Tilapia with a White Wine and Fresh Tomato Sauce

Words can not describe….I love fish. When I go out for dinner, 95% of the time fish is what I am going to order. It’s such a light meal and it’s just packed with flavor (if you can do it right). If I am making fish at home and don’t really have anything specific in mind, this is my go to recipe.

Back in March, Brent and 2 of our friends and I went on a deep sea fishing trip where the three of them got extremely sea sick, and somehow I was fine. After fishing for 6 hours or so, I claimed 2 monsters for myself while they rocked back and forth in the fetal position on the top deck.

(The two large ones in the center of the picture were mine :-) ). Anyways, I was told they were King Fish, and that was about the extent of what I knew about them. They were cut up into large filets, thrown in a ziplock and we were sent off with them. I had NO IDEA how cook these suckers. What I ended up coming up with that night was a bit of a variation on this recipe. And it was delicious. I think that was the first time that I really felt like I had a handle on cooking because I just threw things together and out came a delicious meal.

For tonight, this works perfectly because it only takes 15 minutes to whip up and it is fantastic. You can really impress people with how well this tastes and have absolutely no time and no cooking skill (my favorite).

Tilapia with a White Wine and Fresh Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

2 Tilapia Filets, 4 ounces each                                               1 Tablespoons of butter

1 Large Clove of Garlic, minced                                            2 Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped

1/2 Large Tomato, chopped                                                 1/2 Cup of White Cooking Wine

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions

1. Place the two filets on a sheet of tin foil side by side and fold up the edges of the tin foil around the filets.

2. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper to taste. Then add a 1/2 Tablespoon of butter on top of each filet.

3. Now add your minced garlic, tomatoes and basil. Top with a 1/2 cup of white cooking wine.

4. Fold the tin foil around your fish to encase it in the tin foil. Place the whole thing on a pre-heated grill or pan at medium-high heat. (I used the same pan you use for pancakes)

5. Wait exactly 15 minutes and pull the whole thing off your pan. I know I probably don’t have to say this, but it will be hot and steaming so be careful. The fish should be perfectly flakey and moist.

And your done! You literally thrown it all into a tin foil bowl and cook it for 15 minutes and you have a delicious meal. You could serve this with some asparagus or broccoli. Serve it over some brown rice or a bit of pasta. Use the leftovers on top of a salad. This is such a versatile dish that you really could do anything with it.

If you don’t have a tomato lying around, which sometimes I don’t, I will use Hunt’s chopped tomatoes in a can (something I ALWAYS have in the house). They are obviously not fresh but they can really get the job done as well. This will also work on ANY light white fish. As I mentioned I have used a similar deal on the King fish and just made it with Tilapia. You can always try some more traditional Italian seasonings as well on top of this. Just play around with it and find something that really fits you.

You won’t be disappointed with this one so I strongly recommend that you give it a try!

Happy Eating!

Low Fat Mini Cheesecakes

Who’s excited that it’s National Cheesecake Day?! MEEEEE. Today is also Brent’s birthday and I knew I had to make something for the occasion. I was trying to figure out what kind of cake to make that would fit into the Easy and Healthy baking style, and when I found out that it was National Cheesecake Day, the decision was made. Mini cheesecakes that you don’t have to feel guilty about.

The BEST thing about these little guys, besides the fact that they aren’t going to kill your diet, is that you can really put anything on them. If you are in a chocolate mood, throw something chocolately on them. If it’s a fruity deal that will satisfy your taste bugs, that’s obviously easy to do as well.

The recipe to make these is unbelievably simple and fast. So even if you have a pot luck, or a function to go to, these would be perfect to put together and they look like they take a long time to make. I am in love with how they came out and how easy they were to make.

Low Fat Mini Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

12 Vanilla Wafers, Reduced Fat                                           2 Eggs

2 (8 ounce) packages of Non Fat Cream Cheese               1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

3/4 Cup Sugar                                                                      1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Add cream cheese, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla and sugar to a large bowl. Beat with a hand held mixer or with a counter top mixer until it is creamy.

 

2. Place a foil liner into each muffin cup. And add a wafer to the bottom of each, flat side down.

3. Fill each cup 3/4 of the way with the batter.

4. Bake is at 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden.

5. Let them cool and store in the refrigerator. Just before you are going to serve them add your toppings!

There are so many ways to decorate these it’s fantastic. Whatever your favorite type of cheesecake is, go for those toppings first. I chose to do a berry and chocolate topping. So I obviously sliced up some strawberries and grabbed a couple blueberries, but for a berry glaze, just take your favorite jelly (I used Polaner’s Raspberry) and put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. It will liquify the jelly and you will be able to drizzle it over your cheesecake.

