Oven Baked Sockeye Salmon

Ingredients
1 Large Sockeye Salmon Fillet
Old Bay Seasoning
2Tbsps Garlic Salt
4tsp Olive Oil

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Lightly oil pan with 2tsp olive oil and sprinkle with 1Tbsp garlic salt and 1Tbsp Old Bay

3. Place fish, scale side down, on pan

(scale side)


(scales down)



4. Using a baking brush, oil over entire fillet

5. Sprinkle with generous amount of Old Bay Seasoning and 1Tsp Garlic Salt



6. Slide into oven and bake for 15 minutes

7. After 15 minutes, check to see if fish flakes easily. The white stuff is the fat cooking out


8. Slice the fillet and serve with your favorite sides

Lasagna

If you haven't been able to tell by now, I am a lover of Italian foods. Working at Amalfis, I still never got sick of the smell or taste of the delicious sauces. I am not even going to try and recreate their lasagna. I worked at the one in Statesville, NC (they now have two, that's how good it is). Here is the website to the one in Kernersville.

Sauce Ingredients:
1lb Hamburger
1lb Sausage (I used Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage)
1 Medium Onion, diced
2Tbsps Minced Garlic (I used the pre-minced in Olive Oil)
2 8oz Tomato Sauce
2 6oz Tomato Paste
1 28oz Crushed Tomato
2Tbsps Italian Seasoning
2tsp Basil
1tsp Salt
2Tbsp Sugar
1/2tsp pepper

Cheese Ingredients:
23oz Ricotta Cheese
1 Large Egg
2tsp Italian Seasoning

Other Ingredients:
12 Lasagna Noodles
1lb Mozzarella Cheese


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In dutch oven/stock pot mix together Sausage, Hamburger, Onion, and Garlic. Cook through.



3. While that is cooking, get all tomato sauces/pastes ready and pour out the correct amount of sugar, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and basil to add to pot.





4. When meat is done and well blended, add in sauces and spices.





5. Let simmer for 1.5 hours (if you only have an hour, go ahead)

6. Mix together Ricotta cheese, 2tsps Italian seasoning, and large egg. Mix well.



7. In a large pan, place lasagna noodles to soak, for 25 minutes, in hot tap water.


8. In the pan you will cook the lasagna in, place a layer of meat sauce on bottom, to keep it from sticking.



9. Place down first layer of Lasagna noodles, covering pan (usually 6 noodles in the average 9x13 pang)



10. Add a nice layer of the Ricotta cheese mixture (about half)



11. Cover with Mozzerella Cheese. About 1.5 cups



12. Add another noodle layer (darn me forgetting to take a picture!)

13. Cover with meat sauce



14. Drop remaining Ricotta mixture, in "globs", and sprinkle Mozzarella cheese



15. Place on Final noodle layer



16. Cover with meat sauce and remaining Mozzarella cheese (forgot picture, sorry!)

17. Cover with tinfoil, bake for 25 minutes

18. Uncover after 25 minutes, and back for additional 25 minutes



19. Let set for 15 minutes before serving!

Baked Garlic Tilapia

Thumbelina does not like the Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, so I made this up for her, and she loved it. (So did I)

Ingredients:
4-6oz Tilapia Fillets (5-8)
2Tbsp Butter
1tsp Garlic Salt
1/4tsp Paprika
1/8tsp Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Line cookie sheet with tinfoil and spray or grease

3. Rinse and dry fillets, placing on cookie sheet



4. Melt Butter in small bowl



5. Mix in Garlic Salt, Paprika, and Pepper




6. Brush on Tilapia fillets, making sure to cover the entire top side



7. Bake in preheated oven for 11 minutes, or until Tilapia flakes



8. Remove from oven, serve, and ENJOY!

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

*Panko Bread Crumbs are Japanese style bread crumbs. Panko actually means bread crumbs (according to google!), so it's a bit redundant. If you do not have Panko, you can use regular, or make your own!


Ingredients:
4-6oz Tilapia fillets (7-8)
1/2 Alfredo Sauce
1tsp Oregano
1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (separated in 2 halves)
1/2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs*

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees

2. Spray or oil a 9x12 clear dish

3. Rinse and dry fillets, place in greased dish



5. Mix together Alfredo sauce, Oregano, and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. You can make your own Alfredo sauce, or do what I did to save time, and use a pre-made.



6. Brush Alfredo mixture on Tilapia fillets, making a thick, even coat


7. Mix together 1/2 cup Panko and 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese


8. Sprinkle on top of Alfredo sauce, covering the fillets
(please don't hate me, I forgot to photograph this step, but it's pretty self explanatory, right?)

9. Place in preheated oven for 16 minutes, or until Tilapia flakes easily


10. Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!

Baked Potatoes

We all know the skin is the best part of the potato. I also know that when I eat other peoples potatoes, I bypass the skin because it's dry and blah (especially those that are cooked in the microwave!). So, here is my recipe, where the skin is better than the actual potato!

Ingredients:
Russet Baking Potatoes (however many you need)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Tinfoil


1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

2. Grab your potato and look it over for any bad spots



3. Wash and dry your potato



4. Stab your potato on all sides with a fork or a knife



5. Pull out sheets of tinfoil, large enough to fold the potato in for baking. Place a small amount of oil on the foil, rubbing it into an oval shape, then sprinkle on Garlic Salt and Pepper.



6. Rub potato with a tsp of oil, place on tinfoil, in the spot where the seasoning is

7. Sprinkle with Garlic Salt and Pepper



8. Wrap potato up tight in tinfoil



9. Place in oven for 1 hour



10. Unwrap tinfoil



11. Put on your plate and place your favorite toppings on top! I am putting a picture of both my favorite (butter and sour cream) and then my husbands (everything but the kitchen sink)

Easy Italian Meatballs

Who doesn't love meatballs? Who actually cooks them at home? Over the years, I have realized that some people find meatballs to be confusing and hard to make (by people I mean me. Matt remembers my first attempt at baking them...). In reality, it's not any harder than making meatloaf. I promise you.

Ingredients
1 pound Hamburger meat
1 package of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
1 Small onion, chopped
3/4 Cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
1tsp Garlic Salt
1Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1Tbsp Minced Garlic
2 Eggs, Beaten

1. Mix hamburger and sausage together in medium sized bowl



2. Line baking pan with wax paper



3. Add eggs to Hamburger and sausage mixture



4. Chop onion



5. Measure out Garlic Salt, Italian Seasoning, and Minced Garlic (you can mince fresh, I am out, so I used my jar)



4. Add Onion, Garlic Salt, Italian Seasoning, and Minced Garlic to meat mixture



5. This is important: HAND MIX. This is the best way to make sure that everything is mixed well. You're going to have to use your hands to roll the balls, so go ahead and get them dirty!




6. Roll mixture into golf ball sized balls, and place on baking sheet.



7. Place baking sheet into fridge for at least 1 hour. I did this at 12pm and am not going to be adding them to the pasta sauce until about 4pm. You can even do them the night before it needed. If your day is going to be busy, do it! Prep makes life so much easier. Here are the balls fresh out of the fridge:



8. When ready, heat frying pan with 1Tbsp of olive oil. Fry meatballs on each side, lightly browning, but not cooking through.





9. Add Meatballs to pasta sauce, which should be cooking on low heat in a crock pot, or med-low heat on stove.



10. Cook for 2 hours, or until cooked through.



11. Serve over spaghetti noodles!