Zesty Red Clam Chowder

Even though the weather here isn't quite cold enough for us to need soup, I am still making soup about once a week because it is soup time; whether or not Texas weather cooperates.  This recipe I have kind of always wanted to try because I do love clam chowder, but I've only ever had the white variety.  After making it, I am now a red or white clam chowder kind of girl.

The ingredients:                                     

1 onion, diced; 3 slices of bacon, diced; 2 (6.5oz) cans minced clams (do not drain!); 1 large potato, peeled and chopped; 1 celery stalk, chopped; 1 (14.5oz) can whole tomatoes; 1 C canned crushed tomatoes; 2 Tbsp chopped parsley; 1 tsp dried oregano, crumbled; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste; 1/4 tsp ground pepper.

I already had some bacon that I'd cooked the day before, so I just chopped it up...

and threw it into a large pot with my diced onions and a small swirl of oil.  Saute them until the onion is translucent. (You won't need oil if your bacon is uncooked due to the loveliness that is bacon grease.)

Then, take that very large potato and peel it (making sure to NOT PUT THE PEELS DOWN THE KITCHEN SINK BECAUSE IT WILL CLOG YOUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL...not that I have ever done such a thing, of course). Chop up that potato and celery.

Once the onion is sauteed, stir in the clams (with their juice)...

 potato, celery and 1 C of water; bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to a simmer once it's started boiling and cook until the potato is fork tender (about 10 minutes or so).  Once the potato is tender enough, throw in the whole and crushed tomatoes, parsley, oregano, salt, cayenne (I used the smallest dash since my girls were eating it too) and pepper.

While it is cooking, go ahead and use your spoon to break apart those whole tomatoes.  Then take a big whiff of your awesome dinner, cause it smells divine.

Once the soup is heated through, serve immediately!  I served mine with fruit; specifically a plum.

   Holy moly, this soup was yummy.  Evan added some extra cayenne pepper to his individual bowl and said it was great with the extra spice.  We ate this as left overs and it was even better!  This is definitely a soup I shall be adding to our usual menu rotation!!!

Enjoy!

Lobster Tails

A few weeks ago, I saw an ad in Sunflower Farmers' Market for lobster tail. It was $4.00 a tail. I decided to try it out.

I love lobster. When I was in junior high, I went on vacation with a friend and her family to Maine. We ate lobster all the time while on this trip (it was even on the McDonald's value meal menu!) and when we came back to Illinois, I really missed eating it so often for so cheap.

I only bought 3 tails. One for me, one for Evan and one for Elisabeth. I knew Julia wouldn't eat a whole one (she hasn't really been eating dinner very much...probably because she eats such a large breakfast and lunch...), so we just shared bites with her.

Here's the underside.
I looked up how to steam them online. The consensus was to steam it one minute per ounce.
Here's how they looked when they were done! I probably should have had them steam a minute or two longer, but I didn't want them overcooked.
I served the lobster over rice.
Okay, so I don't exactly have the proper utensils for digging out shell fish. So, we decided to just break them in half and then peel them open like a shrimp.
Elisabeth was fascinated by the tail. She wanted to keep it to play with. We said no, due to her losing it and then only being able to find it by the stench. Blech.
Here's Evan peeling his lobster.
See, it did peeled just fine.
We also had cheesy broccoli and cauliflower with the lobster and rice.

I wish we lived closer to a coast where lobster wasn't so expensive because we all really loved it. I will have to keep my eyes open for a deal like that again!

Pan Fried Flounder

Oh my goodness. This recipe was on the menu planner for 3 weeks! But, because it's summer and unexpected invitations to dinners and bbqs pop up, it kept getting pushed back and forgotten.

Which makes it a fantastic meal. The ingredients are ones I always have on hand (minus the flounder, but it was frozen, so no worries). It took a matter of minutes to make and everyone loved it!!!


The ingredients:
Flounder fillets; 2 C. frozen peas or corn; 1 onion; 1/2 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes; 1 Tbsp. lemon juice; salt; pepper; olive oil; fresh parsley or dill.


Start by defrosting the fish. I forgot to do that and frantically threw it in the microwave when I should have been throwing it in the hot skillet.

Take a Tbsp or 2 of olive oil and heat it up on a large skillet. While it's warming, slice your onion.
Throw it into the hot oil and add the frozen peas or corn. I asked my family and they voted for peas, which was great since I had no corn in the house. :)
Cook until the onions are soft and the peas are no longer frozen.
Take your tomatoes and cut them in half.
Throw them in with the peas and onions.
Seriously, how pretty is this? I feel all meals should be this colorful.
Take the veggies out of the skillet and place them in a dish and keep them warm somewhere. I warmed mine in the oven at 250 degrees while I got my flounder defrosted.

