Scrumptious Herbed Salmon

Here's another recipe I've been in raptures over--but in this case, for a few years running. (Maybe one reason is that we don't get it that often, because salmon is expensive where I live.) It is just so, so good...

Scrumptious Herbed Salmon
Yield: 4 side servings

1 1/2 pounds boneless salmon fillet, about 1-inch thick
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. salt (optional--I think this makes it too salty)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 tsp. paprika

Preheat oven to 475 F. Make a tray out of a doubled-length of heavy-duty foil large enough for the salmon filet by folding a long piece in half and folding up all four sides, with the dull side up. Spray the entire inside of the foil tray with cooking spray. Place the foil tray on a baking sheet.

Place the salmon fillet in the foil tray skin-side down. Sprinkle lemon juice over salmon and spread mayonnaise over the top.

In a small bowl, mix together salt (optional), onion powder, garlic powder, lemon pepper, oregano, basil, and dill weed. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the salmon, then top with the sweet paprika.

Place baking pan with foil tray in oven. Cook for 10 minutes per inch of thickness of the fish fillet. Do not overcook or it will be dry and unpalatable. Turning is not necessary. Salmon is done when it turns a light pink color throughout and feels firm when pressed gently with the back of a fork. Use a spatula to lift the salmon away from the skin to serve.

Want to Enter my Christmas Giveaway?

The more the merrier! As I mentioned Saturday, CSN stores has given me another opportunity for a giveaway. They have a complete line of everything you could want, from counter stools, to kitchen products, to home decor, to stuff for babies and kids, at competitive prices. If you haven't yet, check them out!

Here are the rules for the giveaway this time around:

First, as before, if you are not already a follower of my blog, please become one.

Second, send your favorite Christmas recipe to me at katrinaskitchen35@gmail.com, which will imply permission for me to modify it, if needed, when I recreate it, and permission for me to post it on this blog for others' use at a later date, if I choose to do so.

Third, like last time, you will be given one entry for each comment you make the week of the giveaway period. But this time I will be retroactive and any comments you have previously made (as in, before you knew about this giveaway) in the month of December will be included, to hopefully give my faithfuls' an added advantage.

That's it!

Some time on Monday, December 20th, I will randomly choose the winner, who will receive $35 from CSN toward the purchase of any item at their stores.

So good luck, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Christmas Giveaway

Dear readers,

CSN stores has once again given me the opportunity to do another giveaway and I thought it would be fun to do it just in time for Christmas! So be looking for details on Monday (Dec 13th)...

Sincerely,
Katrina

I'm in Love...

With this salad.

I've had similar salads before, but something about this salad the last couple of weeks has had me in raptures. I enjoyed it so much at Thanksgiving dinner that I replicated it at home. And I even found some store-bought salad dressing that is MSG-free with all natural ingredients (Brianna's)--not that I couldn't have made my own. At Thanksgiving I enjoyed it with honey mustard dressing; at home I enjoyed it with poppy seed dressing. I love how versatile salads can be! And this one has such a pretty color combination as well...

Cranberry-Almond-Feta Salad

Salad base:

Green leaf lettuce, torn
Spinach, torn
cucumbers, sliced
tomatoes, sliced

Over the top sprinkle:

green onions, diced
original feta cheese, crumbled
dried cranberries
candied almonds, crushed
salad dressing of choice

Budget Saver Tip #18: Decorating for Cheap

I'm (unfortunately) not real into decorating, but at Christmastime I feel obligated to make our home festive and have been given many decorations over the years that help me do so. Plus, my kids enjoy it so much that it's fun to see how excited they get helping me. But this year I wanted to do a little more, so I went to Dollar Tree. They're a good place to find decorations for cheap. In fact, I almost wished we didn't already have all the tree ornaments we need because I really liked many of the ones they had at Dollar Tree. For $4 I was able to make a small wreath for our front door (we've never had one before), and another $1 added festive greenery to our wooden railing. So, if you're feeling the need to do a little more...on a little budget, why don't you check out Dollar Tree? (If there isn't one in your area, you can check them out online.)

Homemade Granola Bars

I've been having to eat several small meals every day for the last few months, instead of my usual three regular ones. But sometimes, due to my schedule or other factors, I just need a good, quick, portable snack. So a week ago or so I started looking at the selection of granola bars in the stores. I almost bought a box a couple times, but I just couldn't bare to do it, not with all the high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar, sugar, etc listed in the ingredients. After all, I didn't want dessert, I wanted a healthful snack. So I determined to figure out how to make my own. After all, I knew I already had the ingredients on hand and it couldn't really be that hard. I found quite a few recipes online and weeded them down to one I found on FoodNetwork.com. Then, of course, I modified it to include no sugar. We all loved the result and I felt good knowing I didn't give in to the easy, unhealthful option. :)
Plus, when you make them yourself, you can switch up the fruits, nuts, etc, so they are just the way you want them. I doubled the recipe and made two varieties: one with dried dates, papayas, and cranberries; and the other with sunflower seeds and raisins (though I didn't use nearly 1 1/2 c. of raisins).

Homemade Granola Bars

2 c. rolled oats
1 c. sliced almonds
1 c. shredded coconut, loosely packed (this can be found unsweetened to further reduce the refined sugar content)
1/2 c. wheat germ
3 Tb. butter
About 1 c. honey (I may cut it down a bit next time because it seemed a little too sweet to me, but the rest of my family didn't notice.)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. dried fruit(s) of your choice (of course, varieties with less or no sugar are the most healthful)

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish and line it with parchment paper. (I didn't have parchment paper and therefore can't vouch for its necessity, but I unfortunately did find out how necessary greasing the pan is! I know, I should've known better, but sometimes I space things...)

Toss oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 min, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl and stir in wheat germ.

Reduce temperature to 300 degrees.

Place butter, honey, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over toasted oatmeal mixture. Add dried fruit and stir well.

Pour mixture into prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press mixture evenly into pan. Bake for 25-30 min, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2-3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

I wasn't sure how long these would stay good outside of the fridge, so after a couple days I wrapped the individual bars in tinfoil and put them in the fridge.

Apples Galore

We now have apples coming out of our ears, thanks to my aunt and uncle who loaded us up over Thanksgiving. I love, love, love fresh, free!, homegrown produce and was excited to get all these apples, but now I'm trying to decide what I want to do with them. They have blemished skins but taste great, and I would like to do some canning, in addition to just using them in my cooking. All you canning experts and apple aficionados, what do you suggest?

Also, here is a tip for storing apples that my grandpa taught us when I was growing up, in case you didn't already know: You can keep apples tasty (and even crispy) all winter by enclosing them in a paper sack which is inside a closed plastic bag in the fridge. So I will definitely be keeping some of them that way for the long term.