Tilapia and Rice

When my sweetheart and I have time together, one of our favorite activities is cooking as a team. We divide and conquer, each working on a part of the meal, so it's all ready at about the same time. We each have specialties, and this meal is one of the best we make together.

Now, for the record, I don't like most seafood. Besides shrimp, and a dish my friend Cristin makes with salmon her dad has caught fresh, I generally don't like anything fishy. But my honey decided that I should learn to eat tilapia - and surprisingly enough, I did learn to eat it the way he makes it, and I like it too!

We like Zatarain's Crispy Southern fish breading, jazzed up with a little garlic powder, a little Mrs. Dash onion and herb, and sometimes a dash of cajun seasoning for extra zing. My love dips the fish filets in egg white and presses them into the breading mix, thoroughly coating both sides. He then places them on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. The oven should be preheated to 450. The tilapia bakes nicely on the top rack for about 15 minutes, coming out flaky and moist, with the breading cooked to a nicely crispy texture.

The basmati rice is my specialty. A few years ago, when I moved into my first apartment, a dear friend gave me a rice cooker and a 25 pound bag of basmati rice. Since then I have learned to tweak the way I make it to just the way we like it. First I measure out the desired quantity of rice, and rinse it twice to clean off any dirt, hulls, etc. Then I add water in the ratio prescribed in the directions on the bag, but I add an extra half cup of water because we like the rice moist. From there, I add seasonings based on what meals the rice will be complementing. Most of the time, it involves a spoonful of chicken bouillon, a healthy sprinkling of onion powder and garlic powder, and a dash of cajun seasoning or cumin, depending on the theme of the meal. I stir it up with a pat of butter or a teaspoon of olive oil, and let it steam in the rice cooker, stirring it occasionally to ensure everything gets mixed up.

The rice is usually done in about 20 minutes, perfect timing to be ready at the same time as baked fish, baked chicken, sauteed Italian sausage, chicken casserole, or whatever I'm pairing it with. Add french bread or sandwich bread, toasted or broiled, and some kind of vegetable, fruit, or dessert. With the two of us working together, it's a meal completely prepared and on the table in about 35 minutes!

Orange Dreamsicle Cake

If you've been reading my recipe blog, you have probably noticed by now that I like simple, easy recipes. My google search history is full of things like "quick and easy dessert" and "5 ingredient cookies." I ran across this recipe, tweaked it to make it my own, and it was a smashing success! I took it to a work pitch-in and it was completely gone in about 2 hours.

The cake part is a simple vanilla box cake mix, made to the instructions on the box in a 9x13 pan. The only thing I would change is to add a splash of vanilla for better taste. Oh, and separate the eggs in a small bowl and whip them with an electric beater for about a minute before adding them to the cake mix, oil, water, etc. The whipped eggs help make the cake very light and fluffy, which is rather important to the success of this venture. You can make a cake from scratch if you feel so inclined, but I guarantee you most people won't know the difference.

Once the cake is cool you're ready for the frosting. Here goes:

1 box orange Jell-O mix
1 box vanilla pudding mix
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
splash vanilla extract
splash orange extract
1 tub cool whip

In a medium bowl, whisk the Jell-O powder, pudding powder, and milk together thoroughly until it is well mixed and slightly thickened. Add the extracts, and extra red and yellow food coloring if you want it to look more orange. Fold the cool whip in and mix with a spoon or spatula.

It's best if you let the frosting sit in the fridge for an hour or two to set up nicely before frosting the cake. And then my advice would be to slice yourself a piece first, because once the cake is cut and everyone gets a taste, it will be gone before you know it! It's a wonderfully light, summery cake, with just the right mixture of orange and vanilla to remind you exactly of an orange dreamsicle.

The Best Cookies Ever

Hello again! I just made the most amazing chocolate cookies! Seriously...soft, moist, rich, and extremely amazing. Like can't stop eating them. Like someone stop me please. No seriously stop me.

Anyway, these cookies are some of my husband's favorites, and they're one of mine too because they're so simple. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter 
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp milk
1 box dark chocolate cake mix 

Heat oven to 350. Cream the butter (if it's a little bit melted, it's ok). Beat in egg, vanilla, and milk. Thoroughly mix in cake mix by hand. Drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet, then flatten with fingertips. These cookies spread a little but not much. Bake for about 7 minutes - do not overbake, they will look puffy when they are ready. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 4-5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to finish cooling. 

So here's some awesome things about these cookies. First, they are very soft and nice. Second, they actually taste better as cookies than as cookie dough, which means that more of them end up as cookies. And third, they don't have to be chocolate - they can literally be made in any flavor, for any occasion.

Think about it. The main ingredient is a cake mix. It can be customized to any taste or occasion. For Thanksgiving, use a spice cake mix. For Valentine's Day, use a strawberry cake mix, then dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate. During the summer, use a lemon cake mix, and in the winter use a vanilla cake mix and add mint extract and red or green food coloring. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination - and the WalMart baking aisle. See why these are the best cookies ever?