Day 40!! Something Fishy

There's Swai fish fillets in the freezer and flour tortillas in the fridge...and we've been craving fish tacos, so let's make some dinner!
First up is the fish taco sauce. The ingredients...

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 tsp each of cumin, dill weed, oregano, and coriander
1/4 tsp chili powder
5 or 6 capers, finely minced
1 TBSP cilantro
Lime Juice

Yogurt & mayo into a container...

Measure out the spices and mix into a bowl...

OK, so I used SEVEN capers!

Add the capers to the yogurt/mayo...

Add a little lime juice...

Then the spices...

Ready to mix...

Stir it up until blended. This sauce on its own is pretty good, but it is really awesome when teamed up with our homemade salsa.

Found a couple cod fillets and a couple Swai fillets in the freezer, so thawed them out and dusted them with some Fryin' magic.

Made the salsa yesterday, so it's been flavoring up for a day. The Salsa recipe is HERE!

Shredded a little lettuce...

Warm up the tortillas in the microwave on a plate covered with a moist paper towel.

Fry those fillets to a golden brown!

Put the fish taco sauce and salsa on the tortilla, along with some fish & lettuce. We don't put shredded cheese on our fish tacos because you can't taste it anyway, so why do it?

LOVE these! And to think that a year ago, we had never even tried them before!

Day 39: A Change Of Plans

I know that I teased you with what we'd make today, but that has been delayed for tomorrow. We were sitting around and making lists for our trip. We leave on Saturday, road tripping to New Orleans and then our cruise to Mexico. This has been in the works for over a year and this was part of the reason we started the Great Pantry Project.

We left before lunch to get some things and realized that we hadn't used the Outback gift card we got for Christmas from our son. Now if you recall, that was our only eating out option. So we went for lunch.

When we go to the Outback we get the same thing every time, well, pretty much. We start with a bloomin' onion. We'd already dug in when I remembered to take a picture.

Same with the fresh garden salad with ranch dressing. So good with their croutons.

We always get the Outback special. It is an 8 ounce sirloin with one side. I have the loaded baked potato, and today, so did John. Sometimes he has the garlic mashed potatoes. I like mine medium rare, hot and pink throughout. I love the signature sear with their great spices.

The best part? When that bill came and we could pass over that gift card. We even have a few dollars left for a future meal.

Tomorrow I promise I will post what we planned for today. I"m really looking forward to it!

Day 38: More Steak and A Little Something!

It is a Saturday night and we are doing another repeat. We are having a steak sandwiches.

John also made french fries.

So, since this is boring, here is a teaser for tomorrow.

And finally so you didn't think that you wasted time visiting our little blog, here is Stevie protecting us from the most evil thing on the planet.

Day 37: Craft Night!

Tonight is Craft Night. It is the first Friday of every month when I have my family and friends over to work on a craft project and have general merriment. It evolved from a little idea to a night I look forward to every month. I decided I wanted to have a book club or yarn club. Then it became a book and yarn club. The first month there were four of us and only two had read the book. Then with the holidays coming we decided to drop the book part and make it a craft thing.

So every month we gather for food, wine and crafting. Tonight we are decorating mugs. I knew I had to  make something with items I had on hand. So after seeing Trisha Yearwood make these bars on her show, I realized I had all the ingredients.  Here is the recipe.

Now, I forgot to start taking pictures until I was already creaming things together.  So here is an action shot of the KitchenAid doing it's thing.

But it has peanut butter.

And butterscotch chips, which I stocked up on over the holidays when they were 88 cents a bag.

Once all the ingredients are in, it is very thick.

I buttered the pan. That is what I love about Trisha, she loves butter too. And Garth Brooks. The woman is my hero!

I pressed the dough into the pan.

The recipe called for 6 ounces of chips, so I put the rest on top. There is a glaze that is with the recipe that I didn't do. I don't have any powdered sugar and thought it would be too sweet that way.

Now it's all baked and ready for Craft night. I always kick John and Chris out for the night and they go somewhere to bond in mysterious man ways. But I made Chris promise that he would pay for dinner so that Dad was still playing by the rules. He agreed.

