Pan Seared Cajun Tilapia

It's a beautiful spring day here in North Carolina. We are cooking up some delicious tilapia. The dish is light, yet full of flavor. It will go great with some cous cous and steamed broccoli. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

Pan Seared Cajun Tilapia

5-7 oz Tilapia Filets

2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Few drops of Roasted Garlic Oil (mix it in with the olive oil)

1 tsp Cajun Seasoning

Fresh Basil

Lemon

Directions 

1. Rub the fish down in half of the oil mixture.

2. Sprinkle both sides with Cajun seasoning

3. In a iron skillet, add remaining oil. Heat on medium high for 2-3 minutes

4. Once hot, place fish in skillet. The key to pan searing any protein is to let it cook and not touch it for at least 3 minutes. So, at this point just allow the fish to cook. Once 1/2 inch of the edge of the fish starts to turn white you can flip it. (A great test is to shake the skillet back and forth, if the fish or whatever protein you are cooking releases and slides back and forth it is now ready to cook on the other side)

5. When ready, flip over and add fresh cut basil. To complete the cooking process, you will cook it for another 3-5 minutes. The internal temperature should reach at least 135 degrees.

6. After that, plate it up and squeeze fresh lemon juice on top. Enjoy!

Please comment below to tell us what you think!

Ingles Table

Recently my husband was asked to do some videos for the Ingles Table website. You can find Ingles Markets across the southeast. They are an incredible grocery store! Super clean, super friendly and plenty of variety. I really enjoyed their selection of organic products and how easy the were to find. If you have them in your area, I encourage you to go check them out!!

My husband did two recipes for them and was filmed by Bclip productions. The production team was super friendly and highly professional. They did an incredible job!













Please take a second and check out his videos! He does a Stuffed Pork Tenderloin and a Cilantro Lime Chicken. Make sure to share to your facebook page and comment below to tell us what you think!

North American Whitetail

Hey guys! Long time since we posted last. Please take a second to check out a recent article my husband Chef Derek St.Romain did for North American Whitetail! We had a great time preparing the recipes for this. We used vension in the recipe, but you are welcome to use substitute it for beef. Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

Four Great Chili Recipes by Region

The BEST and EASIEST Yeast Dinner Rolls

Okay, my camera was not my best friend today...so I only got this one photo. By the way, my darling 4 year old helped me shape the rolls...so they aren't exactly perfect. But once you taste these, you won't care what shape they are in because you will be shoving them down your throat too fast to care.

I used REAL ingredients, but no this isn't a gluten free, sugar free, dairy free or egg free recipe. Sorry.

This recipe uses a bread machine. WHA?! Isn't that like cheating you say? Hmm... I have 4 kids.. no. Smart? yes. Go buy yourself one at a thrift store for $12. It will change your life.

Ready for the recipe? Me too....

Here we go:

The BEST and EASIEST Yeast Dinner Rolls ( what a claim, I know)

Makes 24 rolls

1 cup of WHOLE milk heated at 100 degrees (heat in microwave for like 30 sec)
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/3 cup of unrefined sugar
2 eggs
4 cups of bread flour (or unbleached APF)
2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast

Put everything in the bread machine in that order. ****Make sure that the milk and butter are warm/lukewarm. If its too hot you will kill the yeast and the bread won't rise.****

Put your machine on dough cycle and press start.

Now go grab a cup of coffee and read a book. Take a shower. Do laundry. Whatever you want, you got an hour and a half.

Once it's finished the dough cycle, take it out of the machine and put in on the counter. It should be easy to work with, but feel free to use some flour on your hands or the counter to prevent it from sticking.

You can divide it into fourths then make six rolls out of each of the fourths. Rolls the dough into a ball then make a circle with your pointer and thumb and push down over the roll to shape it.

Place the rolls into a buttered/greased 11x9 in pan and preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

Let the rolls rise for...well it depends how warm your house is. Fifteen minutes minimum and 45 minutes max I'd say to let it rise. You want them to rise, but they will rise more in the oven. Be patient and if you give them 30 minutes to rise.... you can't go wrong.

Then stick em in the oven for 13-16 minutes. I always set my timer to the lowest time, check them and then go from there. You want to tops to be golden brown. DO NOT OVER BAKE.

Once done. Take them out, rub some butter on top.....and ENJOY!

Where do I start?

