Fried Taters with Hotdogs and Fish Tacos

I'm so excited right now! It is half past midnight and I'm up baking cookies for my hubby to take out on location tomorrow. Why does this excite me? Well, because I love to bake, and when Beau was working for the frac company here I would always make yummy treats for him to take so he and the rest of the crew could have something to snack on for the rest of the day. When Beau changed jobs that stopped because he was so far away. Now that he's back I am able to start doing this again - although I have to wait for big jobs to come up so there are plenty of guys to help him eat all the goodies. Okay, so that's why I'm excited.

Now, baking cookies has absolutely nothing to do with the title of this blog post. That's because it's not tied together in any way, shape or form - except for the fact that they both have to do with cooking. Okay - so tonight for dinner I made a new recipe from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook - Fish Tacos. And, to go with it, I decided to make fried taters with hotdogs. I know, the main dish was healthy whereas the side isn't...I'm not sure about you but I think that makes a balanced meal. Actually, the reason I decided on fried taters with hotdogs is because I needed something my 2 1/2 year old would eat - or at least have an interest in eating. You will be happy to know that it worked! He loved the dish!

In response to the inquiries I had about the recipe on facebook, I have decided to include both recipes in this post in case you are looking for something new and unique to cook for your family at dinnertime!

Fish Tacos

Ingredients:
Mini Tortillas
1 lb. Fish, thawed (Your choice - I used Tilipia)
Seasoning of Your Choice (I used Creole Seasoning)
Olive Oil
Coleslaw with Orange-Cilantro Vinaigrette (See Below)
Fresh Pico de Gallo or salsa (Optinal)

Directions:
1. Lightly coat both sides of fish fillets with olive oil and season.
2.Lightly coat a skillet with olive oil and heat until oil sizzles.
3. Add fish fillet to hot skillet and cook - usually a total of 5 minutes is good (remember to turn fish every now and then).
4.Once fish is cooked chop into smaller pieces and place in a dish on the side.
5. Spread coleslaw with orange-cilantro vinaigrette onto a mini tortilla, top with cooked fish and pico de gallo.
6. Enjoy!

Coleslaw with Orange-Cilantro Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1 Bag of Coleslaw (with green cabbage, red onion and carrots)
1/4 c. fat-free plain yogurt
1/2 c. light mayonnaise
1/4 c. 100% orange juice
3 T. white vingar
1 1/2 t. honey
1/3 c. freshly chopped cilantro
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a bowl mix yogurt, mayonnaise, orange juice, vinegar and honey.
2. Mix in the bag of coleslaw and cilantro.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Refrigerate at least 3 hours - or to speed the process (like I did) you can place in the freezer for a shorter amount of time.
5. Serve and enjoy. This will stay good in the frige for 2-3 days.

Fried Taters with Hotdogs

Ingredients:
4 Average Sized Potatoes, peeled (can be any kind - russet, new potatoes, red potatoes, etc..)
3 Hotdogs, cut into small pieces
Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Pour ample amount of olive oil into skillet and heat until it sizzles.
2. Slice the potatoes into very thin slices - then cut slices into quarters.
3. Once the oil is heated, add the potatoes.
4. Turn the potatoes over every now and then.
5. Once the potatoes begin to brown on both sides, add the hotdogs.
5. Cook until the potatoes are soft and brown and the hotdogs are cooked through.
6. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy these recipes. Please remember the first two were originally taken from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook. I took the pleasure of amending these to fit my personal needs. This basically means I found a way to make it simpler. The last recipe is one that has been passed down from my mother to me - and I have a feeling it is a pretty common dish in Oklahoma!

2 New Food Favs!

Okay, so I know that summertime is the time when we all (yes, I am too) go on a diet, and many of us don't like to discuss food while we're dieting. Well, I'm doing it anyways! Mainly because I've found two great healthy food choices for those of us who are dieting!

