called My Kitchen Cafe (check it out...just click here). They were really good. The dough was really, really sticky and so even as I put them on the cookie sheet (and they were totally sticking to my hands) they didn't look very pretty--but once they rose and baked, they looked good. The recipe also said that they dry out if you use too much flour in them--so I really didn't use very much flour at all in rolling them out. They were easy to make and I'm a total sucker for any type of homemade bread...

Divine Breadsticks

1 ½ cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar3 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
Butter for the pan

Mix all ingredients (except butter) and knead for three minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt desired amount of butter on baking pan (the original recipe called for 1 entire stick of butter - that was way too much for my taste - I used four tablespoons). Roll out dough about 1/8-inch thick and cut into strips. Place in butter and put close together. Sprinkle liberally with garlic salt and parmesan cheese. Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Baked Spaghetti

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight and they raved about this. Now, I take that with a grain of salt really, since they probably feast on ramen noodles most nights. But, nevertheless, this has become a regular at our house and we really like it. It's super easy and a cross between lasagna, spaghetti, and pasta shells.

Baked Spaghetti

Mix these ingredients together and place in a 9x13 baking dish:

12 oz angel hair pasta, cooked
1 egg
1 C parmesan cheese
2 T chopped basil

Mix these together and place on top of the pasta.

1 lb hamburger, cooked
1 (13 oz) container ricotta cheese
2 C grated mozzarella cheese, save ½ C for the top
1 jar pasta sauce

Sprinkle ½ C mozzarella cheese on sauce. Bake at 350 for about 35 min or until the cheese starts to bubble.

**FYI: I usually add a little bit of garlic, brown sugar, and Italian seasoning to the spaghetti sauce--just until it tastes right.

Pasta e Fagioli

I make this for the first time last week and loved it! I am already wanting to make it again.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (about 14 ounces each) cannellini beans (white kidney beans), undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces uncooked small shell pasta

*One can (about 15 ounces) Great Northern Beans, undrained, can be substituted for cannellini beans.

1. Heat oil in pot over medium heat until hot. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 5 minutes or until onion is tender.
2. Stir tomatos with juice, broth, beans with liquid, parsley, basil and pepper into pot. bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes.
3. Add pasta to pot. Simmer, covered, 10 to 12 minutes or until pasta is just tender. Serve immediately. Garnish as desired.

Makes 8 Servings

Butter Cake

Ok, so this has to be one of my favorite desserts...soooo good, you won't be able to just eat one:) Enjoy!!

1 slightly beaten egg

1 package yellow cake mix (pudding in the mix type)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using a glass pan). Grease a 13 by 9 inch cake pan. Mix the lightly beaten egg with the dry cake mix and melted butter until you have a moist dough consistency. Press mixture evenly into pan. In a large bowl use electric mixer to beat cream cheese, remaining 3 eggs and vanilla until creamy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth (it takes a while). Pour batter over crust. Bake 35-40 minutes. Watch carefully so crust doesn't get too brown. The cheese mixture should sink into the center somewhat leaving a firmer crust around the edges. Cool & cut into squares and serve.

Crazy Cake

We found this recipe on allrecipes.com when we were craving chocolate cake one Sunday and were out of eggs. It was amazing! It was so moist and I seriously ate half the pan in one day....I would dare even say that it's the best homemade chocolate cake I've ever had. It tastes best if you make homemade frosting. We tried it again and had the storebought chocolate kind and it wasn't as good. I like to add the homemade frosting while the cake's still warm and eat it warm. Yum!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cold water

DIRECTIONS
Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite icing.

Brownie Trifle

1 box Brownie mix baked and cubed
8 oz softened cm cheese + ½ cup milk
1 lg chocolate pudding mixed with 1 ½ c. milk
3 heath bars crushed
1 sm. Cool whip

Mix cm cheese and milk until smooth, set aside
Mix pudding and then mix cm cheese mixture to that.

Layer in trifle dish:
Brownie, pudding, cool whip, crushed bars and then repeat 2-3 times. You will have to decide how many layers you want before so you can ration your portions to have enough.

Berry Trifle

1 white cake cubed ( I baked in large cookie sheet so cake is thin)
1 lg box vanilla pudding mixed with 1 ½ cup milk
8oz cream cheese mixed with ½ cup milk
Coconut
1 can berry pie filling (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry)
1 sm cool whip
Any fresh fruit

Mix pudding with milk set aside, then add cm cheese mixture to that
Layer:
Cake, fruit, pudding, cool whip, coconut 2-3 times

* You can do some fresh fruit. The one I have made is strawberry pie filling with fresh banana’s. Or if you can't find strawberry pie filling use danish desert and fresh strawberries. This is awesome!!!

Dutch Oven Chicken in the Crockpot

8 Potatoes peeled and cut in chunks
4 Chicken Breasts, skinless, boneless
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 bundle sliced mushrooms
1 bag mini carrots
1 large onion chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Grease Crockpot and throw all the ingredients in you don't even need to stir.
Put all the veggies on bottom of crockpot.
Add a little water if needed to get soups out of can
cook on low for 6 hours

This is a great recipe for a rainy day. Eat it soup style! It is Tasty.