For the chocolate topping, I took Baker’s chocolate, which wraps two chunks separately, and melted one square and shaved the other.

To shave the chocolate, I just used a cheese cutter and ran it along the chunk of choclate. It looks fancy, but it’s really simple. From there, I just mixed up all my toppings to get a bit of a variety going:

 

They are delicious and hopefully Brent thinks so too when he gets off work. I’m just sticking a candle in these and BOOM, a birthday mini cheesecake.

There is also, NO NEED TO FEEL GUILTY. One of these guys will only run you 120 to 150 calories, depending on your toppings. Great isn’t it? I definitely recommend putting these in the freezer for when you feel like you need something sweet. It’s really not a bad option and cheesecake really does freeze well.

Definitely let me know what kind of topping you throw on them! The options are endless. I’m thinking a little caramelized pecans might hit the spot here.

Happy Eating!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banana Blueberry Muffins, with Wheat Flour

This morning, I am struggling. Brent was dying to go out to the Batman movie and has literally been trying to drag me there ever since it came out. We ended up going to a 930 showing, which let out just after 1230. Just late enough to make the morning a little more difficult to get up and going.

So a muffin, the perfect pick it up and go breakfast. This blueberry banana muffin is definitely a heartier flavor with the whole wheat flour, but it really makes you feel satisfied after 1 muffin. I also LOADED on the blueberries, to the point that several of the muffins had just blueberries on the bottom stuck together with batter. My favorite.

So let me know what you think!

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Canola Oil                                                         3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar

3/4 Non-fat Buttermilk                                                    2 Eggs

2 Large Ripe bananas                                                   1 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 Cup All Purpose Flour                                                 1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda                                            1/2 Teaspoon Salt

3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon                                                1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1 Pint of Blueberries

Directions:

1. Set your oven at 400. Mix the buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and eggs together. Then add in your mashed bananas.

2. Mix your dry ingredients, whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Then add them to your wet ingredients and stir it up.

3. Now add your blueberries. I added a pint, but if you don’t want that many, just cut a couple out.

4. Pour the batter into a muffin tin with paper or foil liners.

5. Bake them for 20 minutes. They should be a golden brown and you can test if they are done with a toothpick.

The batter only makes 12 muffins, even though it looks like a lot more. These are yummmmmyyyyyy. They round out to be about 225 calories each and about 40 grams of carbs. This is probably the highest number of carbs that I would recommend eating in a meal. I always aim for 30-40 per meal and 15 per snack.

Put your pastry flour in the freezer until you use it again. you don’t want it to go bad and the majority of people don’t use it very often.

The buttermilk is a good option that I know many people don’t use very often. Here, it makes the muffin have a bit of a tang. It is also going to reduce the amount of butter and oil that you need in a recipe. Give it a try for a different take on your muffins. Plus! It only gives you an excuse to make home made buttermilk pancakes for breakfast! Can’t let the buttermilk go to waste :-)

Let me know what you think!!

Happy Eating!

Conquering Mt Washington

This past week, while in Boston, a few of our friends from Orlando came up for a few days to join us. They had NEVER been north of DC. And as many people know, that is not even close to the north. SImple things like a basement, or a tunnel were amazing to them. I think my favorite “OH MY GOD” moment was the first drive out of Boston down to the cape. If you aren’t form the area, you have no idea that at rush hour, they open up the breakdown lanes for travel. So you simply just drive onto the highway and you can keep on straight, just ignoring the merging lines painted right in front of you. I did just that, knowing that I would freak the out a bit. :-) I know. Not nice.

Needless to say, they freaked out. I loved it.

I took them on the freedom trail, which is a must do if you have never been to Boston. It is a really great way to see a lot of Boston in a short amount of time and to hear all about the history of the area. This is a picture of Paul Revere outside the Old North Church.

Went to a Red Sox Game, OBVIOUSLY. You can’t see Boston without experiencing Fenway. (Even if you aren’t a sox fan, it really is a must do).

Besides all the best tourist spots to go on Cape Cod and in Boston, I decided to take them one other place. MOUNT WASHINGTON. Now, if you don’t know, Mt Washington is the highest peak east of the Mississppi. Tuckerman’s Ravine, which is the trail we took, is a 4.2 mile hike and you climb over 4,000 feet in elevation during those 4 miles. It is also known for it’s terrible weather at the peak. The day before we climbed the mountain, it was 40 degrees with 51 mile an hour winds. It felt like 30.

When I told our friends that it would be cold at the top, it was hard for them to even process. They brought a thin sweatshirt each.  I gave them some heartier ones to wear at the top.

