Under the Sea

My title is "Under the Sea" simply because anytime I say or see flounder I think of "The Little Mermaid", my absolute favorite Disney movie. Although I would never cook the character Flounder I will eat and cook flounder that has been filleted already.

Last week I made Alfredo sauce which made me think of my wonderful grandmother who makes the BEST Alfredo sauce. This week I made flounder which when I was a little girl was my favorite thing to eat off my Pop Pop's plate. When we would have fish for dinner, whoever made my plate up for me would put a small amount of fish and whatever sides were for that night. By the end of dinner, however, I would have eaten almost all of the flounder that was on Pop Pop's plate(something that was a great deal, given he didn't share his food often). The poor man would end up eating almost none of what was considered the main part of dinner because I would either eat what he would give me when I asked or if he wasn't looking I would steal some from his plate(though I'm sure he knew this, he certainly never acted like it). He was more than happy to share his flounder with his punkin. In the past it was hard for me to consider eating or making flounder for the sheer fact that it made me miss him so much it hurt. But now it is a great memory that when I eat and now cook flounder makes me smile.

After the first day back to school I was unsure how my cooking adventure would go given that I started it during summer. Granted our school is open all year, the summer is more relaxed and I feel takes less out of me, maybe just because I have a summer mentality. I was determined to make dinner though with my planned meal without complaining. My knees do hurt which was a hurdle I needed to conquer but I did it with a smile and fantastic dinner.

Tonight's Menu:
Lemon Flounder with Lemon Vinaigrette
Noodles
Corn
Broccoli
and more grands biscuits

I thawed my flounder in a cool water bath while I washed up a few dishes from the day.
After that was done I started my water for the noodles. I added a little salt and some garlic powder to add some flavor to the noodles.

I put my frozen corn and broccoli in two separate glass bowls to microwave when the time came and placed them in the microwave.

The noodle water was then ready so I added the noodles stirring at first to keep from sticking.

I then started my flounder. I added lemon pepper and salt to both sides of each fillet and dredged in flour. I started my pan on medium/high heat with enough oil to cover bottom of pan. After a few minutes I added the flounder. It took about 4 minutes on each side to cook and brown properly. Getting burned by oil in a pan is frightening to me but every time it splashed(not much a little here or there) I didn't freak out nor did I decide to stop cooking. YAY progress in the kitchen.

After I got the flounder in the pan I started my biscuits in the oven.

While everything was cooking I mixed my vinaigrette up. (lemon zest, 1/4 c lemon juice, garlic powder, parsley and S&P to taste).

The only time I asked for help tonight was when I needed to flip the fish because I couldn't get the fish to flip without falling apart. I was getting frustrated at my attempts and decided to ask for help.(had Walt been out while I was cooking I would have continued to try flipping until I got it but didn't want the fish to brown too much)

After flipping the fish I started my veggies in the microwave and turn the oven from bake to broil in order to brown the top of our rolls not just burn the bottoms.

I drained the noodles after about 8 minutes. Added some noodles to each plate as well as some veggies and fish. The biscuits were then done and it was time to eat.

I put the vinaigrette on the table so we could each see how much we wanted after tasting the fish.

The fish was delicious! (with and without the vinaigrette). I am very pleased with my first attempt at cooking fish. Walt agreed.
The recipe had said the vinaigrette could be used on the pasta as well. Neither of us really enjoyed that so if you make this you probably don't want to put it on your pasta.

I have found that on the nights I cook I do not end up eating as much as if Walt or someone else has cooked. Probably because it is exhausting to me and I am just happy to be sitting down. But I feel like this is a better way for me to eat anyway given that I am not overeating.

All in all a delicious meal and I proved I can cook on real school night!

I also made this week trail mix to take as a healthy, fulling, energy boasting snack.

It includes:

Peanut Butter M&M's

Honey Roasted Peanuts

Marshmallows

Raisins

I am very happy with it and it cost so much less and includes what I want instead of things I feel the need to pick out.



Enjoy your week!
Jamie