Recipes & Such

So my dear friend Nikki has a blog and she posts recipes she has tried and I thought I would give it a try, as well. The problem I've had is that I don't have the patience to cook. I've never really enjoyed it. But recently, since I've started this diet, I've been trying to be good and cook at home, instead of eating out for nearly every meal. And I have discovered a bunch of new things I like. I've had fish several times, and I even like steak, as long as it's not over-done. I didn't used to really like grilled chicken, because it was boring, but now I've discovered new ways to cook old things. So it's getting more fun, because I've been having success!

Yesterday the family and I went to Wal-Mart and I found this magazine.

I started flipping through it in the magazine aisle at Wal-Mart and immediately found several things I thought looked good, so I decided to buy it. There was a Weight Watchers cookbook I looked at last week at the WW meeting and nothing in it appealed to Mom and I, so I was thrilled to find this magazine with things in it that we would actually try. The first recipe I decided to try was a potato skins recipe. I also had found a fish recipe in the Weight Watchers bi-monthly magazine, so I fixed that as well. So here are the recipes!

(picture from here, though it's not the same recipe. it looks the same so i snagged it.)

Crunchy Oven-Fried Fish PREP 20 MIN BAKE 20 MIN SERVES 4

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place large rack in large rimmed baking pan; spray rack with nonstick spray. Place ¼ c all-purpose flour on sheet of wax paper. Beat 3 large egg whites in shallow bowl until frothy; whisk in ⅓ c fat-free mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, ¾ tsp paprika, and ½ tsp garlic powder. Crush 4 high-fiber crispbreads into fine crumbs; transfer to pie plate. Add 1½ tsp olive oil, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp black pepper; toss well until crumbs are evenly moistened. Sprinkle 8 (3-oz) tilapia fillets with ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper. Working with 1 fillet at a time, coat both sides with flour, tapping off excess; then dip in mayonnaise mixture and then in crumbs, pressing to adhere. Transfer prepared fillet to rack. Bake fillets until firm and coating is browned, about 20 minutes. Serve with 4 lemon wedges. PER SERVING (2 fish fillets with 1 lemon wedge): 280 Cal, 5 g Total Fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 92 mg Chol, 676 mg Sod, 21 g TOTAL Carb, 2 g TOTAL Sugar, 3 g Fib, 37 g Prot, 37 mg Calc. PointsPlus value: 7.

I copied this from my e-mail, so ignore the weird font/colors. The only thing we didn't have for this recipe was flour, of all things, so I used cornstarch. I don't know if that's okay or not, but it turned out DELICIOUS. And Dad and I think it would work well with any kind of white fish. Plus, I think I might even try the breading recipe on some chicken. Yum.

To go along with my fish, I cooked Mini Cheddar Potato Skins.


Points Plus Value: 2 (per serving = 3 potato halves)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound red fingerling potatos (I just cooked the amount we wanted to eat, which was 3 whole potatoes)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted (I used Country Crock instead of real butter)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I omitted this, because I am not a fan.)
• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (I used 4 tablespoons because I had fat free cheese)
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion (I omitted this, because I didn't have it or need it.)
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Scrub potatoes; place in a single layer in a microwave-safe bowl (do not pierce potatoes with a fork.) Cover bowl with plastic wrap (do not allow plastic wrap to touch food); vent. Microwave on HIGH 5 to 6 minutes (I did six) or until tender. Let stand 5 minutes or until cool enough to touch.
3. Cut potatoes in half; drizzle evenly with butter, and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Lay cut sides up on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Top evenly with cheese. Broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts, and sprinkle evenly with green onions. (We actually sprinkled bacon bits on ours.)
   

I am not going to type up the nutritional values unless someone really wants me to. And I am not sure that my potatoes were as small as they should have been, because 3 filled me up really good and I cannot figure at all how 3 of them were only 2 points. But the thing is, even if you are NOT on a diet, you can still make this recipe, just substituting whatever kind of cheese you want (and how much you want) plus onions or bacon bits... or adding sour cream, etc. But I will say that even though these babies had fat-free cheese on them (and not much at that) I liked them better than I like most restaurant style potato skins. The only thing I would want is more cheese. Other than that, they were amazing... as was the fish.

So all in all it was a delicious meal that I will be cooking again. :) Yum!