Gluten Free Tilapia Recipe

Ok, I am thinking this can go on any fish... or anything period it was so good!!! I am usually scared to use the broiler, it's so hot and I worry it'll sear the outside and leave the inside of a piece of meat raw, but fish is excellent in there!!! Who knew?! This is what we did:

*as always, if you are making this as a gluten free recipe check your ingredients to ensure gluten free status! I have brands I am very loyal to, but I still check every time I buy a new container to ensure nothing has changed on the ingredient list.

3 tilapia fillets (made enough to cover at least six, seriously)
1/2 C parmesan cheese (I used grated)
1/4 C butter or margarine, melted
3 Tbs Miracle Whip (use mayo, it'll be good, I'm just a mwhip junkie!)
dash of basil, pepper, salt, and onion powder

Preheat broiler - ours has three settings, I used the middle one called "norm". I lined our broiler pan with foil and sprayed it with Pam, just be aware that if you tilt this as you are pulling the fish out (ahem) the fillets will slide off!! I caught mine as they were sliding...

Broil plain fish three minutes on each side. While doing that, mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl. After the 3 minutes per side pull the tray out and cover the fish with your sauce. I really doused mine! Broil two to three more minutes and voila! Amazing fish!

This would be good on any white fish I have ever tasted, and would probably also be good on some corn on the cob wrapped in foil on the broiler too. Mmmmmmm.... maybe on potatoes too!!! The possibilities are endless!!!

Diesel, the Lizard Slayer

This is my savior today. Diesel is barely one year old, and the few bugs we have found in our house this summer he has brought to our feet, growling to let us know he had found something. I have never had a cat bring me things INSTEAD of eating them! He found the lizard while we were cooking dinner and brought it to us growling LOUDLY like a dog. It was not only amazing to me that he brought it to hubby's feet alive, but so nice that I don't have to worry about a weird lizard in my house anymore!!! I know they eat spiders and bugs, blah blah blah, but I'm just not a reptile person. Big Kid grabbed the lizard and set it free outside, Diesel hadn't hurt it at all! He has moved up on my list and put a smile on my face :)

Lizard in my house!!!!

I picked up a little blanket off the floor, trying to find a little beachball for the twins to play with in the little pool out back. A freaking lizard that is at least seven inches long ran UP MY ARM and onto the twins' slide in the corner of the room!! I screamed of course, and made my husband come try to get it. It hid in our recliner, we can't find it now, and I have since taken apart the chair and vacuumed it. How do you find a lizard in your house?!!! And what's even worse is my two cats are completely oblivious, they have no idea there's a lizard in their house! Useless animals. Grrrrr!!! I HATE lizards!

I am the one who killed the huge spider out back next to the pool, I don't mind wolf spiders one iota. One good smoosh and it's dead. A LIZARD??? IN MY HOUSE???

Eye surgery

Thing One and Thing Two had their eye appointments this morning. We thought their glasses prescriptions had changed over the last two months, because they are both still a little cross eyed.

Did I mention they have "esotropia"? That means their eyes cross. If left untreated it will cause another big word, amblyopia, which means the brain has chosen one eye to become dominant and sort of ignores the other eye so the child can better see.

So today the pediatric opthamologist said their eyes are no less crossed than they were at the last check up, meaning the glasses are correcting their vision but not their esotropia completely. This means that a) they probably have awful depth perception and b) they'll probably need surgery to correct their crossed eyes. The doctor talked to me just a little about the possibility of surgery, he is giving the twins 6 more weeks in their glasses before he makes the final decision.

I'm not nervous about the surgery really, the only freaky part is putting the twins under anesthesia. They are barely 3 years old, and have never been put under!! The eye surgery from what I have read is very noninvasive and they'll recover right away. Thank goodness! My father had the same surgery in 1949 and 1950, and had both eyes patched for days and it took three surgeries to fix his eyes. Of course that was 60+ years ago, things have changed a lot since then! However he can see perfectly well, I'm really not worried about the surgery. Now I just have to find the funds to pay for them... LOL!

Wow!!!

This storm produced tornados that did so much unexpected damage it was like being in a movie for me, staying up late to watch where the tornados were hitting next and if we were going to hide in our neighbor's basement or go to sleep unaffected. I can't imagine how to deal with the loss of life, of livelihood these people have experienced. It's just amazing that this happened "in our backyard"!!!

Jammin Out

Is it bad that I totally jam out when I hear the new Brittney Spears song? Course I still "jam out" when I hear Disturbed and Godsmack... I guess I have a wide range of interests with music! Oops, did I just show my age? HA!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I just did our every other Friday shopping trip, and wow did we find some good deals. One of the ones that I really liked was the flowers deal - I bought three Freschetta frozen pizzas at Kroger (mega sale and coupons!) and the register printed a $5 off Mother's Day floral arrangement coupon!! I already had planned on getting my neighbor a get well soon/mom's day bouquet at Publix, so it was perfect timing. I got her a nice little bouquet and was able to use the coupon!! I had a million other coupons of course, but I'm not one of those freaks who bring home $400 worth of groceries for a dollar, at best I save 40% of my bill.