This is me and Brent at the half way mark. It is only 1.8 miles to the top of that guy. The climb was definitely a challenge, as you would expect. There were definitely looks of “I don’t think I’m going to make it” from several people. But we all made it!

There were 6 of us total, plus Bacon, who led us all the whole way.

After making the climb twice so far, I can definitely say that it is a challenge and a great way to push yourself. The feeling of accomplishment at the top is unmatched and when you look around at the view, it is absolutely breath taking. Every moment at the top of the mountain is worth the struggle get up it. (Until you realize you now have to walk back down!)

In all reality, if you ever get a chance to do this, I highly recommend it.

So congrats to Jeff and Christina, our florida pioneers, who came from one of the flattest states in the US, to conquering Mount Washington, the highest point on the east coast!

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups!

This is maybe one of the easiest things that you could make, and there are so many things that you can do with it. Fruit Roll Ups, or just dehydrated fruit sounds like it would be really difficult to make, but in reality, it’s unbelievably EASY and is a way for you to use up that fruit that isn’t quite bad, but isn’t fresh enough for you to get a crisp bite out of. You can do this with any fruit that you have sitting around.

I made mine with strawberries, and only strawberries to show how simple this really is.

Strawberry Fruit Roll Ups

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Strawberries                                              1/4 Teaspoon Ground CInnamon

Directions:

1. Chop up your strawberries into chunks and remove the tops.

2. Put the strawberries into a blender and add the cinnamon.

 

3. Blend until smooth. Pour the puree into a baking sheet that is lined with wax paper or parchment paper. (I used tin foil, and found that the parchment would be easier to peel the roll ups off of).

 

4. Put it in the oven, set at the lowest setting ~ 100, and leave it in there until you can peel the fruit roll up off the parchment paper. Depending on your oven, 5-8 hours.

 

I know the amount of time that it is sitting in the oven is daunting, but this is a perfect thing to do while you are cleaning your house, running quick, local errands or just hanging around the house. I had left mine in the oven a bit longer than it should have been, which made it a bit crisper than a fruit roll up. It was perfect to crunch up into smaller pieces and add to granola as a fruity, tarter flavor.

You can add sugar to this, but know that by dehydrating the fruit you are already increasing it’s flavor tremendously. So when you add sugar, add less than you think you need. It will taste much sweeter with just a bit of sugar.

Definitely try this with ANY fruits that you have lying around. Chop them up into pieces and don’t puree them to get a yummy, healthy snack. The options are endless here. Especially when you are the one controlling what’s going into these snacks.

Let me know what you think!

Happy Eating!

 

Banana Apple Streusel Muffins!

I brought these along on my trip to Boston and they were a huge hit. They didn’t exactly look all that great when they got up there because the cat seemed to find the bag with the muffins in them to be a great place to sleep the whole way up, but they still tasted great!

The fam voted that these were the best of the two (the Blueberry Banana were a bit heartier tasting because they are made with whole wheat flour). They are really moist and can serve as a light breakfast or a nice little dessert. One great substitute to bring the calories down and make them just a bit healthier is to add applesauce instead of oil. In this recipe, you can use chunky applesauce to add to the apple streusel flavor, but which ever applesauce you have in your house works great!

 

Apple Streusel Banana Muffins:

 

Ingredients:

2 Ripe Bananas                                                 1 Cup Applesauce, can be chunky

1 Egg                                                                     1 1/2 Cups Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder                                        1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon                             1/2 Cup Sugar

2 Tablespoon Melted Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Mash the bananas and add applesauce, egg and melted butter. Mix it all up.

2. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Then pour the wet mix, into the dry mix and combine the two.

3. Pour the batter into your muffin tin, with paper or the foil cups. If you want to add the crumbly top, combine:

1 Tablespoon Cold Butter                                        1/4 Cup Sugar

3 Tablespoons of Flour                                            1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

In a small bowl. It will come out lumpy, and just add that little mix to the top of your muffins.

 

Bake it for 20 minutes and you are good to go!

There’s only about 150 calories in 1 muffin. And only 15g of Sugar. Not too bad for a nice little breakfast.

Whenever you have bananas that are past ripe to eat normally, ALWAYS freeze them (peel off the skin first) because there are so many things that you can do with ripe bananas. Smoothies and muffins are just the tip!

Let me know what you think!

 

Happy Eating!

 

 

 

Great Road Trip Food

This past week, I went for a longer vacation up to Boston to visit my family and to also be a part of my friends wedding. It was absolutely beautiful and a perfect vacation. The only thing that makes this such a daunting trip, is the drive. Yes, I drove from Orlando, FL to Boston, MA. It’s not exactly a short trip and making it with two dogs and a cat just makes it an even bigger trip!