Take the fish and put it in the skillet. You're going to cook the flounder about 2 or 3 minutes on each side until flakey. Add the Tbsp. of lemon juice while it's cooking.
Once cooked, add it to the vegetables and then make your whole family ooh and ahh at the beautifulness of the dinner.
And it is also delicious!!! I had a side serving of applesauce for those who can stomach that texture (aka: not me).
We ate all the fish and still had some veggies left over. No one else wanted them and I didn't feel like they would save well. So, next time I make it, I will probably make fewer veggies.

Enjoy!!!!

Macaroni Tuna Casserole

Elisabeth's all time favorite meal is Tuna Helper. She begs for it every time we go to the store. And while I don't mind making it for her, I always feel like I pay too much for so little. It never leaves leftovers, and I'm sure by now you've noticed that I kind of like making meals from scratch.

So, I found this recipe in one of the church cookbooks I own and decided to give it a whirl. Not only were we happy with the outcome of the dish, it was incredibly simple to make! It makes me embarrassed I hadn't tried making it on my own before.


The ingredients:

8oz. macaroni pasta (or any other short pasta); 1 can cream of celery soup; 6oz. tuna, drained and flaked; 1/2 C. milk; 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese; salt and pepper for taste.

Cook the pasta according to directions, making sure it doesn't get too soft. We'll be cooking it in the oven later and we don't want it mushy. Gross.

While the pasta is cooking, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Drain the pasta and add the celery soup.

The tuna.

And the milk. Then mix together.

After mixing it up and tasting it, I decided that it needed more tuna. So, I added a whole other 6oz. to the mix and some salt and pepper for taste. Stir again.

Pour the pasta mixture into a greased 2 quart baking dish.

Sprinkle the top with the cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. The cheese should be melted on top.

The end product. Look how melty the cheese is!


We served ours with steamed broccoli and applesauce. Well, I didn't eat applesauce because I find applesauce to be one of the grossest foods on the face of the planet. But, the rest of my family at applesauce.

Elisabeth was most impressed with the casserole and had 3 helpings. She was also most excited to know that there would be leftovers and she could eat more another day. It honestly was very good and way better than the box kind.

Julia also enjoyed the meal. She also had fun putting her napkin into the applesauce and then screaming because the napkin would get ruined.

She is a joy to spend meal time with.

Poor Man's Lobster

Poor Man's Lobster is a staple meal in our house. We love it. It's a recipe I got from my mother-in-law, and I could eat it weekly. Seriously, I could. And it's so simple to make.

The dish calls for a white fish and, after you've boiled it in a vinegar mixture and then broiled it in butter and paprika, creates a taste that is sweet and succulent like lobster. It obviously isn't lobster, but it's an excellent substitute when you are no where near lobster.

You can use any sort of "white" fish--cod, tilapia, whiting, etc. You can also use as many fillets as you want, you'll just need to adjust seasonings. I always try to have a big bag of frozen fish (you know, the economy size you can get at Wal-Mart or Aldi?). They usually have each fillet in their own individual package. So, you could easily make this meal for 1-2 people or make enough for 6-8. Totally up to you. Okay, let's get started.

Here's the ingredients:

4 fillets of tilapia (what I had in the freezer), 1 stick of butter, paprika, 3 Tbsp of either white or red wine vinegar (I used white this time), and 2 tsp of salt.

In a large pot, start boiling 2 cups of water. Also, turn your oven on to broil.


Add 3 Tbsp of white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar if you like, I've done both and they both taste fine).


Then add 2 tsp. of salt.


Stir together and make sure that the heat is on high. (Dude, look at how my burner looks purple!)


Once the liquid mixture has started to boil, you're going to put the fish fillets. Now, I normally don't thaw my fillets, but you can if you want to. Turn the heat down to medium-high heat so the fish are simmering in the liquid mixture. Simmer until the liquid is almost all evaporated or until the fish are cooked through.


My liquid wasn't all the way gone, but my fish was definitely cooked through. Take the fish out and put them in a baking dish.


Now, you can arrange your fish in a more pretty manner then I did. But, I had a baby screaming at me to be fed gingerbread cookies, and I wasn't going for beauty that night.


Melt half a stick of butter in a microwave safe dish. Pour the butter on the fish. Now, you can use more butter if you want, but we like half a stick. Too much more and it's sweeter then I can handle. Obviously, if you're using more fillets of fish, you'll want to use more butter.


Then sprinkle the paprika on. You can use as much as little as you like. Evan's favorite spice in the world is paprika, so I usually put it on pretty heavy. Plus, I think it's pretty since we're dealing with so much white on the plate already.

Now, you're only going to put this in the oven on broil for 5 minutes. You're just browning the tops of the fish and getting that paprika and butter to really melt into the tilapia.

Done! Isn't it fantastic looking?!



We always eat ours on a bed of rice. We really, really, really like rice. But you could always have it with some noodles or just veggies.

Wouldn't some broccoli look good on the side? Yeah, I thought so too, but I had used all my broccoli on that stupid shepherd's pie, so instead I made roasted cauliflower, therefore making a very, very white plate. It was good, but a bright green vegetable would have been more pleasing to the eye.