Crab Cakes In A Muffin Pan

This is one of those posts that I couldn't decide on a title for right away. I spent the day getting sidetracked yesterday with intentions of posting, but totally forgot I had somewhere to go, so I had to ditch the blog and get ready to go. I was going to see Lexi & Mary perform in their bible school program. Lexi lives to perform and this was Mary's first time going.

This post an assortment of photos taken over the past couple of days. I didn't include everything, but I did try to use the more interesting things.

Ok, so a bagel with cream cheese and coffee is not so interesting, but it was really good and I tend to leave out breakfast shots when I have several days to blog about. 

My fruit & yogurt cereal bowl was yummy and it looked so good, I included it also. There's cheerios, GV's Crunchy Oat Squares (their version of Life cereal), & Crunchy Honey Oats (like Honey Bunches of Oats) plus chopped walnuts under vanilla yogurt, granny smith apple and dried cranberries. Usually the store brands of cereal are pretty close to the Name Brand cereals, so if I can get the same cereal for less, I'm going for it. I can use the extra money for things that don't come in a generic version.

One more piece of that Rich Creamy Chocolate Pie.

Salsa and Sweet Spicy Chili Doritos

The last of my strawberries.

Tai Pei vegetable egg rolls and broccoli salad with Makoto Ginger Dressing.

Toasted everything bread, Stouffer's Mac & Cheese, and steamed broccoli with Worcestershire sauce.

I also made an updated version of my Cajin Crab Cakes*, which we put in a muffin pan and baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. They did stick a little because I being out of cooking spray, I used vegetable oil instead.

I had one with seasoned fries, hushpuppies, and a salad of spinach, tomato, cucumber, onion, and spicy ranch.

This is a shot I got of the girls watching tv. I was enjoying the quiet time. Quiet time....lasted all of about 5 minutes, then Lexi realized Mary was sitting on her lap, lol.

*I'm having trouble seeing the photos on the crabcakes recipe page. If you can't see them either, please let me know. I am going to try to update them to see if that helps. Thanks! Have a great day!!!

Healthy Choice Golden Crusted White Fish Review

Since it's been a few days since my last post, I am posting a few photo highlights from the last couple of days, as well as a review for the Healthy Choice frozen dinner I had last night.

 I will start off with the DiGiorno four cheese pizza dipping strips I had for dinner on Monday. They come with 1 garlic & 1 marinara dipping sauce. I thought they would be like cheese sticks that you get from the pizza restaurants, but they were more like cheese pizza cut into strips. I didn't really see the need for the marinara sauce, since there was sauce already under the cheese. I also think there wasn't enough garlic dipping sauce. I added a little butter & garlic to what was left of the garlic sauce, to make enough to go with the leftover pizza I had for lunch the next day. The garlic sauce was not very garlic-y to begin with either. The strips and marinara however, were very good. I had 3 strips for dinner along with an iceberg & spinach salad with onion, green pepper, and Italian dressing.

My dinner on Tuesday was a MSF riblet with macaroni & cheese and some frozen green beans cooked with onion, garlic, and soy sauce. I added a tiny sprinkle of shredded cheese to the top of my macaroni which was just the plain boxed version. I prefer homemade mac & cheese, but this was quick and easy and DH, for some unknown reason, actually prefers the box type.

Just to throw in a little sweetness, Mom & Lynda treated us to DQ Blizzards yesterday. I had a German Chocolate one that was loaded with pecans. It was sort of melted, but still very good. Thanks again for the ice cream!

Now for my review of the Healthy Choice Golden Crusted White Fish. I think the concept for this dinner was not bad, however I wasn't very impressed with the product.

 

First of all, there was absolutely no obvious seasoning on the green beans, the brown rice came with lots of scallions for flavor and what was suppose to be a cheesy Chardonnay sauce. The sauce was not bad, but cheese did not come to mind when I tasted it. It reminded me of a milk gravy which didn't really go with the tartar sauce I'd made for the fish. It did help in making the rice which was sort of dry & onion-y, edible.