In preparation for the trip, I was trying to come up with some great foods that are portable, would clear out your fridge of all of the things that would go bad, and also help you stay healthy along the way. With so many terrible fast food restaurants out on the road, it makes it really hard to find something that isn’t going to sit in your stomach like a greasy brick.

So here is what I came up with!

1. Hard Boiled Eggs: These ended up being me and Brent’s favorite snack. It was perfect to just munch on and filled you up fairly quickly. They are also high protein and low calorie, so you don’t have to worry about these sitting in your stomach too long or making your feel uncomfortable. By hard boiling them you also can make sure those guys don’t go bad in the fridge while you are away. Yes, eggs have expiration dates, which they have now started to print on the eggs! Whooo

2. Fruit Roll Up: I took my left over strawberries that were for sure going to rot in the fridge while I was away and turned them into something that was fantastic to snack on, packed with flavor, and great for the road. You don’t have to worry about your fruits going bad on you and it is extremely easy to do. (The recipe for this will be posted this week)

3. Banana Apple Streusel Muffins: These muffins were delicious. They travel really well, and were a perfect breakfast on the road. You can take care of the bananas that you have turning brown on you, or use up the ones we all have in the freezer. They also make a great gift for when you arrive. (Recipe will be posted this week)

4. Banana Blueberry Muffins: I went a little muffin crazy, because I couldn’t decide which ones I wanted to make. These were a lighter muffin than the Apple Streusel because I used wheat flour in the previous batch. But these are just another example of how you can get rid of some of your fruits that will go bad and turn them into a gift and a perfect snack or breakfast. (Recipe will be posted this week)

5. Pepper and Cheddar Cheese Pasta Salad: When I came up with this idea, I was looking for something that was going to suit well for dinner without needing to be heated up. A pasta salad travels extremely well and tastes great cold or at room temperature. (Recipe will be posted this week)

6. Apples and Peanut Butter: Although this isn’t terribly complicated, I just chopped up some apples into slices and brought a little tub of peanut butter. As we were driving, this was our snack at 4 AM and it was perfect. The apples were still cold and woke us right back up and gave us the energy to finish out the trip. They were extremely refreshing and would highly recommend this on your next trip.

- Another take one the apples and peanut butter is sliced green peppers and Hummus. This is another thing that would be great to munch on on the road, but you run into the need to keep things cold there.

Each of these foods was great to have on the road for its own reason. We obviously needed to have Breakfast, lunch and dinner available so this is just what I thought would fit in well with our travels.

For drinks: I strongly recommend the Tazo Tea. It is lightly sweetened and gives you a great pick me up right when you need it without getting the awful crash that comes with a lot of coffee or high sugar drinks.

WATER: You are definitely going to need water. A trick is to freeze your water the night before because then it will not only act as a refreshing drink but also a freezer pack to keep your food cold. I did this with 2 liter bottles and it was still frozen 24 hours later. The food was still cold, but we needed to grab some more water on the way. So try a 1 liter bottle instead :-)

I also found some Tupperware at Target that allowed you to snap a cooler pack into the lid of the Tupperware. All you do is freeze that pack the night before and throw it in the container right before you leave. It worked fantastically.

Try not to load up on energy drinks early in the trip because you WILL CRASH and it will make driving later in the day much harder. Have your coffee and energy drinks only when you need them and you should make it the whole way.

And my little secret weapon and new love….My Cooler Bag! I packed everything into this guy and it stayed cold the entire way to Boston. I was never expecting that. I just got it the weekend before for 30 bucks at Dillards, and they have a whole bunch of other patterns.

I love love love it. It’s perfect to bring to the beach with some beers or cocktails in it. The only downside is, Brent doesn’t really like carrying a pink bag around. BUT, if I throw some beer in it, he’ll take the ego hit.

Anyways, the trip to Boston and the wedding were unbelievable. I just can’t believe it’s over. So stay tuned for a bunch of the recipes for the food that I brought on the trip, and a few things that I picked up in Boston!

Happy Eating!

Crunchy Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal

Morning! I have found that a hearty fiber filled breakfast is the key to maintaining weight. It keeps you from grazing throughout the morning or picking out a poor snack form the office vending machine. One of my morning “go to’s” is Crunchy Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal. This easy to make breakfast is filling and holds off hunger pangs all morning! (Win!) There are endless fruit combinations that help keep this oldie but a goody interesting. Today’s concoction included blueberries and sliced bananas.

