Frozen Fish

This recipe is unique in that I hadn't intended to change much about the ingredients. The foundation of the Paula Deen's Savory Salmon is pretty healthy. The only modification I planned to change was to eliminate the salt. But in terms of fat and fiber, there wasn't much I could change.

I did make some changes, but my changes were based on what I had on hand.

I used agave nectar instead of honey, pre-squeezed lemon juice instead of freshly squeezed lemon juice. I omited the strawberries just because the ones in my fridge were covered in fuzz. No moldy fish for us!

I took the fish out 4 hours before I started and thawed according to the package. I put the fillets in the foil, added my veggies (so pretty!!) and wrapped them up and let them hang in the oven.



Half an our later, I pulled out the pan and opened up my salmon surprise.

Pretty, huh??

But the fish was stone cold still! Ugh! So I put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

The second time I took it out of the oven it was warm, but not hot. I was so afraid about eating raw salmon (I'm not a sushi eater, unless it's California Rolls, which is not raw) that I thought I'd pop it in the microwave for 60 seconds, just to make sure. While I was setting up my plate, I heard three loud pops. I don't know if it was the skin or what but there were flakes of fish all over the inside of my microwave. Good thing we're moving soon (just kidding, I cleaned it up; I didn't want everything I microwaved to smell like fish)!

I took it out and taste tested a little corner. Pretty blah. Probably because all the good stuff was still sitting in my foil wrapped pan.

By this time it was 7 PM and I was hungry and crabby and I just called it quits and ended up making Grilled Cheese. It was amazing, by the way.

Since the I didn't really make any significant changes AND the recipe was a disaster, I didn't even calculate the nutritional stats. If you want to try it, here's Paula's recipe. Maybe you'll have better luck!!

(Sigh)

I would like to know how the handful of recipes we've collected have managed to earn the title of "Top 100." Surely, our recipe modifications aren't what's making them...less than stellar. Or perhaps they're just more suited to a different palate. I've landed another fail with Paula's Artichoke Rice Salad with Shrimp :( Sad day.



I assembled all my ingredients together and got started. I didn't use the marinade from the artichoke hearts because the mixture was goopy enough without adding another 1/4 cup of liquid. I also added peas instead of bell peppers because I already had some on hand in the freezer. I didn't add the pimentos OR the curry because I really don't like either. And the recipe also called for shrimp so I figured I could only handle adding one ingredient I dislike instead of three!

See what I meant by goopy enough??

I tried to tell Rooty this recipe wasn't looking so hot, so she might as well move on to something better, but she just stayed in her spot, watching.


After a quick roast in the oven, I pulled out the completed casserole.

It looks pretty but I didn't care for it because:
1. There was shrimp in it. I took a bite and I still don't like shrimp (no surprise there).
2. All I could taste was the "chicken" flavoring of the rice and pasta mix, I couldn't even tell there were artichokes in there.
3. 6 hours later, my stomach hurts. I asked Cody if the dish made me sick and he said the onset of illness depends on the bacteria; it could be 6 to 48 hours. I don't think the dish is behind my upset stomach, but I won't feel better about if for another 42 hours.

I'm going to keep it in my fridge and save my rating until I can have a neutral, shrimp-loving party taste it to get a true opinion. Perhaps I will bring some to Kat (in 42 hours!).

Here's the stats:

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 6	Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 331	Calories: 231
Fat: 18 g	Fat: 9.4 g
Sodium: 854 mg	Sodium: 606 mg
Fiber: 1 g	Fiber: 01 g

And the recipe.

FNF Dish With a Whole Lot of Textures

1 (6.9 oz) package instant Rice and Pasta Mixture, chicken flavor
1 (6 oz) jar marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
1/2 c light mayo
1/2 c frozen green peas
3-4 green onions, chopped, white and green parts
pepper, to taste
1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the rice and pasta mixture, according to package directions, omitting the oil/butter.

Drain the artichoke hearts. To the artichoke hearts, add the peas, green onions and black pepper.

Cook the shrimp, being careful not to overcook. Once cooked, chop coarsely.

