Fabulous Tilapia Skillet

I made this recipe this evening for dinner and wanted to write it down before I forget what I did. It was one of those use what you have on hand dinners.

Ingredients

• 6 Tilapia fillets
• 6 to 7 garlic cloves chopped chunky
• 1/2 cup of chopped onion (I used frozen to be quick)
• A couple of handfuls grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 to 4 Tbsp of Olive oil
• Tony Chachere's creole seasoning
• garlic powder
• Marsala cooking wine (or any white wine you have on hand ... I don't think Marsala is considered white wine ... I have no clue about wine, but I really like cooking with it and a white wine would work with this, too, I'm sure)
• lemon juice
• black pepper
• parsley

Of course I didn't measure anything so these will all be estimates.

Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a LARGE skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic and tomatoes. Let that cook a minute or two. In the mean time, put some garlic powder (not garlic salt) on one side of the fish. Then spinkle the Tony's over it (if you don't like too spicy, go gently with this). Put the fish down in the tomato/onion/garlic mixture seasoned side down. Sprinkle the unseasoned side (which should be up) with the garlic powder and then Tony's. Cook the fish a couple of minutes (until you can see it whitening up on the sides) and then flip it over. Pour about 1/2 to 1 cup of Marsala (or a white wine would work, too) over all of it. At this point I thought I needed some more olive oil, so I added another couple of tablespoons right over the top of everything. Turn the temperature to medium and cover the skillet. Let it cook down a little (about 3 minutes or so) and then add a few squirts of lemon juice (I just had bottled, but I'm sure fresh lemons would be even better) and sprinkle some parsley and black pepper on top. Cover again and let it cook until the fish flakes apart.

I served this over instant brown rice that I cooked in the microwave with fat free beef broth and a few shakes of Tony's. I also served a Caribbean Blend frozen vegetable mix (broccoli, green beans, carrots & red peppers) that I cooked on the stove top with just some olive oil, garlic powder, chopped onion, salt and pepper. I just put it all in a big skillet, covered it and let it cook until the veggies were tender.

A very quick, easy and healthy meal.

Calzones

This recipe is my version of a recipe from "The Magic Kingdom Cookbook" that my 6 year old bought at his book fair. The recipe in there is called "Pizza Planet Cheezy Calzones," and it has the little alien looking toys from Toy Story (I think) in the picture. Anyway, this is my version of that recipe.

Ingredients

• Turkey Pepperoni (or Canadian Bacon or cooked meat of your choice)
• Pizza dough from this recipe or 1 package of refrigerated pizza dough (I make my own ... you can make this up ahead a day or two and keep in the frig covered or in a ziploc bag in the frig until you are ready to use it)
• 1/3 cup of pizza sauce (I use Kroger brand 4 Cheese Spaghetti Sauce and this is an estimate on amount used)
• 1 C. of mozzarella cheese (this is also an estimate on amount used)
• 1 T. of fat free milk
• Parmesan cheese
• Garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray.
2. Roll pizza dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle (or unroll your store bought dough into a rectangle.
3. Cut the dough into 6 or 8 rectangles. Sometimes I roll them out thinner and bigger once they are cut.
4. Use a spoon and spoon a small amount of spaghetti sauce in the middle of each rectangle.
5. Sprinkle each rectangle with mozzarella cheese and then place some pepperonis on each rectangle (the recipe calls for cut up Canadian bacon or cooked ham ... and you can cut up the pepperoni if you really want to ... I usually skip this step ... it is just whatever you prefer).
6. Fold each rectangle over in half over the filling (you can make a triangle or a long rectangle ... I think the long rectangle works better than the triangle, but do what you like).
7. Use a fork to go around the edges and seal each one. Arrange them on your baking sheet as you get each one sealed.
8. The recipe calls for you to prick the top of each calzone (but I forgot to do that tonight and it worked just fine without being pricked ... you can see what a "precise" chef I am! :o).
9. Brush each calzone with fat free milk. Then sprinkle each one with Parmesan cheese and then sprinkle on some garlic powder to taste.
10. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before trying to eat them, because the inside will be super hot!
11. My boys love them served with ranch dressing, but you could serve with extra spaghetti sauce.