My First Fondant Cake Experience!

I made a fondant cake. That’s a statement I thought I’d never say! For Ella’s birthday I really wanted to make a cake that she would love. She was only turning two, so it doesn’t take much for her to love a cake. haha. But you mom’s know how it is. You’re preparing for this birthday party and you’re thinking about the pictures people will be looking at both next week on Instagram and 20 years from now. You want it to be good! Well this seriously stretched me because I am not a baker.

I love to bake. Actually baking is one of my top 10 things I love to do. Literally, I have a list. I just never can prioritize that because there are other things I love more. Anyways, fondant was as foreign a substance to me as moon rocks until my dear friend Stacy helped me get acquainted with it. Now I can make fondant anything. I could make a fondant table lamp if I wanted to. Not really, it would melt.

So here are some pics from my preparation for Ella’s big day, and my big day of co-baking fondant success!

And the result: A happy child, a full house, and a special memory. A fun time was had by all!

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Tilapia Fish Tacos Ultimo

I have never in my life been interested in fish tacos. But we have found a recipe that I love and its really pretty healthy! I found it on allrecipes.com (they have an awesome free app for your phone) and I want to post it here for you.

We have been getting the Costco tilapia for awhile now, and it is really good. Tilapia is a white lean fish that does not have a strong fishy taste. Honestly I started looking for new things to do with it though because I was getting burned out on just plain dry rub grilled tilapia. Here is a pic of what we get:

And here is the recipe:

Ingredients-

• 1 lb tilapia fillets (about 4)
• 1 TB lime juice
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t ground pepper
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1 t paprika
• 8 (5-6 inch) corn tortillas

For cream sauce:

• 1/2 C plain yogurt
• 2 TB lime juice
• 1 1/2 TB chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 t canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Tor toppings:

• 1 C shredded cabbage
• 1/2 C shredded monterey jack cheese
• 3/4 C chopped tomatoes
• 1 avocado (can put it on sliced or make guacamole to top your tacos)
• 1/4 C salsa
• 1/4 C green onion or red onion

For the fish, you just thaw them (place the packets in warm/room temp water-takes like 15 min) and first rub them down with lime juice. Then sprinkle them on both sides with your salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Super easy. They are ready for grilling (but they don’t take long so you might want to do some other prep before you throw them on. They take about 5-6 min per side.)

For the cream sauce, you want to put the yogurt, lime juice, cilantro and chipotle peppers in a blender or magic bullet. Don’t go overboard on the chipotle peppers. You can always add more. They pack quite a punch so I would suggest blending it up and trying it first before adding more than the suggested amount. That’s it, just put them in there and blend them up. Sauce ready to go!

For your toppings, you can make whatever variations you choose. We used 2 avocados and made simple guacamole (mash avocados with salt, garlic powder, lime juice and cilantro- all to taste). We also didn’t have cabbage so we used romaine. No biggie. It would be good with cabbage though if you have it.

When the fish is done on the grill you’ll know because it begins to split down the middle (don’t overcook). Just chop them up and use 1/2 a fillet per taco. Add your cream sauce and your toppings as desired and you’re ready to eat!

One thing I love about this recipe is that the cream sauce isn’t bad for you. There is no oil, butter, cheese, or sour cream in it, but it is so good! It makes the meal, so use it up!

Pesto Feta Pizza

Here is an awesome summer meal that is quick and easy and also semi healthy! I found this recipe on my allrecipes.com iPhone app (amazing and free) called spinach and feta pita bake. I’ve made some variations and it has become one of our family favorites. It is so great for summer meals when you don’t have much time (and/or energy when its hot!) and want to do something simple.

Here are the ingredients:
4 pieces of garlic (or regular flavor) naan bread
1 jar of sun dried tomato pesto (6 oz)
1 to 1 1/2 cups sliced grape tomatoes
3 oz sliced mushrooms
6 oz (3/4 cup) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup of grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
Black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First you start with laying the naan out on a cookie sheet or baking pan, and you spread a layer of sun-dried tomato pesto onto the naan. Sun-dried tomato pesto has a strong flavor so take that into consideration in the amount that you use. A 6 ounce can of pesto will be plenty if you want to make four pizzas. After you spread the pesto on the pizzas, add the grape tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. You can vary the amount to your liking.

After the mushrooms and tomatoes, sprinkle about 1/8 cup parmesan cheese on each, and follow with about a fourth of a cup of the feta cheese (I use the fat-free and it tastes great) on top of each naan. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil before putting it into the oven. It adds a bit of flavor and keeps everything moist. However If you are really watching your diet you can lessen the olive oil or leave it out altogether and it will turn out just fine. Season with black pepper to taste.

Bake at 350 for 12-14 min and enjoy! Each naan is approximately 500 calories (If you use regular feta as opposed to fat free). This recipe is a crowd pleaser and tastes way too good to be so simple!

Mango and Sticky Rice

Ever since I went to Thailand in 2002 I have wanted to know how to make sticky rice. So last month I got on a make-Thai-food-at-home kick and I googled sticky rice to see what I could find. For a very low price I found a Thai sticky rice steamer (the best, according to all the reviews). When I told David about it he said we could order it! For less than 30 dollars we got the rice steamer, a 5 lb bag of glutinous rice (you can’t find it at more grocery stores) and like 8 square feet of cheesecloth! All we had to buy at the store was coconut milk and mangos!

So here is the recipe:

• 1 cup thai glutinous or “sweet” rice
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coconut milk

Soak rice overnight in water. Put water in the silver pot (doesn’t really matter how much, just fill it to where it doesn’t touch the bamboo part) and bring to a boil. Drain the rice and wrap it up in cheesecloth. Once the water is boiling, place the rice (wrapped in cheesecloth) into the bamboo and cover it with an 8 inch lid (as shown above). Steam the rice for approximately 45 minutes.

In the meantime, first cut up your fresh mango. The pit of a mango is large and flat so be careful not to cut through it. Heat 1 cup coconut milk in a pot over medium heat. Stir constantly, then add sugar and salt. Stir and remove from heat. Pour most of the coconut mixture over the rice, and then place the rice and mango together on a serving plate. Pour the remainder of the coconut mixture over the rice before serving. Once you invest in a steamer, this is a very easy yet unique desert that’s fun and delicious!