Tilapia Archives -

Fried Avocados Make the World a Better Place

Post author:Melanie
Post published:December 16, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Recipes / Restaurants
Post comments:9 Comments

We are yet another day closer to Christmas! The time is flying by as it always does and I am doing my best to soak in all I can of the celebration of Christmas around me. That means Christmas music at every chance, Christmas lights on, Christmas-scented candles, cookie making, etc.!! 🙂

This weekend was productive yet low-key. It started with date night at Lago Tacos in Excelsior, MN. It is a fairly small establishment full of so much coziness. The lights were dim, the room was perfectly warm, and they had holiday decorations up to add even further to the warm ambiance.

Dana and I started dinner with an order of fried avocados #allinmoderation #yolo. OH.MY. There is a reason they earned the title spot for this post. These babies were incredible. You start with a cool and creamy avocado (you can’t go wrong there), then you roll it in a light batter with just a hint of salt, fry it up until golden brown, and serve it with some type of cool sauce with just a hit of spice. They created a home run with this one that’s for sure.

I actually practiced decent self-control and stopped after two slices; I had a huge platter of tacos still coming my way!

The tacos come in an order of three so I decided to mix and match so that I could try three different tacos. I chose the garden, the grilled chicken, and the carnitas taco.

I honestly think these were the best tacos I’ve ever eaten. My favorite out of the three was surprisingly the carnitas one although I loved them all.

I thoroughly enjoyed date night with my man (and had to model my new sweater from my mom and dad). 😉

On Saturday we ran what seemed like a kajillion errands including a trip to Caribou for a Northern Lite Turtle Mocha (my current favorite) and purchasing a new vehicle for Dana!

In the evening we made our way to Dana’s parents for dinner and some Christmas cookie baking! My first Christmas cookies of the season, followed by more cookie making this week with mom!

Sunday we cleaned the house, got some groceries, ran some more errands, and finally whipped together dinner.

I made a Parmesan Broiled Tilapia recipe that I found on the one, the only, Pinterest.

It turned out well, but I still had to have some cocktail sauce on the side. I love my ketchup!

I am hoping and praying for a great week. Enjoy the holiday cheer around you my friends!

Questions:

Have you ever tried fried avocados?

Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Salsa

Post author:Melanie
Post published:April 6, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Recipes / Snacks
Post comments:8 Comments

Oh boy do I have a treat for you. Our fridge is stocked full of fresh produce right now and I had the luxury of throwing together many different fresh ingredients to come up with this incredibly amazing concoction….

Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Avocado Salsa!

For the salsa: I bought two ripe mangos from Whole Foods the other day and knew I had to use them quickly before they went bad, so I peeled them, and diced them, and used the fruit from one mango in this salsa. I added the mango to a bowl, then added diced avocado, red bell peppers, red onion, cilantro, black beans, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper (recipe below). I mixed it up gently and refrigerated it while I got the rest of dinner ready.

In a saute pan lightly coated with olive oil, we cooked two tilapia filets with a multi-spice seasoning blend that gave it just the slightest “kick.”

While the tilapia cooked, I washed one head of red cabbage and did my best to tear off shells to serve as the base of the fish taco.

Once the fish was cooked through and white and flaky, we used a spatula to divide it into big chunk-sized bites. I plated the cabbage, then the fish, and finally, the royal salsa.

Oh my goodness these things were INCREDIBLE! If I had a restaurant I would sell these for sure.

They were definitely messy and you could go ahead and make the cabbage into more of a slaw salad to sit underneath the fish taco and fresh salsa, but I don’t mind a mess and had fun with it this way!

This is such a simple salsa that would be great with most any type of cooked fish, or with grilled chicken, with a whole grain tortilla chip, and fantastic even by itself!

Mango Avocado Salsa

Ingredients

½ cup mango, diced
½ cup avocado, diced
¼ cup red peppers, diced
2 Tbsp red onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
½ of a lime (juice)
sprinkle of cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix gently. Refrigerate and serve cold. This was AMAZING on tilapia but would be great on a salad or with whole grain tortilla chips too!

ENJOY!

