Hearty Fish Chowder

Finally, I have something to cook! I seriously spent all of $5 on this recipe, so as long as you have a few staple foods at home you can make it just as easily as I did. It just takes about 45 minutes overall to put together and cook. Sorry I haven't added anything until now; I've been surviving on dishes that I've already blogged about. This idea came to me after I bought a package of Tilapia at a regular (not even Super) Wal-Mart, as a last-ditch effort at eating something healthy before I could afford to go buy groceries this week.

Ingredients:

3 frozen or thawed Tilapia fillets
5 red potatoes, washed and cubed
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup frozen corn (you can add more if you like, this is just what I used in this particular recipe)
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1 Tbsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp basil

Put all the chopped vegetables (potato, onion, garlic and carrots) into a large pot and just cover with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are almost fork-tender.

Add all other ingredients, covering the pot with the lid tipped to let out a little steam. Simmer on low for about 15 minutes, until fish is cooked and soup is well-mixed into the broth. The fish will break apart and distribute itself nicely into the soup, as long as you mix it well a couple of times as it's cooking.

This is my bowl of hot fish soup served with a buttered slice of my artisan bread. Yum! I estimate this batch of soup will make about 8 servings.

Super Easy Lemon Pepper Fish

I'm a little embarrassed to actually be blogging this recipe, but I feel bad for not posting anything lately. I've been living off leftovers, freezer food, and cucumber sandwiches all week. This "recipe" only takes a couple minutes to throw together, and can be modified for as many fish fillets as you have available. I just bought a big pack of frozen Tilapia fillets and thawed them in the fridge as needed.

Ingredients:

Tilapia or other white fish fillets
olive oil
lemon pepper

Spray olive oil all over a baking sheet/cookie pan, and set the fillets on top. This works best if the fish pieces have been thawed in your fridge over night. Spray olive oil over the top of the fillets to coat lightly, then sprinkle generously with lemon pepper. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. Serves however many people you have fish fillets for.