Monday, February 28, 2011

Almond-Crusted Tilapia

I'm always looking for easy and tasty fish recipes. This Almond-Crusted Tilapia was OK, easy, but a little bland. Perhaps it needed some more salt, and maybe a little hot sauce in the mustard. But, I would make it again, and possibly tweak it a bit.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Another Crocheted Scarf

I just finished another crocheted scarf. I hope I don't have to wear it too much any more this year! It was very easy but it took a while, since it is all single crochet, and there are lots of stitches. I think this one looks particularly good using a variegated yarn, and it is really warm!

Here's a link to the pattern from Lion Brand Yarns.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Corn and Crab Fritters with Guacamole

These Corn and Crab Fritters were very good. I've always had trouble with crab cakes - any recipe I've tried, we've ended up eating them with a fork, because they don't hold together. These actually "caked" and we could eat them like crab cakes. I don't think the flavor was quite as good though. I think I need to combine some recipes. I did like the corn in these, and I added some Old Bay seafood seasoning. But they needed more crab, and I think some more seasoning - Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, onion, hot sauce. We really liked the guacamole sauce with the crab cakes - that was different too. So, these were good, but I still think I can do better.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Earth-Friendly Snack Baggies

I made these snack bags to go with my lunch box. This pattern was also from the Lunch Bags! book. You can't really put anything gooey in these, but they are great for chips or even sandwiches.  They are machine washable, too.  Also, it took less than 1/2 hour to make two of them!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Pan-Seared Scallops on Linguine with Tomato-Cream Sauce

Yummy. First time I've ever cooked scallops. We thought this was really good. I used 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 milk in place of the cream. I used canned diced tomatoes. I think it would have been better with fresh, but the can was fine. I think it could use less lime juice, and next time I would include some garlic. I cooked the scallops in butter, to add some richness, but I couldn't get them to brown. I think I put too many in the pan, or something, but I wanted that crispiness and didn't get it.  But, we still enjoyed this dish.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Snow Day Lunch Bag!

Well, since I've been posting about recipes I've made during snow days, I wanted to show you what I've been sewing during those days too. I've actually made a couple more pairs of boxers, but you've seen those before, so I didn't take any pictures of those.

I purchased a book called Lunch Bags, and it's full of wonderful, beautiful projects. Of course, bags are my favorite thing to make, and since I take my lunch to work every day, I NEEDED this book.

So here's the first bag I made from this book:

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. Can't wait for lunch tomorrow!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Snow Day Quiche

OK, another snow day recipe. I had some asparagus and a pie crust in the freezer, so I thought I'd make a quiche. Well, traditionally you would use Swiss cheese, but I didn't have any so I improvised. Everyone enjoyed this!

Bake your pie crust for about 7 minutes at 425 degrees.

Cut up 1/2 pound of asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Saute in butter while the crust is cooking. Add 1 Tbsp flour for the last 30 seconds.

In a bowl mix:

3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 wedges laughing cow swiss cheese - light
1/2 cup sour cream
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
salt & pepper

Spread the asparagus in the bottom of the pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over. Sprinkle with a little more mozzarella. Bake at 425 for about 30 minutes.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Snow Day Soup

When there is 1/2-inch of ice covering everything, it is necessary to find something to cook for supper that doesn't require a trip to the grocery store.  I was in the mood for something in the crock pot, so here's the soup I came up with.

Brown some sausage (I used 3 links of spicy Italian sausage) in a skillet.

Add the sausage and the following to a crock pot:

1 chopped onion
2 stalks chopped celery
2 chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic, chopped
6 oz. chopped mushrooms
3 diced potatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 quart vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt
Italian seasoning

I let this cook for about 4 hours. About 1/2 hour before serving, I added about a cup of thawed frozen spinach (you could use fresh, too.)

I sprinkled with Parmesan cheese when serving. It was pretty tasty for just being "thrown together."