Baked Tilapia and Berry Lemonade

Kisses from Mom before she goes to work!

Harlee and I enjoyed the outdoors today.  We put a blanket on the grass in the backyard and watched traffic go by.  Harlee also pulled out grass but thankfully didn’t eat any. He was pretty calm outside, and after a while ended up getting sleepy.  He dozed off but woke up as I was packing up the blanket and things. So, we sat on the front porch and listened to the neighbors mow grass. I thought it’d be a good idea to go for a walk, so I packed Harlee in the stroller and we took on lap around the neighborhood.

I think that wore him out because when we got home, he fell asleep pretty quickly.  He’s been a grumpy butt the rest of the evening, and nothing seems to pacify him except chewing on green bell peppers or broccoli.  Poor little guy is still teething. 

Dinner was tasty.  I didn’t help in making it at all, except taking it out of the oven and plating it.  So Jami will have to write about all that.

 ~ ~ ~ Jami here, dinner was super easy and super tasty (isn't that always the case, though?).  I realize I should probably have Jenna help a little more, but sometimes I get carried away with it!  She did a great job of removing it from the oven though, which is good as I couldn't do it myself since I was wearing Harlee (note the cute sling in the above left picture, made by Baby Miller Designs) - as Jenna said he was a bit grumpy and very needy of his momma, and thank goodness for that sling or I wouldn't get anything done sometimes!  I sure hope this teething phase goes by quickly, for both our sakes...

So I'm trying to cut back on carbs, per a tip from a healthcare provider, so this meal is pretty low carb except for the rice, which I included to add a little variety for Jenna and Debbie's sake (Debbie's been joining us for dinner quite a bit lately!  I'm especially grateful this time as she juiced about 8lbs of lemons for me to make the berry lemonade we served with dinner...), but that's obviously very easy to omit if you want to follow the same kind of diet.  We also served steamed broccoli, which, as you can see, Harlee loved.  I wish I had taken a picture of the floor beneath him after he was finished with that poor floret... it was pretty gross.  So were his hands.  And his arms.  And his chin.  And both of our clothes...  Haha ah, the joys of introducing foods!  At least he's finally showing an interest - I didn't think the day would ever come!  Now he's curiously watching us as we eat and reaching for our plates.  I'll let him sample a few things, mostly only fruit and vegetables but I let him taste a little fish too.  He loves his veggies!  He still wants nothing to do with purees, though - he has to feed himself.  So much for all that work I did pureeing and freezing all those fresh vegetables awhile back... oh well, I guess you just never know with babies, or kids of any age!  He also has absolutely no sweet tooth, which is great since I don't want him to have sugar until at LEAST after he's a year old.  It's just not good for us, and I might as well protect him from having the same problem his momma has for as long as I can!  Yes, I am guilty of having a terrible sweet tooth.....

Alright, here's the recipe:

Baked Tilapia
    Taken from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Tilapia/Detail.aspx3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
 

1 6oz can tomato paste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

6 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia
12 large slices of red onion
12 slices of green bell pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom of a medium baking dish with about 1/4 cup olive oil.
In a small bowl, blend remaining olive oil, tomato paste, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper.
Arrange tilapia fillets in the prepared baking dish, skin side up. With a spatula, spread the olive oil and tomato paste mixture over the tilapia, heaping the majority in the centers of the fillets. Arrange onion and green pepper slices on top of the fillets.
Bake in the preheated oven 15 minutes, until fish is easily flaked with a fork.  Serve over steamed rice.

 

 

 And let's not forget that lemonade... holy cow was that good!!  Debbie brought over a bottle of sparkling mineral water, so mixing that in a glass with the lemonade (about half and half of each) gave it a little extra fizz and a different twist to the flavor - very yummy!

I guess we could have garnished this with a lemon or something to make it a little prettier... oh well!

Berry Lemonade

2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 quarts water

1 cup sugar

1 16oz bag frozen mixed berries, thawed for a few hours in refrigerator (or berries of your choice)

Stir ingredients together in a pitcher until sugar is dissolved.  The berry juice blends nicely with the lemonade, but if the bag was only partially thawed then the berries chill the lemonade well too.  Enjoy!