Quick, Easy, and Healthy Eating

 by Jan Drexler

Like many of you, we here at the Cafe are busy people! I think you can see that from our posts - caring for grandchildren, cooking for our families, working day jobs, working at two or more businesses from our homes...and writing. 

Somewhere in there, we need to take care of ourselves, too. Right?

One of the things I've done, especially in the summer, is to collect some easy, quick, healthy recipes for meals and snacks that take almost no time to prepare. That leaves more time for writing!

Breakfast

One of my favorite quick and simple breakfasts can also be an anytime-snack or a dessert!

So easy:

1 cup (or so) plain Greek yogurt

1/3 cup (or so) frozen berries (I like raspberries)

Sweetener to taste. I use 1 1/2 teaspoons THM Super Sweet (nearly the same as two packets of Truvia)

Mix it all together, then let it sit for a few minutes to let the berries thaw a bit, then mix it again.

This is so cool, creamy and delicious! It's especially good when you eat it outside on the deck when the morning air is still fresh.

Icey Drink

This can be made with tea or coffee - whichever is your caffeine of choice. :-)

Brew the tea in a quart sized canning jar (or other quart sized container) and let it cool until it's warmish. Then add the fixings you usually put in your tea (or coffee.) I use THM super sweet (like Truvia,) collagen (to add protein,) sunflower lecithin (brain food,) and cream. Blend all the ingredients together with a hand-held stick blender or regular blender. 

Add ice until the jar is full, and you have a sipping drink that will last all day.

Lunch

I love this salad! It originated with fellow Seekerville blogger and author, Pam Hillman. She shared it on Facebook, then I added an ingredient or two to make it my own.

Quick and easy:

Mix together one can of tuna and one wedge Light Laughing Cow Cheese (or a Tablespoon of mayonnaise.) Then add a small squirt of mustard, a splash of Bragg's liquid aminos (or soy sauce,) salt and pepper to taste, a few shakes of paprika and a couple shakes of tumeric. Mix it all up well.

Then dice an apple and mix into the tuna mixture.

This makes a great light lunch to take on a picnic, which I did on Saturday! 

It was our church's annual picnic at the lake day, and we had a lot of fun.

One of my Sunday School students caught a fish!

Isn't that a great smile?

Another thing that happened last week is that we celebrated our first anniversary in our new home! I can't believe it's been a whole year - especially since we're still exploring our surroundings.

We found a new (to us) trail in the National Forest, only five miles away. It's close enough to take the puppies for a run in the morning, after breakfast and before my work day starts.

The dogs loved it!

And the trail was just long enough for a gentle morning hike - about a mile to the end and back.

That's how it's been this week here in the Black Hills! How has it been at your house?

Jan Drexler has always been a "book girl" who still loves to spend time within the pages of her favorite books. She lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband of many years and their active, crazy dogs, Jack and Sam. You can learn more about Jan and her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com.

Grilled Fish Tacos

A couple of weeks ago, Missy did a post about the shrimp tacos she'd made with a meal kit (see that post here) and that reminded me of fish tacos. I love fish tacos and have always wanted to make them at home, I've just never done it. But Missy's post spurred me to do just that.  

I had some tilapia filets in my freezer I'd bought just for that purpose a long time ago, so I thawed those out. The were thin and individually packaged, so it didn't take long.

While they were thawing, I made my slaw. Fish tacos are not right without a good slaw. Something crisp and refreshing, with a citrusy zing. I started with an 8 oz package of shredded slaw that I happened to have in the fridge. 

I love all the colors.

Then I mixed two tablespoons of mayonnaise with one tablespoon of lime juice that I also had in the fridge. In a perfect world, I would have used fresh lime, even added a little bit of zest, perhaps, but I didn't have any limes in the house. Then I added a pinch of salt and some cumin. I love cumin. 

I whisked that together until it was nice and smooth.

