More Good Eating Fast and Cheap!

So with the employment situation still not, shall we say, optimum I'm watching that food dollar pretty closely these days. But I still have to keep the meals nutritious and the sodium low for Mama's good health. We're both real fond of fish but our favorite orange roughy is generally too pricey so we've grown fond of tilapia. Winn Dixie almost always has frozen tilapia fillets buy one, get one free so I stopped over there and got a couple of packages last week. Having those fillets in the freezer means I can cook up a meal in no time flat too, I cooked some after church today and had dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes. There was a recipe on the back of the package that is similar to one I already use so I adapted what I liked from both and it was a success! Here's the whole meal start to finish:

Soak rice noodles in a dish of hot water. Mix a cup of orange juice, 1-2 tbsp of honey mustard, powdered ginger and black pepper to taste in a microwave-safe baking dish. Add 2 tilapia fillets. Cook your favorite frozen vegetable in the microwave (watch the sodium content, the ones with sauce can be way too high for a low-sodium diet.) Then cook the fish in the oj mixture in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Drain the noodles and you're ready to eat! I did put about a teaspoon of cornstarch in the oj mixture after removing the cooked fish and brought it to a boil to thicken up the sauce but that's optional. So there you go - a nutritious, low-sodium dinner for 2 on the table in less than 20 minutes for under $5. Awesome!

Yummy peachy ginger-y pork loin... with chutney!

So for the one or two of you who are breathlessly waiting to hear how the pork loins turne out.... have you no lives? Seriously, though, they turned out really, really well. My sister & bro-in-law were later getting in on Saturday than we had first thought so we ended up eating grilled cheese & tomato sandwiches (Swiss is low in sodium) and those little porky guys ended up marinating until after church on Sunday. I had made a marinade of ginger ale, peach nectar, balsamic vinegar, dry mustard, dry ginger and pepper. I saved about a cup of that out and cooked it down in a pot with some chopped fresh peaches to make a chutney for the pork. I baked sweet potatoes and cooked some yellow squash and onions too. It was a monochromatic meal but it was extra, extra good and very low in sodium. Mama was pleased and the company enjoyed it too I think.

What's for Supper?

It's that time of day again. Time to figure out what to cook for dinner. Because Mother doesn't trust most restaurants to not put salt in her food I can't go for take-out like most folks, so we eat in and I cook. I've adapted or created quite a few recipes out of necessity so I'll check the freezer to see what's available and decide from there. Be right back.

Okay, so Publix had Orange Roughy filets on sale a week or so ago and I picked up several packages of that. We usually eat tilapia since it's less expensive but I watch for those sales and so this week it's orange roughy, a mild white fish that we enjoy. This is the basis for my go to "fast food" meal, so called because I can cook it in less time than I could get in the car and drive down the street to one of our neighborhood drive-thru's. Seriously, I can put this very healthy meal on the table in about 10 minutes. Here we go:

• defrost the fish about half way in the microwave
• heat a little olive oil in a saute pan and add the fish filets with some pepper and McCormack's salt free "It's a dilly" seasoning with the heat between medium and medium-high
  
• put a package of Green Giant "Simply Steam" veggies in the microwave. Tonight I'm using the green beans & almonds.
  
• turn the fish and season the other side
• put a package of Uncle Ben's 90 second brown rice (has to be the brown rice, all the others have too much salt) in the microwave
• go set the table
  
• by the time the vegetables and rice are cooked the fish will be done
  
• enjoy! Now, wasn't that easy?
  
• Approximate calories & sodium per serving - 490 calories, 180 mgs of sodium, not counting any butter or margarine you put on your rice.