Can't wait for the crafting and wine to begin!  Also, since I told everyone that I had to make what I had on hand, they decided that was the theme. Should be a tasty night.

Day 36: So Good We Had It Again!

More leftovers! I'd had my eye on this container of beef & noodles for several weeks. Another day when temperatures started at -10 below in the morning, and never reached double digits during the day. More comfort food needed!
The original recipe that created these leftovers can be found HERE

I thawed out the beef & noodles overnight. Dump them into the crock pot and add a little beef soup base and some water. The noodles soak up almost all the liquid when the cool, freeze, and thaw.

Add the soup base...

A couple cups of water...

Cover and put it on high. Unfortunately, I got it started too late and it wasn't heating up quickly enough. Plan B!  Got out a pot and transferred so it will heat up quicker. Mashed potatoes are cooking...

Mashed potatoes are done, beef & noodles are hot, and we've got a nice dinner. A layer of mashed potatoes covered with beef & noodles. Sprinkle on some salt & pepper and dig in!

Day 35: Fish and Chips!

Cravings. That has been something that has come up over the last few weeks. At first it was fresh fruits and veggies. They are still on the list. But on Monday I drove by Long John Silvers. I was suddenly taken over by the craving for fish and chips. Now, until the last few years, I didn't eat fish. I had grown up on fish sticks. Not the kind they have now, but the old processed, who-knows-what-kind-of-fish they are, sticks.

This actually convinced me for a long time that I didn't like any fish or seafood. Thankfully I have been transformed. One day, instead of giving John the fish off of my seafood platter, I took a bite. It was great, light and flaky and not fishy at all.

Still, when I texted John my craving there was a long pause. I think he was shocked that I was requesting it. So I got home and John and Stevie were waiting to fire up the oil and fry some fish.

He put the Swai on the Miracle Thaw.

He also found a couple of cod filets in the freezer.

He made some fries, with the skins on, like I like them.

Fries down for the first fry.
My mom taught me many years ago to always cook them once, then take them out. Just before your other food is ready, add them into the oil for the second cook. This makes a crisper French Fry.

Out comes the "Fryin' Magic". This is a store brand and cheap. It also works great.
I love it because it is a very, very light breading that coats the fillet and seals it up to keep it moist. This stuff works great on chicken (for chicken strips) as well. And no need to dip the meat in an egg wash, or milk/egg, or anything.

He coated both sides of the fish and shook off the extra.

Ready for the fryer!

Off the plate and into the fryer!

Add the cod filet.

Fries in for the second round.

This was exactly what I wanted. I squeezed a little tartar sauce on the fish and enjoyed.

Day 34: Chili Dog Wiener Winks!

For the last week or so I have been craving chili dogs, but unfortunately, we did not have any hot dogs and I knew I'd have to wait another week or so until we are at the end of the project. Then John found some No Mess Chili dogs deep in the depths of the freezer. They were hiding.
This is John. I had heard about the "No Mess Chili Dogs" a year or 2 ago. They are made in Holstein, Iowa...a town I know very well in northwest Iowa. The chili & cheese are IN the hot dog!

John got out the cheese and got some water heating up. He had a plan!

Next some bread. He was making wiener winks. If you don't know what those are, you will soon learn.

He buttered one side of the bread.

Face down in the pizza pan and then John grabbed the cheese. Stevie heard that special cheese plastic and he was ready and waiting for any that may fall.

Cheese on the un-buttered side of the bread.

The dogs are heated through. This makes it so we just have to wait for the cheese to melt and the bread to toast a little. If we waited until the dogs were hot we would not enjoy the results.

Folded up the sides and in go a couple of toothpicks to hold the bread in place.

All ready to go.

Two for each of us. John finished off two kinds of cheese that were almost empty.

Into the 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until they look right.

Here they look right.

The bottom is all toasty/

Can't forget to take the toothpicks out!

And ready to eat. Tasty and hit the spot!

LOVE the wiener winks! And like my friend Eddie always used to say..."If your wiener winks at you...don't touch it!"