I sampled, of course, to see how it tasted. Almost perfect. So I added a little more cumin and a pinch of black pepper. Then I poured that over the slaw and tossed it all together.

That went into the fridge for a couple of hours while I made a coconut cake I'd been craving, but that's a post for another day.

Now it was time for the star of the show. The fish. 

I made my own seasoning with a teaspoon of kosher salt, some black pepper, a large pinch of garlic powder (I didn't want it to overpower the other flavors), 1/8 tsp smoked paprika (if you haven't tried smoked paprika, you really should--it's an amazing addition to a lot of recipes) and 1/4 tsp cumin.

I mixed that all together and sprinkled it over the thawed filets.

Mahi-mahi is another good fish for fish tacos, or even cod would be fine.

The fish was grilled. Since the filets were so thin, it only took a few minutes on each side. I brushed one side with a little lime juice when I turned them at the midway point.

Once the fish was done, I heated up some small tortillas in a lightly sprayed pan (I used white corn, but you can you what you like. I will say that a corn tortilla has a better flavor for this dish than a flour. And the corn tortillas soften when they're heated). 

Now it was time to assemble. Half a filet on each tortilla.

Then some slaw.

And we're good to go. If only I'd have some cilantro to sprinkle over the slaw. Maybe some sliced, fresh jalapenos for hubby. But those would have required a trip to the store and that wasn't happening. They were delicious as is. Crisp and refreshing. The flavors were balanced, each enhancing the others. The lime was perfect with the cumin. And all I can say is that I'm excited I had two filets leftover, because that's going to be my lunch. 

Have you ever had fish tacos? They're definitely different from your standard taco. But it's a delightful twist, one that's perfect for summertime. Which seems to be exactly where we are this week. Upper 80s to 90s all week long. Ugh. I am so not ready for summer heat. But as long as I can keep making fish tacos, maybe I'll survive.

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com

Comforting Tater Tot Casserole

Sometimes you just need comfort food. Yet often when those cravings hit, you don't want to spend a bunch of time preparing something that takes forever.

Enter Tater Tot Casserole.

When my girls were little (they're now all in their thirties), I used to make this at least twice a month. But I bet it's probably been more than twenty years since the last time I made it. I was reminded of it when my oldest daughter was here over New Year's and we had a lot of hungry mouths to feed and not a lot of time. She made her version. Everyone ate and was satisfied.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I wanted comfort food, but I was also in a bit of a hurry. Remembering the bag of tater tots in the freezer, I was inspired to make my version of this classic, hearty recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 lbs ground meat (I used venison)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (if you don't have cream of mushroom, you're welcome to use another variety of cream soup)
• 1 can diced tomatoes and chilies (aka Ro-tel)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt 
• pepper
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or whatever you have on hand)
• 1 32 oz bag frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray or butter a 9 x 13 casserole pan, then dot with half of the frozen tater tots.

Set aside.

Brown ground meat with the diced onions.

Remove from heat and drain.

In a medium-size bowl, combine soup, garlic powder, Ro-tel, sour cream and milk and whisk until well combined.

Stir in the corn.

Add mixture to ground meat and onions, along with 1 1/2 cups cheese.

Stir to combine, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon mixture over the tater tots. Don't try to dump it all in and spread it, though, or you'll end up having your tater tots all together instead of spread out.

Top with remaining tater tots and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until tater tots are golden and meat is bubbly.

This made me very happy. And it's perfect if you need a quick meal to feed the masses. You know, the ones who start trolling the kitchen around 5/5:30, asking, "What's for dinner?" You could even have some of these for dessert.

I made strawberry cupcakes for a baby shower and had a few left over. You can find that recipe here.

Now that we're nearly two weeks into the new year, things are relatively quiet here on the ranch. I'm plugging away on a proposal that's due the end of this month, preparing for the release of my February book, Her Rocky Mountain Hope, all the while keeping an eye out for that pesky Bertha who still keeps making her way into my yard. 

So tell me what's going on in your neck of the woods.

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.