Tilapia Ideas

I love fish and seafood, but don't get to eat it often since I live by myself. It's impractical to bake a salmon or cook a whole fish for one person. I might have to eat salmon for the rest of the week! That's why I love tilapia fillets- it's the perfect size for one! Costco sells frozen individually wrapped tilapia fillets, which is convenient. Or you can buy fresh tilapia, wrap individual fillets with plastic wrap, and freeze them yourself. I usually take out 2 tilapia fillets from the freezer to defrost overnight in the fridge, cook them for dinner, eat one and save one for lunch the next day!

In the past, I only knew how to bake tilapia fillets. Pan searing is quicker and a great alternative when you don't want to turn on the oven. Plus, I think it's just as delicious! Feel free to experiment and change things up by mixing other seasonings in with the flour before coating the fish. Some ideas: Old Bay seasoning, cayenne powder, onion powder, garlic salt, paprika, etc.

Pan Seared Tilapia (from allrecipes.com)

2 tilapia fillets
Salt and pepper
1/4 c. flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. melted butter

Directions:

1. Rinse tilapia filets under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Season both sides of each fillet with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish, and gently coat tilapia fillets by pressing each side in flour and shaking off excess. 
2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then cook tilapia in hot oil for about 4 minutes per side, until fish is flaky. Remove fish from skillet and brush with melted butter.

Fellowship and Crab Cakes

Had some wonderful fellowship with my darling sisters in Christ tonight! I guess I must be getting old to be saying this... but fellowship is truly a wonderful thing! I was reminded how amazing God works, by how He surrounds us with a true support system when we need it most.

I'll share a mini-miracle that happened in my life today: recently, God has placed a burden to pray for revival among the young people in my heart and He has allowed me chances to pray... well, everywhere. I've especially been learning to use my 20-25 minutes on the bus in the morning to pray (instead of idly staring out the window and wishing the bus moved faster!). It's slowly becoming a habit, to pray when I have a spare moment. But, I digress. This morning, I had an idea to re-begin the sisters' meetings we had last year. While I have been praying for revival alone, I hope to share my burden and diligently pray with others. As the Lord promises, when 2 or 3 gather, He will be among them. Yet, I didn't want to be pushy and force my ideas on others (as I often do in the past), so I asked God to allow someone else to initiate if this idea was from Him. Praise the Lord, by the evening I had my confirmation. One sister brought up the very idea of meeting together with some sisters for fellowship. When I shared my prayer burden, she had the same thought and prayer. How amazing God is!

I think it's important to document God's work in our lives, no matter how small. Because, we (especially me) have such short-term memories. The miracles God works in our lives and when God feels so real quickly fades away with the doldrum of school, work, repeat. Also, I call God's work in my life "mini miracles" not to cheapen or downgrade it, but because I know God is possible of much greater work than just events in my life. God is an Able God.


Lastly, because this is a still a FOOD blog at heart... I made crab cakes for the first time tonight. While not perfect, they were quite good, in a rich and fatty way. I didn't have a couple of the ingredients in the recipe, and was too lazy to go out and buy them tonight. Made do with what I had, but wonder what the product would've tasted like if I had followed the recipe exactly. Below is the original recipe:

Crab Cakes

4 lbs. crabmeat
1 egg
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 c. saltine crackers, crushed (can substitute with Ritz crackers)
1 c. mayonnaise
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Combine crabmeat, egg, lemon zest, Old Bay Seasoning, basil, crackers, and mayonnaise in a bowl. 
2. Form mixture into 5 oz patties. Chill before cooking.
3. Heat oil in skillet. Saute crab cakes for 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. 

Tips: I did not have Old Bay Seasoning, and experimented with some garlic salt, black pepper, chili powder, and onion powder... and my crab cakes turned out a bit too salty. I would invest in the Old Bay Seasoning, it's fairly cheap, next time around. Also, you can broil the crab cakes in the oven, instead of frying on the stovetop. I broiled my crab cakes for about 15 minutes, and they slightly charred on the bottoms. I would stick with 5 minutes per side, until golden brown.