Month: February 2016

Cedar Plank Salmon

Ok, GIRLS-this is the MOST delicious way I have tried salmon YET! We eat a bunch of salmon in our diet. It is very, VERY healthy-giving us those rich OMEGA 3’s our bodies need. My girls (and Big A) do really love this fish and I bet if you serve it to your family this way-they will love it, too! I know a lot of people do not like salmon because they feel it is too fishy. IF your salmon is fishy then you have NOT gotten a good piece of salmon (or ANY fish for that matter)………

YUMMMMMMMMM. This is so easy-SO easy. You can NOT mess this up (unless you OVER BAKE IT)-I promise-if you follow the simple steps:

Use a 2 gallon freezer bag and a cedar plank and 1 to 2 pounds FROZEN salmon fillets-skin on (boneless)

Items for Cedar Plank Salmon

You can purchase cedar planks here

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPC78Y6/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1453753889&sr=1&keywords=cedar+planks+for+grilling

 

Frozen Salmon on Cedar Plank in bag

 

 

Place cedar plank(s) and salmon fillets in bag.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, you can add the delicious, smoky rub I have created. If you do not feel like making your own rub, then purchase a similar one. I love to use products from Wildtree. I have referenced their site before. Here’s a great one http://www.mywildtree.com/PWS/AngiePryor/store/AM/product/RODEO-RUB,1401.aspx 

The rub I make is 1/2 TBSP red pepper, 1 TBSP smoked paprika, 1 TBSP onion powder, 1/2       TBSP cinnamon, 1 TBSP sea salt, and 1/2 TBSP black pepper Cedar Plank Salmon spice blend

 

 

 

Rub or sprinkle your mix (about 2 TBSP’s per piece) on each oCedar Plank salmon with spicesf your pieces of salmon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, you will want to add about 2 TBSP water to the bag. Whatever way you cook this (grill or over), you will want to make sure the plank does not catch fire!Adding water to cedar plank salmon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seal up your bag. You can let it marinate in your fridge for a day OR you can put in the freezer (as shown). As I have mentioned, freezing and thawing meat can make for a really delicious, tender piece of meat. If you are working with previously frozen salmon, you will want to make sure it does not thaw during the prepping process if you desire to use at a later date.Cedar Plank salmon in freezer

 

 

 

Look how beautiful those salmon fillets look! Wait until you cook them for your family!!!!!!

 

 

Finished Cedar Plank Salmon

Once you are ready to cook/grill, make sure you thaw in your fridge for at least 24 hours. I always make sure the bag is either double bagged or resting on a rimmed cookie sheet to prevent leakage.

Heat your grill to medium high or your oven to 375 degrees. Grill or bake for 12-18 minutes. If you bake, put your plank on a rimmed baking dish and add about a half cup of water to the pan. If you grill, keep a squirt bottle of water handy as you will want to keep any flare-ups of your grill from burning up your cedar plank. The fun part of serving this fish is that your clean-up is minimum. Just keep the freezer bag and toss the used cedar plank in there and throw the whole thing away!

 

 

Now-for the best part! EAT this salmon with a wonderful Caesar salad, rice, and some delicious red wine. Your family will think you are a genius! Bon Appetit!!!!

Plated Cedar Plank Salmon

Morning Blueberry Smoothie

Blueberry/Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/3 cup frozen blueberries

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup water (or more for thinner smoothie)

1-2 scoops whey vanilla protein powder mix

1/4 cup whole, raw almonds

Blend everything together until smooth. Pour into a frosty glass that you’ve had in your freezer. Enjoy with a straw !

BUT-make sure you have the lid on the blender BEFORE your daughter hits the “on” switch….somebody help this girl!!!!!!!!!

Blender Accident

A MOST delicious dessert-Dreamy Cake Dip

Cake Dip on Cinnamon Stick

Dreamy Cake Dip

I promise you will love me for this one. Your kids will love me. Your aunt Bertha or great niece Priscilla will thank me. I stumbled along this gem while shopping at the Krogè the other day. You know how the sample ladies stand and try to convince you to not only try their products but to buy them, too. Let’s call her “Fannie”-she had me hook, line, and sinker! I did adjust her recipe to make it better, ‘whippier’, and an alternative for the gluten sensitive.

 

Here’s the ingredients:

8 oz. whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar (or to taste-I actually like less)

1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 box dry cake mix with sprinkles (Gluten-Free for those who are sensitive to gluten)

Cake Dip 1 cup whipping cream

Add powdered sugar and whipping cream into a mixer (or a bowl and hand mix). Crank mixer up to high and let it whip it (and let it nay nay-er-nevermind)……BUT do NOT over beat your whipping cream. Just a few minutes to create a soft peak.