The fish had a crust that was made with what resembles bird seed. I suppose it's millet or something similar, chia or flax seeds, and sunflower. I'm not sure what else. I do like seeds, but I wasn't very impressed with their breading. I have to say the best part of this dinner was the sauce/gravy and it wasn't at all what I had expected. It was edible, but I didn't like it and I probably wouldn't buy it again. This dinner unfortunately get a thumbs down and only 2 stars from me.

That's it for today's post. I hope to start adding some new recipes soon. You can check out what I have so far on my recipe page and stay updated on new recipes by subscribing or following me on Twitter. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!!!

Fish And More

I'm starting to like this 7-8 hours sleep nights, I could go 9 I think, but it's way better than 5-6. I also think I sleep better when I get to bed before 12am. I still feel like I need coffee when I get up, but with my 1/2 caf and B12, I can get through the day without being sleepy. No naps needed.

I had a huge cup of coffee with a raisin cream pie. This is not a healthy breakfast, not very filling either.

 

I also had a piece of cheese toast. I used half a slice of white American cheese with some shredded Mexican blend cheese, parsley, garlic, and black pepper; the ultimate cheese toast.

I had my coffee, but forgot my B12. I even had a MIB iced coffee from Dunkin, but I kept yawning all day. I guess that B12 does more than I thought. I've made sure to take it today.

We went shopping at Sears, Hobby Lobby, and then to Long John's for fish. We all got the 2 piece fish with fries and hush puppies. The fish was sort of greasy, even for fried fish. It was more like it had been dipped in oil. The hush puppies and fries were pretty good. I've been craving hush puppies for a while. Captains D's are better though. I had malt vinegar with my fish and cocktail sauce with my fries and hush puppies. It was a pretty good lunch, but we didn't ring the bell.

I had a handful of TFM Men's Omega3 Energy snack mix when I got home and for dinner later, I had a MSF riblet with leftover LJS fries and 2 of Mom & Lynda's leftover hush puppies. OMG, what's with all the 3 letter abbreviations, right?

 It was a good day. Now I'm going to go and see if I can make this one a good one too. Enjoy yours!!!

Out And About

I'm managed to cram all the food for the day into just four photo. Visually it doesn't seem like a lot. but physically, I'm still miserably full. 

I started the day off with a large cup of half caf and an apple danish. I got an early and unexpected invitation to go shopping, a GDO with Mom & Lynda. Well, you know I'm in.

We hit the Good Wills in the area. No shortage of those here. Love that. I got a new 2 me pair of jeans; so comfortable, perfect fit. Unfortunately, I've gone up a size, which is sort of depressing. We went to Ruby Tuesday's to eat lunch after hitting the GW's

I had a delicious salad of spring mix, green peppers, red onion, edamame, broccoli, tomato, mushroom, jalapeno, cheddar cheese, light ranch, and brown bread croutons. I also had a couple of their complementary cheddar biscuits.

I got a Saratoga water to drink and some of their apple salad, which I didn't eat but a few bites of. The apples tasted like they been frozen or something and it had a weird flavor with reminded me of beer.  Normally I love their apple salad. I'm not sure if it was the salad or me, but I wasn't taking any chances.

After lunch, we also went to Kohl's and Walmart. We attempted to go to the Habitat's Restore, but was too late, they were closing. We stopped of and picked up dinner at Long John Silvers. I ate everything, but the slaw. which was still too much. I was miserable afterwards. I should have known better.

I fooled around too long on the internet doing absolutely nothing and now I am up, way too late, still filling miserably full. I don't have to be up early tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I'll get to sleep late. The pups will see to that. I'm outta here. Have a great night/day!!!

Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Zinger Review

I really slept late this morning. I got started reading my book (The Help) last night. It was pretty later before I got to sleep. Breakfast was more like lunch, but I really had my heart set on having one of the apple danishes we'd gotten from Aldis. I made mostly decaf coffee, since it was so late and had half and apple with my danish. I was so full after breakfast. Having 2 large cups of coffee with it helped make it so filling.

Lunch was late because breakfast was late. We considered it and early dinner. We had a cookout with the neighbors. I totally forgot my camera. They cooked steaks, scallops, and fish. We brought Mahi Mahi and Ahi Tuna, which stands up well on the grill.

