"Foodie" is just a hipster term for "I really like to eat."

We had quite the foodie weekend at our house. I swear- even if I was not a dietitian, I would enjoy cooking. I view it as a separate part of my life, as evidenced by some of the, ahem, desserts I made.

Friday night I made crispy tilapia sliders with chipotle lime slaw. I used cornmeal plus seasoned salt and pepper for the outer coating. Dip the tilapia in flour, then egg, then cornmeal mixture, and place in a large frying pan filled with 2 Tbsp vegetable oil + 1 Tbsp butter.

The chipotle lime slaw was SO easy- just run a few canned chipotles through the food processor. I used a ratio of 1 cup olive oil mayo to 2 Tbsp pureed chipotle, and it really packed a punch. If you’re not into heat, use less chipotle. To that mixture I squeezed the juice of 1 lime, and stirred in some chopped cabbage.

I served the sliders on sweet Hawaiian rolls. Absolutely no nutritional value to these at all, but man, the sweet soft bun was amazing with the crispy fish and the spicy dressing.

Saturday afternoon was canning time. I fiiiiiinally went out to the garden and harvested my tomatoes. I had planed three different varieties of cherry tomatoes- yellow, red, and “chocolate.” Because I had so many I decided to whip up a basic pasta sauce, adding fresh basil as well.

I had a bag of plums sitting in the fridge that I figured I’d turn into jam as long as I was going to the trouble of canning. Go figure, the toddler had great interest in helping determine quality control for the plums. I added some frozen blueberries to the mix too, for plum berry jam. I miiiiiight have also added a splash of leftover Pinot Noir as it was bubbling. The jam is still sitting on my counter- I’ll be sure to update when we actually try it.

On Sunday I put my cast iron skillet to good use. I feel like I often see recipes that call for sautéing on the stove, then placing in the oven to finish. I bought the cast iron skillet for such recipes- tamale pie did not disappoint. This recipe is nice because it doesn’t require anything fresh- it’s one of those meals where you can buy the ingredients well in advance.

Tamale Skillet Pie 

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 can creamed corn

1/3 cup Greek yogurt

½ cup red enchilada sauce

1 lb lean ground beef

1 yellow onion, diced

Low sodium taco seasoning packet

½ cup shredded Colby Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray some nonstick baking spray In an oven-proof skillet with a 2”+ rim. In a separate bowl, combine muffin mix with creamed corn and yogurt. Stir just until combined, then pour in the skillet and bake for ~20 or until edges turn golden brown. Turn oven heat down to 375. While the cornbread bakes, saute the beef and onion together. Add 1/3 cup water and taco seasoning. Stir until combined.

Back to the cornbread- poke holes in it with a fork and pour the enchilada sauce all over, letting it sink through the holes. Top with beef and onion mixture, then sprinkle cheese over the top. Put back in the oven for ~10 minutes.  

I served this with a side salad topped with more garden tomatoes and some diced avocado

For our dessert, which we honestly rarely do, I made a sour cream pound cake with peach Champagne sauce, topped with whipped cream.

Peaches + Champagne + sugar- as Barefoot Contessa says, “How bad could this be?”

Definitely a calorie splurge, even with a small serving. I had leftover peach sauce which I canned as well. I'm sure it'll taste just as good over my whole wheat pancakes : )