Hey guys! Well my sister is visiting and I'm helping her with some healthy meal ideas to follow to not only eat healthier, but shed a few pounds. So first off, here is a couple of things I try to follow:

1. Stay away from fake sugars! And also watch out for even natural sugars that have no calories. If you trick your body into thinking it's getting sugar when it's not, you will not only crave more but  it will keep the calories you took in as reserve because your body thinks " Oh no I need to save this for energy!" Real unprocessed, unrefined cane sugar is the best way to go. Other options for example are grade B maple syrup and local honey.
2. NO soft drinks, and going along with #1...especially NO diet soda. 
3. Limit your juice intake. Juice has sugar, especially orange juice. Just look at the label. It's fine to have some. But don't overdue it. Just because it's "fruit" doesn't mean you can drink it by the gallon. Make sure you buy 100% juice and watch out for the ones with reduced calories or sugar. (most likely they are substituting fake stuff)
4. Try not to eat out. Not only will it save you money, but it's hard to find unprocessed food in a fast food joint. 
5. Get rid of "boxed" stuff. Anything processed, get it out of the house! If it's not there you won't be tempted to eat it.
6. If it says artificial or natural flavors, run! 
7. Buy local! Go to farmers markets. It's not expensive and most likely the farm uses organic practices, even if they aren't certified organic. To be certified organic, it's not only expensive, but a lot of paperwork that most small farms can't afford or deal with. It's something like $1000 a year to be certified!         
8. If you want to lose weight. Count the calories, sticking to a 1200/day diet is the best. You have to be as accurate as possible, a few calories here or there can add up. And that doesn't mean you can't eat what you want. But if you want your calories for the day to be a snickers bar, then by all means. But you will be obviously become tired faster, you will soon be hungry, and as a result will keep eating (despite reaching your daily calorie intake). 
9. Limit your fruit intake, but you can eat lots of veggies!! Fruit has sugar and that's why you can't eat a ton of it. You should only need 1 serving of fruit a day if you want to lose weight. 

So you're probably wondering, well goodness what can I eat? Or this is going to be so hard. But it's not. It takes a life style change if you aren't used to cooking a lot. But you will get used to it, and it will be worth it! Making a meal plan and shopping list will help you out the most. Here is an example of a meal plan. Just to add the possibilities are endless

Breakfast (choose one)

Bowl of steel cut oats with fresh fruit.

Yogurt with granola

Eggs (buy local, they will taste amazing!) with a side of fruit

Smoothie with side of nuts

Lunch/Snacks (choose a combination)

nuts

hard boiled egg

carrots and celery

apples and peanut butter

cheese slices

hummus and pita chips or veggies

local goat cheese and crackers ( make your own!)

chicken strips (organic, free range, and local chicken!) with spinach salad (spinach leaves, dried cranberries, feta cheese, vinaigrette)

We'll soon be posting some more dinner recipes for you to try! But Until then, check out recipes by Chef Derek on North American Whitetail and Ingles Table.

 Or check out some of my favorite blogs Pioneer Woman or Riddlelove.

****Don't take my word. Do your own research!!!****

Being Thankful

So much is said about the balance you need to keep between work and family, time saved for special events and just down time with the kids, moments cherished with your children and loved ones....and I was thinking..
When was the last time you sat with your family and actually cooked together, made a meal planned with input from everyone? From menu and shopping, prepping, maybe even going to a farmers market or right to the farm to source your food?
Involving your children, the ones who will be taking the reigns of this great planet, and teaching them how to connect and experience food in a positive, nourishing and spiritual way. Look in the Bible at how many times Jesus was in a Garden talking to God. Adam and Eve were in the Garden of all Gardens! No coinicidence and in every Religion major happenings and spiritual events and moments happened in gardens.
Food and Eating is a Spiritual experience that we as a society and culture have simply thrown away. A simple blessing of a meal in 2.6 seconds means nothing and does nothing!
Just one meal this next week, get your family together at the beginning of your meal and stop to give thanks for Everything that Everyone did to make that meal that you are about to put inside of your body to nourish and sustain you and your family for a few hours. What a huge responsibility it is to be in charge of keeping your family "well nourished" and healthy and full.
Think about it like this-for you to live organisms must die. We should honor and cherish every bite! Try it just one time to put love INTO your food and in return love with flow out of every pore of your families bodies! Whether people want to admit it or not, everything IS connected on this planet and when you take the time ro be mindful of your food it is proven to be more nourishing!