I made my Garden Pasta Salad with Cream Dill Dressing to take along. I just used cucumber chunks and onion for the vegetables, but that's because, I knew Lucas wouldn't help eat the leftovers with most other veggies, but there wasn't much leftover to worry about. We also had garlic bread. I just took pictures of the leftovers I brought home, since I didn't think about my camera sooner.

The guys left to go to the shooting match after we came home. I stayed home to watch a chick flick. I had a few Benton's Best Key Lime Cookie Straws, which we'd gotten at Aldis, and a cup of tea while I searched Netflix for a instant watch movie.

I bought a Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea variety pack which was caffeine free. I tried the Wild Berry Zinger.

The tea was delicious. I could drink this tea hot or cold. It has a wonderfully tart berry flavor. I added just a spoon full of honey to my cup. This tea flavor gets 5 stars from me. The cookies are sort of like shortbread dusted with a tart powdery sugar. Unfortunately the tartness of the cookies is just on the outside, but I still really liked them. I giving them 4 stars. They also had Lemon Cookie Straws.

Later once I'd decided on a movie. I had a snack pack of the Pop Secret butter popcorn with some added Parmesan cheese and Marjoram.  I also had a few raisins.

The movie I watched was The Rebound with Catherine Zeta-Jones. I really liked this move. It's sort of a romantic comedy. I was afraid I would be disappointed, but happily I wasn't. I was just a little shocked at how open they were with the children about certain things, but it was done in very funny ways. I'm still giving it 4 stars.

Now I've really got to get to bed so that I can get up earlier tomorrow. Have a great night/day!!!

Healthy Choice Herb Crusted Fish Review

I think I was getting more sleep, when I was blogging in the morning; more sleep, but less house work done. I'm not sure I'm getting either done now, because I'm too tired. This morning I could hardly get my eyes open. Having dry eye doesn't help. I've gone through some eye drops lately.  

I decided to have the apple I'd gotten at Panera with lunch and the pumpkin muffin which came from Panera's as well.

I just had half the muffin, all the apple, and a great big cup of coffee which was mostly decaf.

In case you noticed, the reason my breakfast is on a different plate is because, for some reason, on the camera screen, the apple and muffin didn't look right. The photo seemed very dark, so I switched to a lighter plate, but after seeing the first photos I'd taken, the blue plate actually looked better. Unfortunately, I only had a couple of photos on that plate. Maybe next time I will do a full set and then decide after seeing them on the computer. Having poor lighting does not help.

After starting off late, fooling around on the computer, and then cleaning my bathroom, I finally got around to lunch. I had a huge hickory smoked tofurky sandwich on pumpernickel, with spinach, Havarti cheese, red onion, cucumber, and light ranch dressing.

I also had some leftover fries and onion rings and a few Kalamata olives. This was a really good sandwich. I managed to eat all but the fries.

Lucas and I watched a Netflix movie early this evening. I'd added the movie, "Hanna" to our queue recently and it arrived today. I wasn't sure if this was a movie, I would want to see, but the story line seem very interesting. The bloody parts weren't as bad as I had feared. I don't normally do gore, but I do like action films. I actually laughed throughout this movie. There were several scenes that I found very funny. Although, some of it was sort of a dark humor. The movie was rather unusual. I am sort of torn between 3 & 4 stars. I'm not sure everyone would agree with the 4 star rating. Some may not even give it 3 stars, but I like it. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it also wasn't the worst. I think I will play it safe and go with  3 stars. Have you seen it? What's your rating?

I had a really late dinner as well. I fixed a Healthy Choice frozen dinner. It was their herb crusted fish dinner with carrots, green beans and whole grain pasta in a tomato basil sauce. 

Complete Meals - Herb Crusted Fish

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 meal (312g)
Servings Per Container 1
Amount Per Serving
Calories 270 Calories from Fat 45
	% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g		8%
	Saturated Fat 1.5g	8%
	Trans Fat 0g
	Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5g
	Monounsaturated Fat 2.5g
Cholesterol 25mg		8%
Sodium 350mg		15%
Potassium 590mg		17%
Total Carbohydrate 39g		13%
	Dietary Fiber 5g	20%
	Sugars 8g
Protein 16g