Crunchy Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of Old Fashioned Oats

2/3 cup of Water

Fruit (today:1 sliced banana and 1/3 cup of blueberries)

Agave Nectar to taste

Cinnamon to taste

1/8 cup Granola

1.) Put Old Fashioned Oats in a medium sized bowl with 1/2 of the sliced banana and half of the blueberries. ( I like to put half of the fruit in the beginning so it cooks in the microwave and gets extra sweet.)

2.) Dust generously with cinnamon.

3.) Drizzle the agave nectar on top.

4.) Add the water and stir. Cook in the microwave for approximately 1:30 to 2 minutes. The cook time may differ depending on your microwave. Watch the microwave to avoid overflow and exploding fruit. (I have learned this the hard way).

5.) After carefully removing the bowl from the microwave, top the oatmeal with the remaining fruit and granola.

6.) Enjoy!

I am all about texture when it comes to food. You can also add some skim milk to adjust the texture of the oatmeal. Personally, if oatmeal is too thick and paste like I have trouble getting it down. I love adding granola to my oatmeal for some textural contrast. That is also the reason behind only putting half of the fruit in prior to cooking. Its the difference between fresh delicious oatmeal and mushy wall paper paste.

For around 250 calories you get about 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. That is some staying power right there! Its delicious and keeps you full and energized throughout the morning. What more could you ask for from your breakfast?!

Hope you have a great day!

Greek Yogurt, Apple and Pecan Salad

This afternoon I was STARVING, and could have eaten anything. I was on a mission. I needed something that was going to fill me up and NOW. So no kidding, apples are me go to. Not just a simple green apple that you bite into. I will chop them up into nice little snacking sized bites so by the time that I am done munching I am full. I love to dip them into a jar of peanut butter and just go crazy. But this time, I tried something a bit new, this pecan, yogurt Salad. It was delicious, really easy and quick, and I was seriously full by the end of it. I have a feeling that crasins would have been great in it as well.

Anywayds: Here is a really simple recipe for this guy, ENJOY!

Ingredients:

1 Large Green Apple                                                    1/4 Cup Pecans

1/3 Cup Non-Fat Greek Yogurt, Plain                   1 Tablespoon Agave Nectar

Directions:

1. Chop up the green apple into bite sized portions.

2. Add yogurt, pecans, and agave on top.

3. Mix it all up! and ENJOY!!!

This will fill you up and keep you going for the rest of the day. It is perfect for that mid afternoon snack and is NOTHING that you have to worry about nutrition wise. It is also a perfect morning pick me up.

Give it a try, and happy snacking!

Cantaloupe Smoothie

My AC DIED! I’m not kidding. When I was making my panini yesterday the kitchen was starting to get really hot. But I figured it was just because I had an open griddler actively heating up the kitchen. Well, I’m sitting at my computer, on the other side of the house, sweating. Legitimate sweat. I checked on the temp in the place, sweltering 90 degrees. I literally just heated up my house with an open griddler to an seriously uncomfortable temperature. I also only have one smaller fan that I’ve just been carrying around the house with me.

The AC guy is supposed to come fix this sucker at 10 this morning, it’s now 11. Obviously. So my original plan of an little twist on the traditional oatmeal, will have to wait. The only real option was a smoothie. And the creamy, deliciously COLD cantaloupe smoothie was born.

I really do recommend this to people. I had some cantaloupe already chopped in the fridge just begging to be used, and it was a perfect fruit to add because it’s so light and refreshing. It was extremely refreshing and FILLING!

Ingredients:

2 Full Bananas (Frozen)                                               1/2 Cantaloupe, Chopped

1 Tablespoon Honey                                                       1 Cup Non-Fat Greek Yogurt

4 Tablespoons Orange Juice                                       2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 Tablespoons of Fat Free-Milk

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients into a blender.

2. Pour into a glass and Drink Up!

My bananas were not frozen, so I just added about 10 cubes of ice to make the drink more frozen. You don’t want to add too many ice cubes because you will end up changing the texture of the smoothie and this is a very creamy smoothie.

Brent and I both had two healthy glasses and there was still leftovers. Perfect for an afternoon snack. store practically all of my leftovers for ANYTHING in a MASON jar. They are air sealed and allow everything to be stored for a much longer period of time. You would be amazed at how long you can get fresh vegetables to last in one of these things. There are all different sizes, and they cost just about 10 bucks for 10 of them at Target. Much cheaper than Tupperware.

Also, when your food, especially the health food, is in clear containers that are right in the front of the fridge, you are more likely to pick up that item than the ice cream behind it. It just looks more delicious! True life.

Happy Eating!

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