PICTURE THIS: Mimosa Fixins-Cheers to Wills and Kate

"I only drink champagne when I'm happy, and when I'm sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone.
When I have company, I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty." Lilly Bollinger

Recipe for Baked Fish with Salsa

This recipe for baked fish is about as easy as it gets.  It’s what I do when I know it’s time for us to have fish but I have no inspiration for a recipe, it’s late and I just want to get dinner on the table in the shortest time possible.  The good news is that it is tasty!

Ingredients for 2 servings:

10 ounces firm white fish

2 tsp olive oil

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Fresh or store bought tomato salsa

Optional: fresh herbs for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put fish in oven proof container.  Combine lemon juice and olive oil and pour over the fish.  Generously salt and pepper.

Bake for 10 minutes or until just flaking.  Remove and top with salsa and fresh herbs.

How easy is that?  What's your "get food on the table in 15 minutes" meal?



Printable Recipe

More Egg White Breakfast Ideas

A while back I shared a recipe for a quick egg white breakfast made in the microwave.  I love these things!  Quick, easy, versatile, healthy, filling...all good things.  I've snapped a couple of photos of other variations so I thought I should be a good blogger and share.


Here's the original made with turkey pepperoni and cheese...

I call both of these "salsa egg whites" but make them two different ways.  Here's the first...

A cup of egg whites, 2 TBSP fresh salsa, 1 TBSP low fat grated cheese; microwave 1 1/2-2 minutes; top with taco sauce.

For the second version...

A cup of egg whites and 1 sandwich slice low fat cheddar torn in to small pieces microwaved 1 1/2-2 minutes.  Top with 2 TBSP fresh salsa and freshly ground black pepper.

Don't forget to use a bowl/dish large enough to allow for the puffing that occurs during cooking (I use a glass prep bowl) and do keep an eye on it but don't panic when you see it puff up.  Spray the bowl with cooking spray before adding the ingredients.

You'll be surprised how filling these are and how well they "stick" with you through the morning.

Aloha and welcome to all the new readers of the blog-glad to have you and would love to hear from you!

What are you eating for breakfast these days?



Recipe for Double Chocolate Mocha Mint Cookies

These cookies remind me of the mint Girl Scout cookies but instead of thin and crunchy they are thick and soft.  Sort of like a brownie cookie-depending on how long you cook them, they’ll either be fudgy (my preference) or cakey (my husband’s preference).  I tried to make them on the healthier side by using white whole wheat flour and a minimum amount of brown sugar blend.  

Makes 26 cookies, each approximately 93 calories, 6.5 grams fat, 8 grams carbs, 1.5 grams fiber, 2 grams protein; 3 WW Points +

Recipe for Prosciutto Wrapped Pesto Tortellini with Asparagus

Ah, Italy.  The wine, the beautiful people, the amazing scenery and of course, the food.   This little appetizer was inspired by thoughts of Italy and of spring.  The fresh, local asparagus is heavenly tucked inside prosciutto with a nice surprise of soft pillows of cheese tortellini bathed in pesto…am I making you hungry?

PICTURE THIS: Happy Easter!

Homemade Wheat Bread Crostinis



I’ve admitted before that I could exist on appetizers.  I just love bites of “this and that” much more than a big serving of just “this”.   Here’s an example.  I could have happily just eaten the homemade wheat crostinis, cheese, and grapes and skipped the meal (which was pretty good: my “not just for special occasion roasted chicken”, a huge crunchy green salad and fresh broccoli).  I managed to resist and share the appetizers with our guests!

Recipe for Panko Crusted Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi

Trying to provide you a fish recipe every week has been good for me-reminding me to be sure we eat fish at least once a week!  This recipe is so simple, yet the tenderness of the fish, the crispiness of the panko crust and the tang of the lemon create a real quality dish.  Try it, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Makes 2 servings, each approximately 322 calories, 12 grams fat, 16 grams carbs, 0 fiber, 36 grams protein;  8 WW Points+

Recipe for Pimiento Mac-N-Cheese

I wanted to do something with pimiento cheese as part of the Master’s party we threw last week (if you aren’t Master’s followers, pimiento cheese sandwiches are a major food draw at the golf course).  I knew the other ladies were bringing pretty healthy stuff so I figured I could splurge a bit and do a mac-n-cheese.  Plus a lot of the guys generally don’t get too much in the way of carbs at home (don’t feel too sorry for them, they eat plenty well!).   Well, the March edition of bon appétit (which, par for the course, arrived here on Maui in early April, just in time for the party) featured a yummy looking mac-n-cheese on their cover, made with pimiento cheese, so I was “good to go”.