The first, I actually found a while back but the more I eat it, the more I love it! This is the Healthy Choice All Natural Entrees. The one I actually had today was the Portabella Spinach Parmesan. These yummy meals have no preservatives in them and are made with extra virgin olive oil, thus eliminating partially hydrogenated oils! Another great fact is that the pasta is whole grain pasta which provides me fiber. Oh, and the meal I ate today only had 270 calories with 5 grams of fiber, 12 grams of protein and only 2 grams of sugar!

 Okay, so the next great food find I have for you was discovered last night while I was evaluating the new Greek Yogurt at WalMart. The Greek Yogurt is actually pretty good, but I found another kind of yogurt I thought I'd share with you. This is the new Fiber One Yogurt! Maybe it's been out for a while, I don't know because my yogurt consumption comes and goes in stages - right now I happen to be on a yogurt kick. So if you happen to have already discovered this, then feel free to quit reading. Anyways, the reason I'm pretty excited about this yogurt is that it has 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar and 3 grams of protein...but, the best part is it only has 50 calories! So, it makes great breakfast or even a perfect light snack!

So, there you have it. My two new favorite diet foods for summer! They're both easy and quick and can be eaten without a sense of guilt. Plus, they're healthy and actually taste great! If you haven't tried them, then you should give them a chance next time you walk by them at the grocery store.

Such a Short Trip

Okay, well I'm just updating everyone with the fact that after a whirlwind weekend, we are finally back home. It was such a crazy weekend. We left Friday morning at 3am and arrived in Alabama at around 4:30pm. Then we spent all day Saturday visiting with family and attending my cousin's wedding that night. (The wedding was so pretty. It was outdoors by a lake, very small and intimate - such a gorgeous wedding and my cousin was beautiful!) Anyways, after breakfast with the family Sunday morning, we were back on our way home to Oklahoma. We made it home around midnight. So, needless to say I'm exhausted!

And, I'm here to report that our little man did wonderful on both of the long car rides. We brought movies, toys and snacks. And on Thursday night Beau even found a piece of plywood and covered it with some extra vinyl flooring to make him a little table so he could play with toys on. The movies and toys kept our little man entertained and he did take a few naps on the road too! So, no complaints here. Except our trip was way too short! I already miss my family and want to go back.

Interested in Amazon's First Fall Pre-Sale?

Alright, I know it's been a while since I talked about this, but I'm a huge fan of Amazon! About 1 1/2 years ago I made a "mistake" and missed the deadline to stop my free Amazon Prime trial, which resulted in an accidental fee of like $80 for the next year. I have to say, that I'm SO glad I made that mistake! For the past two Christmases, I've used Amazon to buy many gifts - not to mention all I buy throughout the year.

Well, while Amazon Prime is one of my favorite services, that's not what this blog post is about today. Instead, I'm blogging about the fact that Amazon has launched a Fall Pre-Sale for the first time ever! So, if you're like me and enjoy partaking in the great deals found online then you have to check out this Pre-Sale! Perhaps you need some fashion gift ideas for Christmas...or you just need to update your closest for a reasonable price - then head on over and see what Amazon has to offer.

Long Drive Ahead

Well, this coming Friday my family and I will be heading to Huntsville, Alabama for my cousin's wedding! While I am excited for the wedding and to see the family again, I am not looking forward to the 13 hour drive with my 2 1/2 year old chatterbox. I'm not at all worried about the first 6 or so hours of the drive as we're planning to leave really early while he's sleeping - it's the last 6-7 hours that I'm a little worried about.

I know I'm not the only one out there who has had the fun of driving a long time with a toddler. So, any advice you have would be great. Here's what I'm planning to do: First, we're riding with my mom and dad and they have a DVD player in the van - so, Hastings here I come! I'm going to stock up on movies my little one hasn't seen to keep him interested. I'm also planning on hitting up Dollar Tree or some other store that carries cheap toys. I will get a bag full of these cheap toys and periodically throughout the drive pull a new one out. Also, a must-have on my list is a bag full of snacks to help keep him content.

For those of you who are like me and don't have a lot of experience of traveling with children...or, maybe you do, but are looking for new road-traveling ideas to keep the kids occupied, I have found a great article with many ideas! You can read it here: http://www.wejustgotback.com/default.aspx?mod=tips_road.