Tilapia time

I am really lucky that my whole family loves fish. It's light and healthy. I only wish it were less expensive. I stock up on tilapia and salmon when they go on sale. This garlic tilapia is really tasty and easy to make.

THE RECIPE:

1 1b. tilapia fillets, completely thawed
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed*
Cilantro, if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place fish in baking dish, taking care to tuck under any thin parts to ensure even cooking. Cover in melted butter, oil, salt and pepper, and lemon juice. Spread around garlic bits with a fork. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until fish flakes when pierced with a fork. Spoon juices over fish. Garnish with a little chopped fresh cilantro, if desired.

*I used two cloves, which gave the dish a little kick. After all, it is called GARLIC tilapia.

Just beet it

We love beets -- freshly cooked beets. We didn't know this until recently, but now we're hooked. They are so yummy. My kids love them. You buy them whole in the produce section. If they have their greens still attached, you can supposedly use those in salads and things, but you'll have to look online. I haven't tried that.

If you haven't had beets, you are missing out. You can't...uh...beat their gorgeous magenta color and high nutritional value. Plus, Dwight Schrute would be proud.

A word to the wise: Beets alter the color of urine.

THE RECIPE:

2 1/2 lbs. beets, peeled with a vegetable peeler
2 Tbsp. melted butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut peeled beets into fourths, or about 2-inch chunks. Place in baking dish and toss with butter and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil and bake for an hour and a half.

Don't trifle with trifle

I've seen this peanut butter brownie trifle on multiple food blogs, and I finally made it. It was our Mother's Day dessert, and it was a success. My brother-in-law was "mmm"ing with every bite. See, we're Reese's fans around here.

THE RECIPE:

1 9x13 pan baked brownies, cut into 1-inch pieces*
1 large (5.1 oz.) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 c. milk
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. whipping cream, whipped and divided**
40 bite-sized or 24 regular Reese's peanut butter cups

Beat pudding mix and milk until thickened. Add peanut butter and vanilla, then mix until combined. Fold in 1 cup whipped cream.

Place half of brownies in bottom of trifle dish. Sprinkle with 16 coarsely chopped bite-sized Reese's. Spread half of pudding mixture on top. Repeat layers. Top with last cup of whipped cream and remaining 8 bite-sized Reese's for garnish. Chill at least six hours before serving. Serves 12.

*Option: Add a 10-ounce bag of peanut butter baking chips to brownie batter.

**Homemade whipped cream: With an electric mixer, beat cream with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until soft peaks form.

Use your food storage

This stuffing chicken bake is just a recipe I got off the back of a Stove Top stuffing box. It's one of those throw-together meals that use food storage ingredients. It tastes pretty good, though. My kids ate it, so that means something.

THE RECIPE:

1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing mix for chicken
1 1/2 lbs. raw chicken breast, cut into chunks
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 c. low-fat sour cream
16 ounces frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare stuffing as directed on package; set aside. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream and vegetables in 9x13 pan. Season with pepper. Top with stuffing. Bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serves 6.

Scrumptious shells

My whole family loved these stuffed shells. I adapted a recipe from Carrie's Cooking Corner, using fresh spinach from our garden instead of frozen. I will definitely make this again. I am always glad to have another good meatless recipe on hand.

THE RECIPE:

20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
16 oz. low-fat cottage cheese
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained*
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. EACH garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
16 oz. spaghetti sauce

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and seasoning. Spoon filling into shells. Pour half of spaghetti sauce into bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Line up filled shells in baking dish, then spoon remaining sauce down the middle of each line of shells. Bake 20 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake a couple of minutes more.

*I used 4 packed cups fresh spinach, which I washed and roughly chopped.

Bring on the spring

This is a fun idea for decorating cupcakes. Frost your cupcakes as desired, then cut marshmallows into fourths to make flower petals. I used kitchen shears coated with cooking spray. Use gumdrops for the centers. Fun and easy! Thanks to my cousin Kristy for the idea.

St. Patrick's Day dessert

My kids took St. Patrick's Day very seriously this year. They literally pinched me at least 100 times in the morning, until I put on a green shirt. I got with the program, and everything was green after that! We had a St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and a bunch of yummy green sides.

We ended the night with the lime Jell-O cream cheese pie you see above. It is the easiest thing in the world to throw together, and its thick, creamy, Jell-O-y filling is delicious. You must serve it with fresh whipped cream. Plan ahead for refrigeration time.

THE RECIPE:

1 graham cracker pie crust
1 3-ounce package lime Jell-O
1 c. boiling water
8 ounces light cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. lime juice

Dissolve Jell-O into boiling water. Add cream cheese and beat with electric mixer until smooth and combined. Add lime juice. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate at least four hours, until set.