Fish Tacos

Okay, I know that this makes two recipes in a row, and it's not my usual routine, but I'm just crazy busy right now so I wanted to get something up. I'm working hard on a little tutorial to post with the winner for tomorrow's Spring Cleaning Giveaway.

Not everyone likes fish tacos, but Peanut Head and I happen to love them. In fact, it's just about the only way that Peanut Head will eat fish.

We generally use these frozen fillets because they're fast, but you could use any kind of fish you want. For example, you might want to make these a little healthier with fresh fish that hasn't been breaded within an inch of it's life.

Also, this picture shows the fillets on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, but I really recommend cooking them on a broiler pan so the extra grease drains away from the fish.

Here's that recipe card. Enjoy!

Death by Pie--Caramel Ice Cream Pie

I made this Caramel Ice Cream Pie for my crop last weekend, and I almost killed my Stampin' Up Consultant with it. You think I'm kidding?

I'm dead serious. Excuse the pun. You see, Melanie the Stampin' Up Queen is allergic to nuts and this pie has pecans. I knew about her allergy, so I was careful to withhold the pecans that get sprinkled on top. My plan was to just sprinkle them on the individual servings and skip them on hers. I'm so smart and all that.

Yeah. Until Melanie casually asked me about the crust. Then it hit me, "Oh crap! There are pecans in the crust!" I think Melanie must know to ask such questions, and I'm very thankful for that, believe me.

The funny thing is, when I was freaking out and telling her how sorry I was, she was so sweet and said "Oh, it's no problem. I just won't eat it. I don't die if I eat nuts, I just swell up and it's hard to breath because my throat swells too."

Well, guess what? That didn't make me feel any better because the last time I checked, we need oxygen to live and if we can't breathe we don't have oxygen. It's a pretty simple equation, really. So, nice try, Melanie, trying to make me feel better about almost killing you. From this point forward I shall call Melanie by her new name, Melanie-Who-I-Almost-Killed-With-Pie. Kind of catchy, isn't it?

Lucky for Melanie she didn't eat the deadly pie, and Peanut Head was out and about so he was able to pick up a chocolate cream pie. Chocolate makes everything better, don't you think?

So here's the deadly crust, just lurking about and waiting to wreak it's anaphylactic shock on unsuspecting passers by. Can you believe the audacity?

But it sure is yummy.

I like to use this, my little Mini Prep Cuisinart, for turning cookies into crumbs for pie crusts. I don't have a real grown-up food processor, but this little guy works just fine. The Barefoot Contessa gave me this too. She's so good to me.

Now, I should warn you, in case you go to make this pie, that the crust might give you some fits. Hang in there though, because it's worth it.

Just keep looking at this picture and chant "Keep your eye on the ball, keep your eye on the . . ." Er, I mean pie.

The part that gave me fits was not pushing the crust into the pie plate, but putting the ice cream down on top of the crust and having sections of it crumble. In fact, the first time I made this pie I said to myself "I'm never making this mess again! This crust blows." Or something like that.

But the neat thing is, when all the melty goodness of the ice cream settles and sets up, it glues the crust back together and the pieces come out of the pie plate in very tidy little wedges. Just like it's supposed to in our dreams. No lie.

So, as I mentioned, you're going to put ice cream on the pie crust. About half of your container of ice cream. Which reminds me, did you know that what used to be a half gallon of ice cream is now only a quart and a half?!! And it's the same price! We're getting cheated out of that other half a quart.

Anyway, I'm losing focus here. You're going to use half of that not half gallon of ice cream for the first layer, then you'll lay down three tablespoons of the decadent mocha sauce you're going to whip up while you're waiting for the ice cream to get all melty.

Then you're going to lay the rest of the ice cream down and you are not going to sample it. Right?

Yeah, whatever. So, when you're done unfolding and licking out the inside of the empty carton, you're going to drizzle another three tablespoons of mocha sauce willy nilly around the top of the ice cream pie. No need to be fancy, just let it fly.

Then stick the pie in the freezer to set up for at least four hours. Once it's set-up, you're going to rewarm the rest of the mocha sauce and whip up some whipped cream. You can pipe whipped cream around the pie, or just serve it with a blob of it, drizzle some warm mocha sauce on top, and sprinkle it with some pecans with deadly intent.

Yum!

Here's your recipe card. Enjoy!

Spring Cleaning Giveaway!

How many of you out there are super excited to start your Spring cleaning?

Anyone?

Yeah, I figured. I'm not excited either. However, today I want to share something with you that will help you spread out your spring cleaning chores over an entire year so that you don't have the daunting task of doing them all at once. Y'all know I like to procrastinate, so this is right up my alley.

It's this cute little lunchbox looking thing. Isn't it sweet? I bought this from Spring Clean Year 'Round and I'm going to give it away to one of my lucky readers.

Do you want to know what's inside?

Chore cards. Aren't they cute? Well, as cute as they can be for chore cards anyway. 

The box comes with these dividers too--number dividers from 1 to 31 representing the dates on the calendar in a given month, and twelve monthly dividers.

You sort the chore cards depending on how often they are to be done. For example, a weekly chore would go behind a number date, then when the chore is completed you would move it seven days out. A monthly chore would be moved behind a month tab, etc. Some chores are done only yearly, so you just have to decide which month you want to do it in.

Each chore card comes with tips as well as the recommended frequency for completing it. Now you might want to change the frequency on some of these because I don't know about you, but I only dust once a year. Whether it needs it or not.

If you want a chance to win this super cute system, leave a comment on this post telling me how you spring clean, or maybe how you don't spring clean. Don't be shy, I won't judge you. I might tease you, but only if you dust more than I do.

I'll pick someone using Random Integer Generator on Friday. Deadline for entering is Friday, March 20th, at noon Pacific time. Good luck!