what's for dinner tonight {grilled tilapia with fresh tomatoes}.

yum, yum, yum. this recipe is a new discovery of ours and superrrr delish.

nick&i *love* tilapia. we buy big bags of it at sam's and we're always looking for new recipes or ways to cook it. we love it just grilled with salt&pepper, stuffed in tortillas with avocado and coleslaw for fish tacos, or pan fried with homemade tartar sauce for a good sandwich... but the other night we wanted something different, so i scoured the internet to see what i could find.

(especially something we could cook on the grill, which we've been addicted to these days.)

it took me about two seconds before i found this recipe on one of my favorite sites; allrecipes.com. luckily, we had pretty much everything on hand (with a few substitutions) and we whipped this up in no time.

so, so, good. and super healthy, as well. double bonus.

here's our adapted version.

grilled tilapia with fresh tomatoes

- 4 tilapia fillets
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- dried basil (or you could use fresh, we just had dried on hand), salt, pepper for seasoning
- 1 c. chicken stock with a splash of vinegar (or you could use white wine; i didn't want to spare any of my moscato!)
- 1 T. butter, halved
- tin foil and cooking spray

* spray two sheets of tin foil with cooking spray to prevent sticking. top with tilapia fillets. season fish with basil, salt and pepper and top each with 1/2 T. butter.

* sprinkle diced tomato and a clove of minced garlic on each. curl up edges of tin foil to create a square shaped "bowl"... pour stock over the top (i just use a little bit).

* pinch up sides, add more foil to keep it from leaking and to create a tightly wrapped packet. cook on grill; medium-high heat for 15 minutes. when fish flakes easily with a fork, it is done.

we like ours served with fresh veggies and rice. and maybe a glass of wine now that i'm not with child :) a great summer meal. you won't be sorry you made it. you can thank me later.

what's for dinner tonight {christmas eve seafood chowdah}.

okay, so it's not for dinner tonight... but was i about to post on my blog on christmas eve? ummm no.

it's been a tradition in my family to have lobster stew on christmas day... but in most recent years, we've switched to seafood chowder on christmas eve and it. is. awesome. my sis and i began looking through recipes on the internet, and decided to make up our own from taking elements from a few we found. the result? the most *amazing* seafood chowder i've ever put in my mouth. and no... i'm not tooting my own horn. i'm just telling the truth.

it's officially called "the keezer/cornwell mama seafood chowdah" but for simplicity sake, we'll just stick with a shorter title (for those of you who are not from new england, no the "ah" is not a typo). we did a lot of improvising, so here is my best attempt at creating a formal recipe. maybe it should become your new christmas eve tradition.

it should.

christmas eve seafood chowdah

* 3 small potatoes, diced

* 4 stalks of celery, sliced

* 1 onion, diced

* 1 garlic clove, minced

* 1 can of corn kernels

* 1 t. each of thyme, parsley, salt and pepper + additional to taste
* 2 lbs lobster meat, cut into chunks

* 15-20 large sea scallops, halved

* 3/4 lb shrimp, whole

* 1 lb haddock, or another white fish, cut into chunks

* 1 c. milk

* 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

* 2 c. half&half

* 1/2 c. flour + some additional to thicken

* 3 c. seafood stock

- sautee onions and celery in butter over medium heat until translucent. add garlic and cook for 1 minute (careful to not burn).

- add potatoes, flour, and seafood stock... and 1 teaspoon each of parsley, thyme and salt and pepper (may need to add more later). cook until potatoes are fork tender (about ten minutes).

- add scallops and haddock, cook for ten minutes. add shrimp, lobster meat and corn.

- add milk, evaporated milk and half&half. DO NOT BRING TO A BOIL or else it will curdle.

- in a small bowl/cup, whisk together flour and a little bit of water until a thick slurry is formed. you can stir this into the chowder to get desired thickness. we did this a few times since we like our chowder thick. we also added more seasonings (salt, pepper, thyme and parsley) until the taste was how we wanted it... can't really tell you how much we used in total... sorry! this is where the creativity comes into play :)

we made this chowder the night before christmas eve, which allowed everything to blend and the taste to become more flavorful. heat up over low heat and serve with biscuits, saltine crackers, or whatever your little heart desires.

as we say in new england: WICKED GOOD.

this will definitely become part of your holiday tradition... if you like seafood, that is. sure blows the restaurant version out of the water. no pun intended.

happy holidays.

love,

the keezer/cornwell mamas

what's for dinner tonight {shrimp tacos}.

nick&i love to eat healthy and i always have to be creative to keep this something that is not only good for us, but enjoyable. we love eating seafood too, so i created this recipe for shrimp tacos... i took part of a recipe on allrecipes.com (my fav cooking companion) and then modified it for us. i don't usually really measure when i create things in the kitchen... i go by what tastes good and usually lose track of how much of what i put in... but here is my best "recipe" for this creation.

shrimp tacos

*20 raw medium size shrimp, peeled and devined

*1 t. + a few sprinkles cumin

*garlic salt

*cooking spray

*2 c. shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix

*2 T. honey

*1/3 c. fresh lime juice

*1/4 c. mayonnaise (i use the kraft reduced fat made with olive oil)

*1 avocado

*salsa

*salt and pepper to taste

*4 tortillas

- whisk together lime juice, honey, 1 t. cumin and mayo. add cabbage and coat with dressing.

- in a nonstick skillet, spray with cooking spray and put on medium to medium-high heat. sprinkle shrimp with cumin and garlic salt to taste and cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through (be careful to not overcook or else they will be chewy!)

- wet a paper towel and wrap the tortillas with paper towel. place in the microwave and cook on high for about 35 seconds, or until warmed through. place 5 shrimp in each tortilla, top with coleslaw, slices of avocado and salsa.

this is a very easy recipe and you'll have leftover coleslaw for more tacos... tilapia or other white fish works great in these as well. we buy big bags of shrimp when they are on sale at walmart. we can use them in these tacos, or with pasta and lemon and garlic, or just grilled with veggies. it's important when eating healthy to buy versatile ingredients that work well in many dishes. we serve these tacos with a green salad with tomatoes and bell peppers. but you can also serve with rice and black beans or any other healthy side dish of your choice.

enjoy!