Happy Saturday! I have a very fun day ahead of me! Catch up with you later gators!

A Successful 7k

Post author:Melanie
Post published:March 16, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Workouts
Post comments:7 Comments

I am in such a wonderful mood this afternoon after finishing the Get Lucky 7k this morning. I was a little nervous about the actual run because I haven’t been running lately, but as it turned out, it was a GREAT run. I felt like I could keep going and going and going, and that was on NO caffeine.

I ate my usual pre-run breakfast of banana with peanut butter and cinnamon…

Dana and I did our best to get “dressed up” for the occasion. I wore a t-shirt from senior year of high school that says “Senior Stars, You Wish.” I knew I kept that shirt around for a reason!

Then we dug these hats out of the basement storage from our friends’ St. Patty’s party last year, and I felt a lot more festive!

This year’s outfits were a big step up from our last year’s Get Lucky outfits…

The temperature at last year’s run was in the 60’s, and this year it was in the 20’s. Quite the difference!

The course was very icy but I didn’t witness any falls fortunately. It was a cold first few miles, but I still felt fantastic.

At around mile two there was a celtic band playing which gave me a boost of energy, and people lined the course cheering us on the whole way. I loved every second of this race.

I completed the 4.4 miles in 40:31, so 9:13 minute/mile. I was VERY happy with that stat considering my lack of running lately. Now, I am super motivated to get out and start running more. I am still hoping for that warm weather soon, though.

Post-run lunch was a green salad (for St. Pat’s weekend of course :wink:). In this grand mix was mixed greens, zucchini, olives, peas, avocado, sunflower seeds, chicken, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and olive oil. It was a WINNER.

I am in such an incredible mood today. We have fun plans to celebrate Dana’s birthday tonight with my family, and I am going to go relax a bit before I have to get ready.

Real quick though, here was my pre-race dinner from last night: Tilapia with rutabaga fries and broccoli. Very nummy.

I hope you all have a super Saturday. Catch up with you soon. XOxo

What’s Inside My Fridge

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 23, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Home Life / Misc. / Snacks / Workouts
Post comments:1 Comment

Haaaapy Hump Day! I hope everyone is having a good week and staying cozy and warm if at all possible.

Yesterday I kicked off the morning with a sweaty workout but first I ate a banana with almond butter and drank a cup of coffee while working on the blog and catching up on emails. Then I made my way downstairs to get m-o-v-i-n-g. I incorporated week 4 of the Abs Challenge with running spurts on the treadmill. It went like this:

1 mile run
circuit (which takes 13 minutes or so)
1 mile run
circuit
1 mile run
5 minute walk

It was the perfect way to warm me up on what was such a cold morning. Sweat PINK!

For lunch I made a smoothie with Jay Robb chocolate egg white protein powder, banana, almond milk, kale, and peanut butter. I always think of Shannon when I make this one because she was the one who recommended it. Yummy in my tummy.

I packed some snacks for the afternoon for work: sugar snap peas, carrots, and an apple.

For dinner I made tilapia with a light breading made of almond flour, italian seasoning, a little salt and pepper, and garlic powder. I first dipped the filet into egg whites, then into the flour drudge, and then onto the pan to lightly fry.

Our side dish was a cucumber salad with tomatoes, red onion, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, dried dill, and a sprinkle of onion powder.

For my “appetizer” I snacked on hummus and broccoli. We don’t mess around with our veggies in this house. Check out the Costco size bag of broccoli on the right. What we usually end up doing is eating about 3/4 of it raw, and then freezing the last 1/4 of it before it goes bad.

Oh how I miss my natural light in the evenings for photos. Soon enough!

Throughout the rest of the evening I continued a snacking brigade: pistachios, a glass of wine, dates…then it was off to bed I went.

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Fridge Talk

Is anyone else guilty of glancing into other grocery shopper’s carts while shopping? I am totally 100% guilty. It may be because I am a dietitian, and have a passion for health and nutritious food, or I may just be nosey?