 

 

 

Cake Dip 1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

 

Then, add the yogurt to your whipped cream and mix just until blended. You can get your kids to help you with this-BTW. They love the sprinkles at the end, and the magic of watching liquid turn into whipped cream. This is definitely a finger-friendly (NOTE:I did not say ‘figure friendly’), kid-friendly dessert. They will be proud of themselves!

 

 

 

 

cake dip 14 cup almond milk

You then mix in the almond milk……………

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cake Dip white cake mixGluten Free Cake mix

 

 

 

 

 

This is the BEST part-add in 1/2 box of cake mix with sprinkles already built in! A party in a box-right?!?!? (You could also get really creative with this part. You could go crazy, actually. Imagine what you could do with chocolate cake mix or carrot cake mix!!!! OH MY-THE POSSIBILITIES!!!!!) Just mix until blended.

 

Cake Dig Finished in bowl

 

 

I promise you will make this so many times. I wish I could say it’s somewhat decent for you because of the yogurt and almond milk, but it really is not. Sooooo much sugar! I suggest you use fresh fruit to dip with it, or cinnamon graham sticks, or just a spoon and the bowl and a secret closet you can escape into………….

Teachable Tuesday: Do you ever have a poopie day?

Scooping ManureWell, I do-LITERALLY. Really-everyday. I muck stalls for 4 horses and clean the cat litter for 2 cats. We now live next to the family farm-but the farmhouse where we used to live sat a top what once was a cattle farm for probably 100+ years, so when it rained, water leaked ever so rapidly into our farmhouse cellar/basement/portal to the Abyss, and left behind the most beautiful smell known to the nasal breezeway. This water was mixed with all number of sediment from the old cattle farm which was full of, well, dung. Fecal matter. Caw Caw. Doodie. Poo. Poo. OH Yes-the soil that is great for my garden was not so great when it would leak into the cellar. Our trees and shrubbery were strangely the largest I’ve seen anywhere this side of the Mississippi. And the boxwoods were (still are!) as  big as a 1 story building (I’m NOT kidding-note the normal sized chair next to said boxwood). Boxwood as big as a house

And many a day, our dog rolled in some raccoon poop and then daughter #1 let him into the already fragrant house. Would I be mad? Yes! Was I ready to throw in the towel? Yes! (Mind you-it was usually by 9:30 a.m.) Was I grateful I lived in that farmhouse? You know, I did not give it that thought in ‘the moment’.  Oh-it was always something: one Labor Day holiday weekend, the water pumps decided to stop working and we were without water for 4 days, our ‘Abyss-ment’ leaked poop water, and I had to fill our tub with water from my aunt’s pool just to use to flush the toilets……the cat litter box was conveniently located next to our bedroom which also meant we got to walk through a trail of cat litter remnants just about every trip to the bathroom, and the closets were no bigger than your smallest cabinets, and on and on……

Isn’t it easy to make a ‘list’ of all the things that go wrong in our day and that are wrong with our life? It seems that the bad things just stick out like a paint smudge or a missing tooth. It seems that we many times just gloss over the really significant, wonderful things that are the real blessings in life.

I am grateful that I live in a country where we can call the plumber and they can come rather quickly. I am grateful to have a roof over my head. I am grateful I have a nose that can even smell and I am grateful that three of my favorite people shared those little spaces with me everyday. The good book tells us to “Give thanks IN ALL things/circumstances”(1 Thess. 5:18). It doesn’t necessarily mean you give thanks FOR the “THING”. I don’t think you give thanks for cancer! I don’t think you give thanks for divorce. I don’t even think you give thanks for aches and pains that come plague us many a day. BUT-we can give thanks IN the thing-whatever it is. We can set our hearts to be grateful or un-grateful. We can set our minds to think on the blessings behind the pain. We can remember, too, that Romans 8:28 promises that the good Lord will work out all those circumstances for good.

So-I have had to repent for my not so nice attitudes many a day and realize I am blessed to even be able to scoop poop – whether it is from a 2,000 lb. animal or a little 8 lb. feline. I am blessed to even have had a house (which had a million dollar view BTW). So-girls-you don’t have to always give thanks FOR the thing, just practice giving thanks IN the thing. And see how your mind and spirit look up and how your heart will open to the better, not the bitter.