Combine the rice and pasta mix with the artichoke mixture and the shrimp. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Racoon Repellent

We love Paula Deen's cooking. Most of her recipes look so decadent and delicious that we can feel our salivary glands tingling with anticipation. There are a lot of recipes that look so amazing we both want to make them, but one of us has to bow out. Paula Deen's Salmon Mousse with Dill Sauce is not one of those recipes. Neither of us wanted this one, but somehow I ended up with it. I wanted to go into it with an open mind, so I decided to save it when I cooked for a group of people so I could get a good sampling of opinions.

I spent a long weekend visiting my brother and his lovely family in Charleston and got to see my parents when they drove up for a couple of days. It was the perfect opportunity to test out my lightened version!

I used fat free whipped cream and mayo for the salmon mouse to lighten it up. For the dill sauce, I swapped fat free plain Greek Yogurt for sour cream and again used he fat free mayo.

I didn't have a fish mold, so just used a regular bowl to let the mousse set in. Here's the final product:

And what did everyone think of the final product??

Here's my Dad taking a bite....

Even my lovely little niece agreed to try it...

My mom (who is our most loyal Foodies Not Fatties reader) tried to be optimistic. I'm sure she just tolerated it because she's my mom and that's what moms do.

There was one taste tester who actually liked this "salmon jello," as my brother called it.

Everyone was nice enough to take a bite, but we still had a lot left. Greg (my brother) said he would leave it in the trash to keep the racoons away.

Since I'm out of town, I'm not on my usual computer so I don't have the nutrition graph, so I'll post it when I get back. But I will say that the lightened version cut the calories by over 100 calories and was much lower in fat. So I guess if you're the kind of person that likes salmon jello, definitely try this recipe. But if you just have some salmon, I'd use it in a different recipe.

Taste: I'll Pass!!

Waist: Tighten Your Belt a Notch!

What was the last recipe disaster you tried??

Here's the recipe, if you dare!

Racoon Repellent Mousse (a.k.a Salmon Jello)

Salmon Mousse:

1 unflavored gelatin

1/4 c cold water with 1/2 c boiling water for gelatin

1/2 c fat free or light mayo

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp grated onion

2 drops hot sauce

1/2 tsp paprika

2 c salmon, flaked into small pieces

2 tbsp drained capers

1 c fat free whipped cream

lemon slices

1 bunch parsley, washed and dried

Dill Sauce:

1 English cucumber, peeled, grated and drained for an hour

1 c nonfat Greek yogurt

1 c fat free or light mayo

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 small clove garlic, minced

2/3 c fresh dill, finely chopped

Grease a 6 cup fish mold with cooking spray. Soften the gelatin in cold water. Add the boiling water and stir well until the gelatin has dissolved. Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice, lime juice, onion, hot sauce, paprika and mix well. Fold in the salmon and capers. Add the whipped cream and continue folding until everything is well combined. Pour the mixture into the mold. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in a refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.

To make the dill sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

To serve, unmold the salmon mousse and serve the dill sauces along the side. Surround with parsley.

No Fire Extinguisher Needed Here

I picked this recipe because I was getting tired of picking chicken and noodle dishes. When I read over the recipe, I got super excited because it involves setting rosemary on fire! How exotic is that? Nutritionally speaking, Paula Deen's Fired Up Rosemary Salmon isn't that bad to start off with and didn't require much adjusting.

The only difference between my version and the original is I used Smart Balance Light Margarine instead of butter. But the original only uses 1 tablespoon for 10 servings so it's really not much per serving. I used a dash of lemon juice because I already had it and didn't want to make a trip to the store, just to get a couple of lemons.

Once you take the salmon out of the oven, you're supposed to light the 'oven roasted' rosemary on fire and let the ashes fall onto the salmon. Sounds like fun, right? But mine was damp from the lemon juice or the steam and wouldn't catch on fire. So then my BF tried to light and uncooked one, but it wasn't dry enough so it wouldn't catch either. After multiple attempts, I gave up and just ate the salmon as it was. It was okay. It was just lemon-y salmon. Not nearly as exciting as I though a fired up salmon would taste.

