Marinade for Grilled Tilapia

So I am exactly one week away from my birthday.  I had a weight loss goal in mind and now it is time to put the pedal to the medal!  My mom has a fantastic blog called  Temple Reconstruction where you can go to get inspired in different ways to lose weight.  I encourage you to check it out.  My mom has so much to offer from inspiration to recipes.  I have been trying to cook healthier and a bigger variety for my family which brings me to what I am posting today.

This is such a great recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  I don't usually care for fish unless it is deep fried, but this was an exception.  My husband loves fish so for him to say it was the best fish he ever had was saying a lot.  I only got to take one picture because it was gone off of everyone's plate before I remembered to get a final shot.  I grilled mine by placing foil on the grill.  I sort of made a rim around the edges of the foil so that when I poured the marinade onto the fish it didn't leak off onto the hot coals.  I suppose you could do it on the stove if you needed to, but with these hot temperatures why not keep the heat out of the kitchen!

Here are the ingredients:

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil (I used 2 leafs of fresh from my garden)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound tilapia fillets

Place all the ingredients in a ziplock bag.   Let out the extra air and squish the bag around a little to coat the fish.  Put in the refrigerator to marinade for 1 hour before grilling.

Grill until the fish is no longer translucent and flakes easily with a fork.  It should take about 3-4 minutes per side.

Homemade Herb Cheese

Wow!  I can't believe I actually know how to make cheese.  I am so excited to share this simple recipe with you.  It is really yummy and takes just a short time to prepare.  Thank you so much cousin Annie for sharing this with me.  I love making things that have been made for centuries.   Although our techniques are a little different  (I don't have a cow to get my milk from and I don't need to start a fire to heat up my stove) the basics are still the same.

Here are the ingredients:
1 gallon of milk (I used whole, but any variety will work, goat milk tastes especially good I'm told)
1/2 cup vinegar or lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt (forgot to put it in the picture)
fresh or dried herbs to your taste
A strip of cheese cloth to line a colander

Note:  You can buy cheese cloth at most grocery stores in the aisle where they sell kitchen utensils.  Also, it would have made it much easier for me if I would have just put my colander in the sink to drain it instead of over a bowl.  I don't know why I didn't think of that before this moment :/

Line a colander with cheese cloth and place over a large bowl or sink,  preferably.

Heat your milk in a large pot to 190 degrees.  Then pour in 1/2 cup of vinegar.  The milk with curdle immediately.

Drain the milk into the cheese cloth lined colander.

Add the 1 tablespoon of salt and whatever herbs you want to.  I put in 1 tablespoon of garlic and the herbs that you see pictured.  My cousin told me the kind she sampled had dill in it too.  If I would have had some in my garden, that would have made it in mine as well.

Mix the herbs into the curds and gather it to the center of the cheese cloth.

Tie the cheese cloth tight enough around the curds to form it into a ball.  I used a rubber band and that worked out great.  It is going to be dripping which it needs to do in order for it to turn into cheese.  Now,  at this point, if you would have seen me scrambling around the house holding this dripping cheese cloth, you may never have attempted to make this!  You have to let this ball hang in your refrigerator for about 3 hours.  I finally figured out that using a wooden spoon and bucket works great.  I know my son has some smaller buckets, put I couldn't find any at the time.  A large pot would work, but mine wasn't deep enough to keep it from touching the bottom.  So after I took this picture I put it into the refrigerator.

I got it out of the refrigerator about 3 hours later and it was done.

Oh so delicious!

Homemade Sour Cream

A favorite condiment in my household is sour cream.  Whether it is for tacos or a baked potato, it is often on the dinner table.  I discovered how incredibly easy it is to make, so I thought I would pass it on to you.  I found this recipe on motherearthnews.com but since then I have found many variations to it.  This recipe worked great for me, let me know how it turns out for you.

What you need:
1 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup buttermilk (or sour cream)
Mason jar with lid (or any glass jar with lid)

A recipe doesn't get much easier than this.  All you do is combine the two ingredients in the jar, put the lid on top, shake it up to combine it, and then let it sit 24 hours at room temperature.  It will become very thick and delicious.  After the 24 hours, put in the refrigerator to chill.  Make sure it is well chilled before using.  If you want a lighter sour cream, substitute whole milk for 1/2 cup of the heavy cream.

Liquid Hand Soap

So maybe sometimes I think to much about how to save money, but this discovery was fun for me and I    think you'll agree.  Have you ever noticed how bar soap is less expensive than liquid soap?  The only problem is hand soap has draw backs as well.  It may cost less, but it leaves soap scum in the soap dish or washes away even when you aren't using it if water is running over it.  Hence the discovery of making my own liquid soap.  I mainly use it for hand soap, because it isn't quite as thick as body soap.  But in the case of running out of body soap (a frequent happening in my bathroom), it can be used in the shower or bathtub as well.

