Do you need a quick yet delicious idea for a winter warming soup? Do you need a new way of preparing frozen white fish from your freezer?
You must try this 20-minute Manhattan Fish Chowder recipe.
20-Minute Manhattan Fish Chowder
Ingredients:
24-ounces of white fish such as Cod
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
4 fluid ounces white wine
4 tablespoons tomato paste
4 teaspoons vegetable base
2 shallots, diced - could use 1 small white or yellow onion
Parsley to taste, chopped (optional)
Directions:
Cook fish in pan with 4 teaspoons of olive oil until 145 degrees, approximately 3-5 minutes per side. Remove fish from pan and break into bite-sized chunks.
Add diced shallot (or onion) to pan (no need to clean it out) and cook to soften 3-5 minutes. Add two cups water, tomato paste, Old Bay, chopped tomatoes, vegetable base, and wine. Boil and then cook for 5 minutes.
Add cod and chopped parsley, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Warm through by cooking 1-2 minutes.
We loved how fast this meal came together and appreciated being able to use fish from the freezer caught from a recent ocean-fishing trip.
I am coming clean that I have a brand-new favorite Focaccia.
It's just so much faster than my original recipe.
AND it's freezer friendly!
I can barely keep a stash in the freezer as the teens devour this bread, round after round.
Just between you and I, I make three rounds at a time and put two out for immediate consumption and freeze/hide a back-up for those helter-skelter nights that we seem to keep having now that soccer season is in full gear every night.
This bread, hot out of the oven, just melts in your mouth. It's great plain or with a little grapeseed or olive oil dipping oil mixed with herbs and spices (and a little balsamic vinegar too if you like that kind of combo).
If you have a bread machine, this will come together even faster although I can't imagine that it will take that long as it is a low-maintenance style bread in terms of kneading, etc.
Weeknight Focaccia
Recipe adapted slightly from Not Your Mother's Make-Ahead & Freeze Cookbook by Jessica Fisher
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (or you can substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Coarse salt
Instructions:
Combine water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, flour, the 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, oregano and yeast in a bread machine and program it for the dough setting. If making without a bread machine, mix the ingredients and then knead dough on a lightly floured surface, allowing the dough to rise in a warm place for an hour to an hour and a half, with plastic wrap covering the dough.
Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, generously, with olive oil.
When the dough is done, remove dough to greased surface and divide into three portions. Press each third into a prepared cake pan.
Ensure that both sides are covered in olive oil by flipping the dough rounds over. Spread and press dough to the edges of the pan.
Cover the pans with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for at least 30 minutes, or longer, until doubled in bulk.
About 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap and drizzle the remaining olive oil over the bread rounds. Sprinkle the tops with coarse salt and bake for 15 minutes.
The key next is to cool the rounds completely (without anyone helping themselves). Remove from the pans, wrap securely in plastic wrap and place each round into a freezer bag. Thaw the bread at room temperature in their wrappings and to warm the bread, heat in a 350 degree F. oven for about 5 minutes prior to serving.
P.S. If you enjoy preparing meals ahead, cooking in bulk or freezer meal preparation, then Jessica Fischer's cookbook, Not Your Mother's Make-Ahead & Freeze Cookbook is a gem and a lifesaver. She not only provides over 200 freezer-friendly recipes but also gives you cooking plans for power meal preparation days. I am working my way through the cookbook and finding her hints, tips, and anecdotes extremely helpful and her recipes have all been family favorites. I highly encourage you to check this book out in some capacity as it can revolutionalize the way you prepare healthy, yet delicious meals.
Not to mention that we are very spoiled with dishwashers and appliances that speed the process of cooking and prep work for meals! For some reason, while camping it seems that meals just run into each other and just as you finish breakfast clean-up that it's already time to prep for lunch. I am not a fan of all prep it takes to prepare for camping nor the work it takes to unpack from camping.
Camping Menu Plan
This year I took a new approach to my pre-camp preparations.
I tried to prep and pre-cook as many meals as possible to cut down on the actual time while communing with nature.
Just returning from a camping trip with friends, I am sharing our Camping Meal Plan to inspire others for ideas beyond roasting hot dogs for days on end while camping.
Connor getting challenged in a game of checkers.
But nothing compares to an evening spent around the fire amongst family and friends, laughing, roasting marshmallows and telling scary stories with the stars sparkling above. I love the time spent with family, unplugged and without distractions from the the outside world. I love the fact that the kids find enjoyment building fires, discovering the natural world and challenging each other to endless games of checkers or Mancala.
I reassured the kids that we could expect a few flops from our recipe testing, especially since while cooking over a fire or coals, you have less control over the heat and without knowing initial times, we may blacken an item or two. Sure enough, we experienced a few burnt items but all in all, we had fun with the process.
New Finds:
We loved using Pie Irons this trip and experimented with fillings and creations. If you have not tried these while camping before, I highly recommend. I remembered having these while growing up filled with jam and they are so delicious. It's also fun for individuals to cook your own meals over the open flame of a campfire.