Note the still green, unburnt rosemary.

What do you do to bounce back from a bad recipe?

Nutritionally, there's not much difference. The tub margarine provided the same amount of fat, but less saturated fat than butter.

Nutritional Information (OLD) Nutritional Information (NEW) Servings Per Recipe: 10 Servings Per Recipe: 10 Amount Per Serving Amount Per Serving Calories: 427 Calories: 427 Fat: 19 g Fat: 19 g Sodium: 128 mg Sodium: 140 mg Fiber: 1 g Fiber: 1 g

My rating:

Taste: No rating (It's hard to judge the taste because my final recipe was missing a main ingredient-the burned rosemary ashes!)

Waist: Tighten the belt a notch (I know it's high in fat, but it's coming from heart healthy sources like salmon and the plant oils in the margarine, so I think it's a good recipe in terms of health)

Here's the recipe:

Try to Light it Rosemary Salmon

1 salmon filet, about 5 lbs

1 tablespoon Smart Balance Margarine

pepper, to taste

2-3 bunches rosemary sprigs

lemon or orange slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the salmon skin side down on tin foil, making sure the pin bones have been removed. Season with butter and pepper. Place the springs of rosemary and lemon slices over the salmon so that they are overlapping and form a tent over the salmon. Wrap each salmon in tin foil and roast 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.

Remove the salmon from the oven and bring to a well ventilated outdoor area. Light the oven dried rosemary on fire over the salmon. Let the ash fall over the salmon, leaving streaks of concentrated rosemary flavor.

Mom...The Meatloaf!

To me, meatloaf can be great or it can be horribly wrong. I have made many meatloafs and today's recipe was one of the healthiest I have tried to make.

One thing I don't enjoy about making meatloaf is that it is usually very labor intensive. Sauteing, chopping and dicing all of the yummy ingredients can take up so much time that it makes it hard to put the meatloaf together in the evenings after work.

On the topic of chopping, I would like to share one of my favorite products with you! While watching an episode of Castle I was enlightened to the existence of Onion Goggles! These glasses are a life saver. My husband and I cook with onions all of the time but I hate how teary eyed I get. Since being gifted (thanks Rusty) a pair I haven't had any tears!

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?

Now to dinner. Tonight's meatloaf was very easy to put together. The only items that required labor were the onions and the tomatoes.

I realized that I was out of Dijon mustard and ended up substituting regular mustard with a splash of FNF seasoning.

I also decided to put the meatloaf in bread pan instead of a casserole dish. I figured that allowing the meatloaf to cook in its own juices the whole time would keep it from being too dry.

The final verdict….EPIC FAILURE! The sauce tasted like sugary tomato juice. The meatloaf itself had NO flavor. To say the least, this meatloaf became dumpster decor and I added a lot more salad to my plate. Basically, you are welcome to try this meatloaf but proceed at your own risk!

I guess the only redeeming factor is that the nutritional facts look much better. This is the perfect example of how changing a recipe for the better can end up being a complete flop.

The modified recipe:

BBQ Meatloaf

Meatloaf Ingredients:
1 ¼ pounds 99% fat free ground turkey
1 cup fresh high fiber bread crumbs
1 onion, chopped
¼ cup egg substitute
1 tsp salt substitute
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp Mrs. Dash, Original

Sauce Ingredients:
2 cups pureed tomatoes
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp Splenda brown sugar mix, loosely packed
2 tbsp Mustard
½ tsp FNF Seasoning
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup water, to thin sauce if needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, breadcrumbs, onions, egg substitute, salt substitute, pepper, Mrs. Dash and ½ cup of the pureed tomatoes. Shape this mixture into a loaf and place in small baking dish. In a small bowl, Stir together the remaining pureed tomato, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire and water (if needed). Pour the sauce over the meatloaf.

Bake for 1 hour or until meatloaf is 160 degrees, basting every 15 minutes with sauce and juices.