Mahi with Lemon and Tomato Sauce

You need:
4 Mahi fillets
1/2 stick of butter
2 gloves of garlic
Juice of 2 lemons
2 Tablespoons of finely chopped green onions
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Wash and pat dry the fish.  Rub each side with olive oil.  Place the fish in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in oven.
In a sauce pan, melt butter, add garlic, onions, lemon, and tomato.  Stir until the tomatoes are tender and falling apart.  Add half to one teaspoon of cornstarch and stir until thickened.  It should be the consistency of gravy.
The fish needs to cook for about 20 minutes of until it flakes easy with a fork.  After plating the fish, spoon the lemon and tomato mixture over each fillet and enjoy.

Today I am linking up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace.

Garlic Salmon Fillets

This was VERY good.  I found a recipe in a magazine and altered it a bit.

You need:
6 4 oz salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick, thawed if frozen
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup snipped parsley
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 large cloves of garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Rinse salmon and pat dry.  Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, mix parsley, broth, olive oil, and garlic.
Place salmon, flat side down, in a glass baking dish.  Pour parsley mixture over salmon fillets.
Bake, uncovered for 8-10 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. 

RECIPE 3:52 FOR 2012

RECIPE #30 - TILAPIA WITH THYME AND GARLIC

This is one of the easiest recipes ever.  I got it from my friend, Dawn, a few years ago and it is still a favorite around here.

Ingredients:

4 Tilapia filets

1/2 cup Mayo (I love Bama brand)

2 tsp of chopped garlic

1 tsp dried Thyme

Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place tilapia filets in a lightly oiled glass baking dish.

Seriously, it is hard for me to tell you how to do this since I really do it by taste.  Mix the mayo, garlic, and thyme together.  You may want more of less and can adjust to your taste.

Spread the mixture on top of each filet and place in the oven.  Bake for 10-15 minutes of until the fish flakes.  You can take it out now or do as I like to and place it under the broiler for about 5 minutes to brown it up a little.

It is completely tasty!

Felt Counting Fish

In honor of Go Fishing Day on June 18th, I made some simple felt fish for Taft.  I added some buttons in different numbers to use for counting practice as well as fishing.

Things that you will need:

Felt sheets (these can be bought at most crafts stores for less than 40 cents per sheet)

Embroidery thread in multiple colors

Needle

Embellishments if wanted

Stick for a pole (we used a wooden spoon)

Magnet

Metal washers (they can be found in bulk at home improvement stores)

Glue

Scissors

The first thing that you need to do it to make yourself a pattern.  I drew out some fish on paper until I got two that I liked.  For each fish you will need to cut out two fish from the felt.    

If you are going to add embellishments, this is the time.  We added buttons in different numbers on each fish to use for counting. You will only put them on one side of the fish so it must be done before sewing the fish together.  Then place the two on top of one another and stitch them together.  We used different bright colors of thread.

 You need to leave a small opening at the mouth of the fish to sew on the washer. 

Now you have the fish finished.  It's time to make a fishing pole.  Any stick would do.  You can buy a stick or just get one from outside.  We decided to use a wooden spoon left over from another project.  It is the perfect size for my three year old.

We attached three to the spoon and secured with glue.  Then you add a magnet as the "hook".  So far, we have not stopped playing or "fishing".

RECIPE # 21 - SALMON PATTIES

A Southern Classic.  The poor mans version of a crab cake.

2 14oz cans of salmon, drained, deboned and flaked

2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
2 tsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Drain canned salmon and place in bowl.  De-bone the fish if you chose.  I always do and I know some people do not.  If you have children, I think that it is a good idea.  Add two eggs and mix well.  Add 1/4 cup of flour and mix well again.  Place patties in a non-stick skillet over medium heat with 2 tsp of vegetable oil. (they can be cooked without the oil but I like the way it makes them crispy on the edges) Cook 3-5 minutes on each side, just until golden brown.

Pets, Pets, Pets

Taft has a new techer at preschool and she has asked for a little help with coming up with crafts for the kids.  Each week they have a shape, color, and theme.  This week at Taft's preschool, the theme is pets. The first project that came to mind was a pet collage. I happened to be fortunate enough to have a HUGE supply of outdated magazines. I work in a office where we take the old ones out of the waiting room and I have been collecting them. I guess I somehow knew that they would one day come in handy.

I cut out every dog, cat, bird, fish, and hamster that I could find.  Mostly pet food ads.  I love all the different animals that I found.  I bagged them all up with a sheet of off white paper for each child.  I can't wait to see what animals Taft picks to go on his collage. 

The next pet project was a bird. When I think about pet birds, I think about little blue and yellow canaries. I just started with a simple coloring sheet that you can get here. I printed them on white cardstoock and made a BIG bag of yellow and blue tissue squares for the children to glue on the birds as feathers. I think they would be really cute if the birds were cut out afterwards and hung around a room.
I found it easiest to cut the tissue with a paper cuter. I use a Caterpillar. It made even neat cuts which is not easy with tissue. You can get a big pack of pastel tissue at Dollar Tree so it makes for a very inexpensive craft.

 I also did a fish bowl. I found the idea here. I loved the simple bowl and the fish but Taft is only 2 and his class is not working on numbers. I used the fish as a template to cut out orange and yellow fish for the children to glue in their bowl. I am hoping they will color their water blue.

I also had to make a change to the bowl. I scanned it in to the computer and enlarged it. It was then printed on cardstock.
Here are some links to some other cute projects and coloring sheets for animals/pets:
Fish Paper Plate Craft
Fish Themed Coloring Sheets
Cat Themed Coloring Sheets
Dog Toilet Paper Roll Craft
Turtle Craft