Monday Meals- Baked Tilapia w/ Parmesan Crust

I finally made my first recipe from the cooking class I went to and it was a huge hit! I'm not a big fan of fish, but Blake is and convinces me to make it occasionally because "it's good for me". With that being said, I ate EVERY. SINGLE. BITE of this.

I forgot to take a picture, so this is the one from the cooking class- I promise I didn't make this much for two people. How wasteful would that be?

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1/2 Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 green onions, very thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

4 (6 ounce) tilapia (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick)

Preheat oven to 425. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the cheese, breadcrumbs, butter, mayonnaise, green onions, Worcestershire, hot pepper sauce and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Pat the tilapia completely dry with paper towels; season generously with salt and pepper. Lightly butter a rimmed sheet pan and place each fillet on it. Pour the cheese mixture over the filets and bake until cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.

*** The tilapia can be substituted with any sustainable fish like catfish, whitefish, striped bass, haddock or cod. 

On the side, I served an awesome recipe I pinned the other day for Spicy Broccoli Saute- it was extremely easy and very good. I also made an oldie but goodie that Amy made at a Pinterest party a while back- Sweet corn with Cilantro Lime Butter. I left off the cheese on this because I didn't have any and it's already so good, it really doesn't need it. 

You all need to make this meal immediately- easy and delicious. Perfect for a dinner party when I find friends! ; )

Vail Vacation

We just got back from an awesome trip to Denver and Vail- Amanda's husband's (Rory) family owns an AMAZING house down there with AMAZING views.  We decided to spend a few days there, then head to Denver to visit one of Blake's good friends and his wife, Tori (who is awesome, by the way).  Rory went ahead and invited Jon and Tori down to Vail so everyone could make friends- the trip couldn't have gone any better.  

Remember that view I was telling you about?  Here it is:

We spent quite a bit of time at the house, which was great- so fun and so relaxing.  And cooked a great dinner one night of ribs, roasted corn, cheesy potatoes, and tons of other goodness, including 14 bottles of wine- wow.

We went into Beaver Creek one night planning to go to a 4th of July festival and unfortunately, the rain stopped us so we hung out at a friend of the family's house.  We ended up making it fun!

There was quite a bit of rain while we were there which was great because Colorado needed it so badly.  We went on a hike one day... let's just say that out-of-shape Kristin , the altitude, and hiking didn't mix too well.  It was fun but hard work!

On the way back down from the hike, it started thundering quite a bit... unfortunately, we didn't make it back to the car before the rain hit and we were all running down the mountain getting drenched in rain. We looked like a bunch of drowned rats- too funny.

The next night, Jon, Tori, Blake and I headed back to Denver to spend a night there.  We went to dinner at an awesome restaurant called linger.  I highly recommend it not only for the great view, but the food was delicious.

We were all pretty tired so called it a night pretty early that night.  We woke up the next morning (Saturday) and headed to meet the rest of the crew (who came back from Vail that morning) for a Mimosa breakfast.

We went to a fun brewery after breakfast and heading back to the house and got caught in another downpour... so back to looking like drowned rats.

Blake and I headed to the airport and had the craziest/ most awful flying experience ever.  Our flight left on time despite the rain and we were almost back to Dallas when the captain came on and had a "little announcement"- DFW had shut down so they turned our flight back around to Denver.  We got off the plane and they let us know that we would take off again at 11:00pm.  We hung around at the airport, went to board again when they let us know the flight was canceled for the night and we would leave at 7:30am.  We started looking for a hotel close to the airport then as we were heading out, another passenger let us know that they were giving us hotel rooms.  We went to stand in line to get that, when they decided to fly out AGAIN at around midnight.  After waiting and waiting, our flight finally took off and we got home at 4:00 in the morning.  

Although it wasn't the most pleasant ending to our trip, I can say it was way worth the fun we had!

Our Music Video

Haha... didn't think you would ever see that title on my blog, right?  Well, I can honestly say that I never thought Blake, our friends and myself would be featured in a video... especially one with Blake and me dancing.

We were out celebrating Blake's good friend's (Josh) 30th birthday at this hole in the wall bar in Dallas called Adair's.  Obviously, I was in heaven and have insisted on going back there at least once a month... live country music and a mix between country and city... it was awesome.

Anyway, there was this band playing and after a few drinks, we decided to hit the dance floor and show them who's the boss.  I completely blurred the fact that there was a man going around with a camera and I can't tell you how shocked when someone posted this on facebook:




Autographs later...