All you need is:
one 4 oz bar of soap (or scraps of different bar soaps to equal about 4 oz)
4 cups of water
squirt bottle, cleaned out empty milk jug, or something to store your soap
cheese grater mixer
1 tablespoon coconut butter, optional (it helps add lather to your soap)
Large bowl
funnel or liquid measuring cup
container to store your soap (such as a cleaned out milk jug)
squirt bottle or liquid hand pump container

Here's what you do (someone deleted my photos :( so I'm just going to tell you how to do it.)

Shave the soap using a cheese grater
Heat the 4 cups of water until boiling and then turn off the burner
Add the 4 oz of shaven soap and stir until it is melted
If you are using coconut butter, add 1 tablespoon
After the soap is completely melted, pour into a bowl or stand mixer and mix on high for 2 minutes.  (It should get thick and frothy)
Pour mixture into a bowl and let it sit overnight or a few hours.
Using a funnel or liquid measuring cup, pour into a cleaned out gallon milk jug or whatever you choose to use to store it.
From the milk jug you can pour it into a plastic squirt bottle and use it from there, or squirt it into another decorative pump bottle.

Enjoy this one.  Let me know how it works out for you (I'm talking to you Elizabeth, I know you are going to try this!)

Pizza with Asparagus

I was looking through my newest issue of Runner's World magazine when I came across this one.  The article talks about how asparagus is rich in bone-building vitamin K, immune-boosting vitamin C, and heart-healthy folic acid.  Using Canadian bacon instead of bacon saves 10 fat grams and has 1/3 fewer calories.  Besides all of this, it just looked yummy!  I just got done serving it and it got the thumbs up from the family.  The recipe calls for a 9-inch store-bought naan.  I used a homemade wheat crust.  Anyone who wants a part of my wheat crust starter dough, just let me know and I am happy to share some.  Otherwise, you can use the naan bread or any pre-made pizza crust.  It also called for fontina cheese and all I had on hand was Provolone, which I just sliced (I used three slices).

What you need:
2  9-inch store-bought naan
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup prepared pesto
8 asparagus-spears (bottom ends snapped off and discarded), cut into 11/2-inch lengths
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
3 slices Canadian bacon, cut into thin strips
2/3 cup (or about 2 ounces) grated fontina cheese

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425.  Place naan on a baking sheet.  Mix ricotta and pesto and spread onto crust.

Toss asparagus with oil and a lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Evenly distribute spears, along with Canadian bacon, over naan.

Bake until breads are warm throughout and asparagus is bright green, about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven; divide the cheese evenly on top of the naans (or pizza crust).  Return them to oven and continue to bake until breads are crisp and cheese has melted, about five minutes longer.  Cut pizza into quarters, serves four.

Homemade Cream Cheese

So as you know I have been making homemade yogurt (posted May 21).  I love it so much, especially blended with homemade mixed berry jam with sliced almonds on top.  It got me thinking about making other dairy products.  I have also told you in the past how many bagels (posted March 21) we can consume, so I thought I would try making cream cheese.  Who knew how incredibly easy it is to create!  I would venture to say it is the easiest cheese to make.

All you need is 1 quart (4 cups) of plain yogurt (I used the yogurt I made), a colander, and a cheese cloth (a thin dish towel or piece of muslin works too).  Place a colander over a bowl that leaves enough room for the yogurt to drain and not reabsorb the liquid.  Line the colander with a cheese cloth, muslin, or dish towel.  Pour the yogurt over the cloth and then cover with the excess cloth.  Place in the refrigerator.

Every so often empty the bowl with the liquid that is collecting to make sure it does not get reabsorbed back into the yogurt.  In about 5 hours it will be done, depending on how firm you like it.  I pulled mine out after 8 hours and it looked like this:

Now you can get creative and add yumminess to it.  I am going to divide mine up and put mixed berry jam in some, and garlic and dried herbs in some.  Have fun with this one!

Fancy Fast Chicken

After my husband graduated from college we moved to New York for a position at a church as a youth minister.  That job involved meeting many fantastic people.  Everyone knew we were living away from our families and they were more than gracious at making us feel like a part of theirs.  One particular family invited us for dinner and served this dish.  It's funny, because out of all the people to have us over and all the different meals we were served, this one stuck with me.  I have made it for dinner often ever since, 20 years later!

The ingredients are very basic:  6 chicken breasts (bone-in, or boneless), 6 slices of swiss cheese (or whatever you have on hand), a can of cream of chicken soup (or any can of cream soup), 1 cup of milk, 2 cups of one-step stuffing.

Coat a baking dish with cooking spray and lay the chicken breast on the bottom.  Lay a piece of cheese over each chicken breast.  (I could have used more chicken breasts to fill my dish, I didn't realize some of the chicken breasts I had defrosted were so little).

Mix the soup and milk together and pour over the chicken.

Pour the 2 cups of stuffing over the top.

Bake at 400 until the chicken is done.  If you are using boneless it should take about 45 minutes.  If you are using bone-in it should take about an hour.  It tastes really good with mashed potatoes because all the ingredients you poured over the chicken make a really good gravy!  My family also likes Caesar Salad with it (which I also have posted).