Grilled Fish Tacos Honey Lime Marinade

This marinade is so delicious and also subtle.  We've made it several times this summer and unless I find something better, will be our go to fish taco recipe.

Grilled Fish Tacos Honey Lime Marinade
allrecipes: mabcat

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
• 1 pound tilapia fillets, cut into chunks       * I've used my whole 2lb bag of tilapia and felt that the marinade stretched that far with no problem.

Whisk all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl, then pour into a ziploc bag or  casserole dish.  

Add fish chunks and coat all pieces well.  Cover and refrigerate 6-8 hours or even overnight.  

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil grate. Set grate 4 inches from the heat.  Remove fish from marinade. Grill fish pieces until easily flaked with a fork, turning once, about 9-15 minutes.

Serve in soft corn tortillas with shredded cabbage or lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and fresh squeezed limes.  We also love to add one of our fish taco sauces- the Lone Star Taqueria Cilantro Jalepeno Mayo or this one

Lone Star Cilantro Jalepeno Mayo for Fish Tacos

We love the fish tacos at the Lone Star Taqueria in Cottonwood Heights, Utah (near Salt Lake City).  Curious if anyone had a copycat for their recipes, I found one that the restaurant posted themselves! I haven't tried the marinade yet, but it is out there if you want it.  We loved this sauce though!  

Lone Star Cilantro Jalepeno Mayo for Fish Tacos

1. In a blender or food processor, combine: 
2. 1 3/4 cups mayonnaise
3.  2 tablespoons water
4. 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
5. 1 rinsed and stemmed fresh jalapeño chili (remove seeds for less heat)
6. 1 peeled garlic clove
7. 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro
8.  and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 
9. 
   
10. Whirl until smooth. Add salt to taste.
11. Makes about 2 1/4 cups.

Honey Mustard Dressing

We love dipping sauces here. But, I am on this trying to eliminate processed foods from our pantry kick right now and am slowly attempting to replace the store bought stuff with homemade versions.  This four ingredient recipe tasted exactly like the honey mustard's we love at restaurants and the store and being so easy to make and having everything already on hand, this is one natural version we'll never go back on.  Eventually I will try to make homemade mayo, but I made this with Best Foods.  I also saw that some people used plain yogurt instead to make it lower fat and healthier.

Honey Mustard Dressing

AllRecipes: Mary Ann Benzon

makes: 1 1/2 cups

1 cup mayo

4 Tablespoons mustard (regular or Dijon according to preference, I used reg.)

4 Tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Turkey Pesto Ciabatta Sandwich

I love this sandwich.  We've had it for dinner three times since I found this recipe and I could probably just eat it everyday and be happy. So. Good.

Turkey Pesto Ciabatta Sandwich
adapted from Jamie Cooks it Up

5 square ciabatta rolls ( I really love the Wal-Mart bakery ones)
1/2 cup mayo
1/3 cup pesto
1 lb sliced deli turkey (get the good stuff)
1 lrg tomato
1/2 red onion
fresh spinach leaves
5 slices provolone cheese

Slice ciabatta's in half and lay them out on a large cookie sheet.  Mix mayo and pesto together in a dish and spread over each half bread.  Layer tomato, onion and spinach on one half and top with one slice cheese.  Layer turkey on other half.  Bake on center rack of oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Turn broiler on and broil for ~2 minutes until cheese is slightly golden and bubbly.  remove from oven and let cool for a couple minutes then put then join the meat half to the veggie half and enjoy.  We serve these with fruit, fresh veggies or sweet potato fries.  Seriously delightful.

Italian Nachos

Oh my goodness, these are so good!  We had these for the first time as a starter at Carino's Italian restaurant about 4 years ago and fell in love.  I knew if I could just figure out what they used for their chips (since the weren't typical nacho tortilla chips) I could totally recreate this at home.  After searching for copycat recipes I concluded that wonton wrappers would do the trick. They worked perfectly and this is now one of our very favorites meals.  The flavors all combine so perfectly that all you can think about while you're chewing is your next bite.  And, even though the chips do get soggy, the leftovers are still just as tasty.

Italian Nacho's
Leah Matthews

Wonton Wrappers, cut in half diagonally forming triangles ( we use about 3/4 package for 4-6people)

Vegetable oil

16 oz jar alfredo sauce, heated (we prefer 

shredded mozzarella cheese

fresh, shredded parmesan cheese

Toppings:

jalepenos

banana peppers

sliced olives

roma tomatoes, diced

grilled chicken slices (I used the pre cooked Tyson kind you can buy in a package for salads)

cooked italian sausage

In a frying pan pour oil 2-3 inches deep and heat on med-high.  When oil is hot put in 3-4 wonton triangles at a time and turn them over in oil with tongs.  Being so thin, these literally only take about 3-5 seconds to get crispy so be careful.  Remove onto paper towel lined plate when light golden. 

Spread chips onto a cookie sheet in close to one layer and sprinkle toppings all over top.  Wait until the end to drizzle the warmed alfredo sauce over toppings * if you put it on first it will make the chips soggy by they time you're ready to eat them. Finally sprinkle cheeses over top.  Set oven to broil with rack in the center.  Put nachos in broiler only long enough for cheese to melt.  

Serve immediatley!

Lemon Crinkles

A yummy, lightly lemony summer treat.

Lemon Crinkles
Mel's Kitchen Cafe Blog

*Note: the recipe calls for a teaspoon of lemon zest. I didn't really measure, I just grated the zest from the lemon I was using and threw it in there. My guess is it was more like 2 teaspoons.

*Makes 2-3 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, from about 1/2 lemon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheets with silpat liners, parchment or lightly coat with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice and mix well, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the dry ingredients (except the powdered sugar) and mix until just combined. Place the powdered sugar on a large plate or shallow pie dish. Roll tablespoon-size balls of dough in the powdered sugar to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. The cookies will not be browned on the edges but they will have lost a bit of their shininess on top. Don't overbake! Cool the cookies on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container or eat immediately.

Honey Whole Wheat Pancakes

My mornings go like this: 

"Mom, I'm hungry will you get up now?"

"Okay, I will in just a minute . . ."

15-30 minutes later, "Mom, Arden's awake will you get up now?"

" Okay."  And this time is for reals.

"Yah!  I'm hungry can we have pancakes with seery-up? ( that's how Logan pronounces syrup, kind of like giddy-up)

Every morning, without fail, she wants pancakes and syrup.  And because I don't like to have to start my first moments of the day picking a battle, that's what they usually get-frozen walmart mini pancakes. And then Jude chimes in with "And, can I have caramel milk!?!"  Logan, "And, can I have chocolate milk!?!" I've never felt good about this "most important meal of the day" routine, so I finally did what I'd always planned to do and together we made homemade whole wheat pancakes, fishing the whole wheat flour I had bought months ago from the back of the pantry.  I doubled the recipe, as it is here, and it made ~ 40 mini pancakes to pop in the freezer and pull out a few in the mornings.  I liked them, the kids liked them and now i don't feel so bad about the chocolate milk!  I also loved that these had a light and fluffy texture, since sometimes recipes with wheat flour can end up too dense.

Honey Whole Wheat Pancakes
Food.com by WJKing
makes 40 mini pancakes, ~ 20 regular size

Ingredients

• 2 cup whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon honey
• 6 tablespoons oil
• 2 cup buttermilk * OR 2 cups regular milk+2Tbs lemon juice
• 4 large eggs

Directions

1. Stir honey& oil together in a bowl.
2. Add milk& eggs& beat well.
3. Mix dry ingredients into the liquids until flour is moistened.