I am just in amazement as I see what some people load into their carts. Just the other day I saw in one cart: multiple breakfast pastries, the most sugary cereal you can think of, chips, soda, pizza. I was flabbergasted and all I wanted to do was go replace each and every one of those items with a healthy option. But, to each their own. Of course there was no way I would do that. Everyone has a right to eat what they please. It just tugs at my heart strings a little.

After our weekly grocery trip on Sunday, I decided it might be fun for you all to get a peek into my cart and furthermore, into my refrigerator and cabinets. I am not touting that everything in my household is healthy, but I remind you that it is all about finding the perfect balance of healthy eats and treats.

Let’s take a look!

(FYI: The salmon is usually in the freezer but since I buy it at Costco and it comes in two long filets, I had yet to cut it into serving sizes and bag them up and freeze them)

Sweet and Nutty Bites recipe here!

There you have it. Have a warm and fuzzy day friends! xoxo.

What are some staples that YOU always have on hand?

Super Bowl Sunday and A Day in the Kitchen

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 5, 2012
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Family / Home Life / Snacks
Post comments:2 Comments

Good morning! Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Catching you up from last night….

I marinated two tilapia filets. The marinade included 3 Tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon honey, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon ground dry ginger.

I let Dana cook them up on the stovetop because I didn’t want to smell fishy since we were meeting up with family soon after. My hair absorbs smells so quickly and I didn’t feel like nauseating myself and everyone else the rest of the night. He was more than happy to help me cook…take a look for yourself! All smiles. 😛

We served the honey soy tilapia with some mukimame (also a soy product!) and some brown rice with soy sauce. It was a soy kind of a dinner I guess. Ha! The tilapia turned out wonderfully. I usually need to put some kind of sauce on my tilapia, but I didn’t with this recipe. It was so easy too! Give it a shot.

It was a light dinner because I knew we would be snacking and having a couple of cocktails later at my aunt and uncle’s. Upon arrival my uncle made me one of his famous margaritas! He used light margarita mix with a splash of orange juice so really he made us “skinny” margaritas. I truly appreciate that since I am trying to watch my waist a little bit these days! I also snacked on some chips and cheese and crackers with a light cream cheese spread. I negated the skinny margarita with the chips and cheese, but I don’t care. I enjoyed every bite of the salty snacks.

We had a great time visiting and catching up with my mom and dad, my aunt and uncle (Chip and Patti), and their kids. It is always so great to see them. I have the best family!

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Sunday Morning

First off, I love Sunday mornings. I especially love Sunday mornings when I know I don’t have much on the agenda for the day. I started my morning off on the right foot by heading down to the treadmill for a quick two-mile run. After that I through a load of laundry in the wash, folded clothes from the dryer, went through a bin of old clothes from the basement, clipped coupons, and eventually came around to making myself some breakfast.

Fresh blueberries, strawberries, and banana topped with a dollop of greek yogurt sweetened with honey. It tasted like dessert it was so creamy and sweet.

Next on the agenda will be finding an at home strength workout on Demand. I am hoping to find a lower body workout including lots of squats. Make it burn baby! I am in a productive mood today.

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Super bowl plans include staying home with the boys and snacking on some real good treats. I am not the type of person who can sit and watch the whole game, so it will be nice to be home so that I can get some stuff done around the house. I’m hoping this will include going through some more bins in the basement. I am not a hoarder but I do have a lot of junk that I do not need. Like Dana says, “just let go.” I need him with me when I’m going through my old clothes so he can help me justify why I DON’T need that swimsuit anymore that would most likely cover only one half of my behind. Kidding, but seriously, I do have a hard time letting go of old clothes.

On the menu for tonight:

Guacamole-made with avocado AND peas
Healthy bean dip
Home made sweet potato chips and possibly zucchini chips depending on how motivated I am
Baked chicken poppers
Home made caramel corn

We will see if all of these things actually get made. I also want to make up a batch of tomato soup to have for a week night meal this week. It sounds like I will be in the kitchen all day. I LOVE IT! I am feeling ambitious. I feel like someone injected a triple espresso into my bloodstream. I better stay on top of this.

I will be sharing ALL of these recipes with you once I have developed them! I am excited to get creative in the kitchen. Have a wonderful Sunday everyone! Much love to all!