Breakfasts
Available Daily: Hot Cocoa Packets/Orange Juice
Fruit
1. Connor’s Famous Potatoes – pre-cooked/diced potatoes, precooked bacon, grated cheese, green onion/salsa
5. Breakfast Burritos (meats, potatoes, cheese and salsa wrapped in tortilla)
6. Pie Iron Blueberry Muffins
Bacon
Oranges
Pie Iron Blueberry Muffin
Blueberry Muffins baked in oranges - I "cheated" and used a store-purchased box of Jiffy blueberry muffin mix and mixed with milk and eggs. After scooping out the inside of the orange, we wrapped them in foil (with room to rise while baking) and set them on the coals. They were a huge hit and a welcome treat.
Scoop out the flesh from an orange, pour in your muffin batter, wrap in heavy-duty foil and bake in the coals of your campfire until done, being careful not to burn.
Lunches
Available Daily: Lemonade
Fresh veggies and dip
Watermelon
Chips
1. Quesadillas
2. Walking Tacos – We had fun using individual chip bags of Fritos or Doritos topped with ground turkey taco meat, grated cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and salsa for a "walking taco salad". Zero mess to clean up unless you used a fork like the Hubs.
3. Grilled Cheese in the Pie Irons – bread, butter, sliced cheese
4. Make your own sandwich bar:
Crusty Bread with Salami and Cheese
Rye Bread with Pastrami and Cheese
Prosciutto and Crackers and Cheese
Turkey and Cheese
Peanut Butter and Jelly
5. Chili and Cornbread
6. Leftovers from dinners
Dinners
Available Daily: Vegetables
1. Spaghetti and Meatballs - (make sauce and brown sausage prior to camp)
You need to make these Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs this week.
They are healthy.
They are easy.
And they taste amazing!
These Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs work great as appetizers speared with toothpicks and a pineapple (I've made them for many baby and wedding showers over the years and think they will work great for future graduation/promotion parties too) or served over rice with steamed vegetables.
Just a few ingredients combined together, scoop them into balls and pop them in the oven for a quick bake.
Ingredients (minus the fresh ginger, not pictured).
Luau Time? Luau-themed celebrations seem to be a perfect way to kick-off summer. I've compiled a list of Luau party ideas on my Pinterest page for more inspiration and think that these Hawaiian Meatballs should kick start your gathering whether you are having a backyard dinner for 4 or a party for 20!
Aloha!
Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs
Adapted slightly from a Pampered Chef recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh ground turkey (or ground chicken)
1/2 cup Panko (or dry bread crumbs, or crushed Saltine crackers)
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1/2 cup red or green bell peppers, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped (I keep a peeled, ginger root in my freezer so that I always have "fresh ginger" on hand, then I shave it or grate it as needed for recipes such as this one)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
16 ounces pineapple chunks and their juice, reserve 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice for meatballs
1 cup teriyaki sauce (We love Yoshida's Hawaiian sauce for this recipe.)
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine 1/4 cup of pineapple juice, bell pepper, ginger root, turkey, green onion, Panko crumbs and salt. Mix.
2. Scoop meat mixture into balls the size of golf balls and place in a 13" x 9" baking pan. Pour pineapple chunks in amongst meatballs and cover with teriyaki sauce. Mix to lightly coat.
3. Bake 30 minutes.
Note: By the way, have you ever tried the Trader Joe's brown rice that comes in the freezer section? It takes minutes to have tasty brown rice cooked to perfection on the table. Love healthy deliciousness in minutes when I am in a pinch!
Back in the days before becoming a mom myself (eep, 16 years ago), I used to be the Mother's Day Brunch planner. Now, we go out to brunch and we search high and low for the "best Mother's Day Brunch". We have tried nearly every brunch option within the 40-mile perimeter of where we live in search of that "special meal".
If I was still planning said Mother's Day Brunches, this is what I would consider for my dream "Imaginary Mother's Day Brunch" menu. (Note: These are some of my all-time favorites. Forgive me for picking some carb-heavy, comfort food selections, but Mother's Day is yet another holiday where we can throw all caution the wind, right?!?)
The Gift of Time - my favorite gift to give my mom while growing up were service-oriented projects that I could do to "help" my mom - cleaning the bathroom, making a meal - chores that would go beyond what was expected. As a mom, these are still "perfect gifts" in my opinion (hint, hint)! I still treasure the homemade cards from my kids with a sentiment or two. (These cards and affirmations help as a little reminder during the non-so-fun mom moments.)
Remember there are "moms" out there of all kinds to recognize on Mother's Day, not just the mothers of children/teens/grown adults but the furry animal mama's or women that serve in a "mom-like role", to include aunts, grandmas and others helping raise children in any capacity.
A girl in love with the seasons who wants to cram as much as she can into the 365 days of the year to live a life of bliss. Welcome to What Matters Most Now! I hope you will find inspiration and recipes you love.