Slow Cooker Shredded Barbeque Chicken for a Crowd

The slow cooker is a treat to have when preparing food for a large crowd.  My slow cooker is quite the beast so it came in handy last week when we hosted a crowd to watch the final round of the Master's.  In honor of the Master's I served some Southern inspired dishes.  Here's one.
 

PICTURE THIS: Local Hawaiian Tomatoes (from the Big Island of Hawaii)

"A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." - Laurie Colwin

Recipe for Honey Wheat and Oatmeal Hamburger Buns

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know I like to make our bread in my bread machine or by hand using mostly whole wheat flour.  I wondered if the bread machine recipe would work to make buns so I used the basic recipe but used the dough hook in my mixer, did the rises, and then used the oven with a pan of water in the bottom to generate steam as described in my post on no knead bread.

19th Hole. And all good things in moderation.

There's nothing better than getting together with a group of friends to share laughs, food and beverages. 

Recipe for Raspberry-Jalapeno Almond Butter Cups

Are you looking for a home-made treat for Easter?  Give these easy almond butter cups a try.  I’ve seen quite a few recipes for home-made candies based on popular commercial brands but they all seem to have stuff in them that I don’t really want to use like tons of powdered sugar or cornstarch or other stuff that I didn’t even know what it was.  I guess that’s what makes those candies taste so good, and probably not so good for us! 

So I thought I just give it a try with the basics: chocolate and nut butter, and added in a couple of things for fun: raspberry-jalapeno sauce and kosher salt. 

Method for Grilled Asparagus

It’s great to support local farmers and how easy is it when they provide us with produce like this beautiful asparagus?  This was grown here on Maui and was so fresh tasting.  I hope you are starting to see some great spring veggies showing up in your markets.

PICTURE THIS: Spring Bouquet of Freshness

Anuhea Farm Asparagus, Makawao, Maui





Recipe for Greek Salad Bison Burgers



Beautiful Grill Work Courtesy of Mr. ELEB!



Earlier this week, I shared the story of how the Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken recipe came about.  Today's recipe resulted from my plan to make bison burgers and Greek salad for dinner.  However, I overheard a couple of acquaintances discussing lamb burgers made with olives and feta, how good they were etc, etc.  Mr. ELEB really likes Greek Salad and so do I.  What’s not to like?  Fresh veggies, good fat, tangy flavors…    I started thinking; why not just put the whole Greek salad in/on the burger?  So, that’s just what I did!

Recipe for Cumin Cauliflower Casserole with Cheesy Tostitos Topping

Wow, that title is quite the mouthful!  Just trying to be descriptive. 

Last week we got to try the new Tostitos Fire Roasted Chipotle Tortilla Chips as a base for my Ahi Edamame Nachos.   They got an A for taste on their own with some dip and were a great complement to the nachos.

This week we opened the Roasted Garlic Black Bean Tortilla Chips. 

They are nice and thin like the Chipotle ones and held up well to being dipped in some hummus. 

I’ll have to say, the flavor was a bit underwhelming for me.  I’m not sure that if I hadn’t known what the flavor was whether I’d have been able to identify it.  They aren’t bad but I don’t get much garlic and no black bean flavor.  Disappointing.  Ah, well. 

I wanted to give them a try in a recipe so I whipped up this cauliflower dish.

Recipe for Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Do you ever wonder how people's recipes come about?  Well for this one I'll satisfy your curiosity.  I bought a bottle of buffalo chicken hot sauce ages ago intending to make some buffalo chicken for pizza.  And recently I read on Cara’s Cravings how to modify a large slow cooker to make smaller quantities.  Mine is a massive beast which always means plenty of leftovers for the freezer.  Cara has the same issue I have: sometimes you just want to make smaller quantities.   So she came up with this ingenious method of using a smaller ceramic container with a lid INSIDE the larger slow cooker for those times.   (She also has a great sounding Buffalo Chicken recipe but I just went simple-chicken, onion, and sauce).  I never made the pizza (we ate all the chicken!) but I think this would be good on a pizza but I'm sure you'll see that on Eat Little, Eat Big one day.

Recipe for "Not Your Mother's Tuna Salad"

Here’s your fish recipe for the week from Eat Little, Eat Big.  We’re lucky to get access to fresh, good quality ahi tuna here.  It’s tempting to eat it every week! 

It’s crucial to only sear the tuna-you don’t want to cook it all the way through.  Buy the best quality tuna that fits in your budget.  And, a little goes a long way-3-4 ounces per person is plenty.

PICTURE THIS: ANY GUESSES??

If you guessed breadfruit-you'd be right!
Trivia: breadfruit is a starchy fruit that, when cooked, is supposed to smell like freshly baked bread.  It grows on trees and is a popular starch in the Pacific islands.