I hope everyone reading my little blog has an enjoyable relaxing mother's day :)

Udi's Cinnamon Rolls

While at Kroger getting Big Kid sinus medicine (poor kid has quite a cold), I saw Udi's Cinnamon Rolls marked down half off because the expiry date is in two days. I couldn't resist, with my $1 coupon I paid $2 for a pack of cinnamon rolls that are gluten free! I took great gooey pleasure in eating my first cinnamon roll since 2006. It certainly isn't fresh baked fall apart, but after warming in the microwave for a half a minute and pouring the enclosed sauce all over it I have to admit it was very pleasing!!

Once again, thank you Udi's!! I grabbed a loaf of their "multigrain" bread to try now, we'll see how that tastes. I am so impressed with their other products I have tried so far, yay!!!

Saxon Math

We are finishing up with Saxon 76 today, and wow did we love that book! Big Kid learned so much from it, and thanks to the repetition he remembered it all! Ok, most of it ;) We just purchased a brand new set of Saxon 87, can't wait to break it open and see if it's as good as 76!

Choosing curriculum is so difficult, I truly feel that once you find a book or series of books that fit your child's style of learning, and your style of teaching, you should stick with it!!! Surprisingly most of the books we use were written for public school use, they just don't use them in the south. We use Saxon Math, Prentice Hall's Science Explorer series as well as their World Explorer series. We use the workbooks with the science books and with the geography books, they really do reinforce the material! We had such a hard time finding secular science books that were still thorough and "meaty". Prentice Hall fit the bill perfectly! I just started using the Prentice Hall Literature book for seventh grade, and so far we are liking it a lot. Big Kid had never read Rudyard Kipling's work, and the lit book had him read a short story of his. He loved it and asked if we could find a copy of The Jungle Book! If nothing else reading a classroom literature book will expose him to different authors and many different types of writing, which I feel all students need at some point.

Overall I am really really satisfied with the Prentice Hall series we are using, go figure! I thought I would never see a public school book, and here we are almost exclusively using them! They are the books used in New England mostly, says enough for me - where do schools produce the smartest children? Yep, you guessed it - not down south!!

Today's Car Tip

A good friend rear ended someone today, and it made me realize that not everyone knows what to do in the event of an actual accident happening. She handled it pretty well, but she admitted she was looking down at her phone to see why the audio had stopped playing through her sound system. I am a firm believer in gps, but really I feel that phones should be phones and computers should be computers. Call me old fashioned!

First, know that airbags throw dust when they deploy so don't immediately think your car is on fire. That is an awful feeling to throw in the mix of an accident!

If I were in an accident today,
-I would first check on my passengers visually to make sure everyone is ok.
- call the police. I know this sounds like a no brainer, but seriously someone needs to call 911 to get a cop there, even if no one is hurt. Right away call the police. All you have to say is I have been in a car accident, I am on this road near this store or intersection. They will ask if anyone is hurt, and tell you what to do if someone is.
- make sure no traffic is coming at you! Get out, immediately snap a few photos of both cars (just about every cell phone will take a picture!) and try to judge if you can move the car. Obviously if there is smoke pouring from the hood get everyone out immediately! If it's a fender bender that doesn't look dangerous, start the car back up and move it out of the way. I was once rear ended by a driver going 60, and she pushed my car right to the crest of a hill in the wrong lane - some poor soul could have smashed into my car head on without even seeing it! My car was dead and I mean ruined, but I still was able to leave it in neutral and roll backwards to the edge of the proper lane. If it's at all possible, move the car to the side of the road. Doing more damage like tearing a fender with a wheel is better than putting someone else's life in danger!
- call your insurance company. Most companies will give you a little card with instructions on what to do if you are in an accident, ask them if you don't have one. Worst case I think you can print a blank sheet that prompts you for needed info here : http://www.wiserdrivers.com/num.php
- don't get out gushing that it's your fault, even if it is. Let the insurance companies work that out, simply ask if everyone is ok. Don't scream at some idiot who rear ended you and ruined your car, just make sure everyone is ok and separate yourselves, wait for the authorities.
- know your insurance policy. I have not been in an accident since 1999 and I know that each of my family members is covered medically as well as passengers. I know my deductibles, and know what rental my insurance will cover.
- get the rental if you need it, but only if you need it. You did just get into an accident, it's ok to not want to drive for a few days and mentally recover from that! However if you drive the family go getter like I do, get the rental right away so you're not stranded later.
- have your carseats inspected, and ask your insurance agent that when you call to report the accident. Don't forget that!!!

So did I miss anything guys?