Vitamin A 25%	Vitamin C 6%
Calcium 8%	Iron 10%
Thiamine 8%	Riboflavin 8%
Folic Acid 50%	Vitamin B12 20%
Phosphorus 25%	Magnesium 20%
Selenium 45%	Manganese 45%
Diet Exchanges Per Serving**:
Lean Meat (2)	Starch (2)
Vegetable (1)
Contains: egg, fish (pollock), milk, soy, wheat

I'm sorry to say that although this dinner had potential, it was seriously lacking flavor. There was no seasoning at all on the veggies and the pasta was just about as flavorless. The fish was the best part and it wasn't all that great. I was very disappointed because as it cooked in the microwave, it really did smell good, and then when I tasted it and there was hardly any flavor. It was such a let down. I added a little salt to the carrots & green beans and a squirt of Caesar dressing to the pasta because it was all but dry. The dressing wasn't the best idea. I did eat everything, but I didn't enjoy it, so I am giving it 2 stars. Healthy does not have to be flavorless. Skip the soggy breading on the fish and splurge on some seasoning. More tomatoes & basil would have helped the pasta.

Sorry to cut this short but, it's even later than usual and I'm going to bed. Have a great night/day!!!

Not Eating Right

This morning I was feeling rather lazy. I wasn't sore from working on Mom's well, like I thought I'd be, but I just didn't have any zip. I got up and DH had coffee made, so I fixed myself a big cup, then he tells me it's regular coffee instead of my usual 1/2 caf. I drank it anyway.

 

I also had a peanut butter filled doughnut with my coffee. 

 

It was way too sweet, even with the coffee, so I spread some peanut butter on it to tone it down a little. I was beginning to feel the caffeine about 1/2 way through the cup, not to mention the sugar rush from the doughnut. Between the coffee and the doughnut, I was feeling pretty sick afterwards.

I started off the day by not eating right. I should have had something with a lot less sugar or none at all. Then we went out to run some errands. We were gone for a while and I was starved when we got home. Lunch time had passed hours earlier. I was feeling sort of sick again. I grabbed a Chobani Apple Cinnamon Greek yogurt to tide me over while I fixed something to eat. At least yogurt is a pretty healthy food and Greek yogurt usually has less sugar and more protein than regular yogurt. I've also been skipping meals lately, which is a no-no.

I had never tried the Apple Cinnamon flavor before. The apple and the yogurt together give it a slightly tart taste. It was very good. I like that the apple bits aren't mushy. They aren't quite like a fresh apple, but they aren't like a cooked apple either. This is a sort of fruit on the bottom type yogurt, but once you give it a stir it's blended and tastes delicious. I give the apple cinnamon flavor 4 stars. I found some blood orange flavored Chobani at BI-LO while we were out. I also picked up a couple more Lemon flavored as well. For now the lemon is my favorite unless the blood orange turns out to be as good or better than the lemon.

I got some Pumpernickel bread too. I got this at the Walmart Deli. They were out of the pre-sliced loaves or the hoagie buns, which I prefer. I do like that their breads are soft. Sometimes you get pumpernickel and it feels really firm, sort of tough even. I love the taste of pumpernickel. It has kind of a nutty flavored when you toast or grill it. It's one of the few breads I can eat by itself.

While I ate my yogurt I got everything together to make a sandwich. I used some of the oven roasted tofurky, white American cheese, spinach, onion, dill pickles, and light ranch dressing on a couple of slices of the pumpernickel, which I toasted.

It was several minutes into the sandwich before the sick feeling of having gone too long before eating, went away. It was a really good sandwich though.

Lunch was late, dinner was late, and I am late getting to bed. I have an early day tomorrow too, so I had better wrap this up quickly. 

I had a crab cake that Lucas made yesterday using imitation crab meat and some leftover rice with onion and chopped spinach for dinner.

Spinach & rice is one of my favorite combos, even better when there's a little chopped tomato thrown in.

I bet you thought I was done with eating junk food...well, for the day anyway, but you were wrong. If it's in the house it's fair game. As you can see I have little self control, but I do have a little. I didn't eat but about 2/3's of this tropical blizzard from Dairy Queen.

 

I'd only intended to eat half, but I was distracted trying to eat and sort photos at the same time. I've been doing better about getting more sleep lately, but that's all gone out the window tonight. I may have to resort to the high octane coffee again, to get me through the day tomorrow. Have a great night/day!!!