Fish Tacos

I can sum up this recipe in three words; simple, easy, and healthy. Weeknight dinners can be tough, after working a long day and trying to fit in a workout the last thing I have time or want to do is agonize over a grueling recipe in the kitchen. We usually have most of the ingredients needed for fish tacos at home so the next time you want a light, and yummy dinner try these fish tacos, you won't be disappointed!

Fish Tacos

• Fresh or frozen fish filets - I buy the frozen tilapia filets from Ralphs
• Corn Tortillas
• Baby Spinach
• Mexican-blend cheese
• Salsa

Cook the fish according to the cooking instructions. For the frozen tilapia filets from Ralphs, you don't even have to worry about defrosting! Preheat the oven to 425 Line a pyrex baking dish with foil (making for even easier cleanup! I did say this recipe was easy!) grease the foil so the fish does not stick. If frozen bake for 13-15 minutes if defrosted bake for a little under 10 minutes.

Rinse the spinach, and have the salsa, and cheese out and ready for taco assembly! Heat up the corn tortillas, then using a spatula add as much or as little fish to the tortilla, top with spinach, salsa and cheese.

As the weather heats up these fish tacos are a great meal on a hot summer night. Enjoyed even better with some Mexican beer, we just happen to have some Tecate in fridge last week when I made these.

What I Wore

June in southern California usually means June gloom, but not this year the weather has been anything but gloomy it has been great! So when my plans this past Saturday called for an afternoon of drinking rose' and catching up with good friends in their backyard I decided to wear my new striped J Crew pencil skirt.

As I post more about 'what I wore' you will begin to notice a recurring theme,           J Crew... What can I say I love J Crew! The clothes are classic pieces with a modern twist, constructed well lasting season to season.

The Goods: Jacket, skirt, and shoes: J Crew. Shirt: Gap, Sunnglasses: Louis Vuitton 

Oreo Cookie Cheesecake

A baker I am not, don't get me wrong I enjoy baking I just don't find myself in the kitchen all that often whipping up sweets. So when I was assigned dessert for my gourmet group (a cooking group among my LA girlfriends that meets every other month) I was up for the challenge and went for a recipe I have been wanting to try for a while now. So here it, let's see what the girls think of it when they get to try the end result tonight!

Oreo Cookie Cheesecake

Crust:

• 8 oz Oreo cookie crumb
• 2 oz sugar
• 4 oz melted butter

Cheese Cake Mix:

• 1.5 lbs. of creme cheese
• 6 oz sugar
• 1/2 oz corn starch
• 4 whole eggs
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract 

For the crust; use a food processor to crumble the Oreos, if you don't have a food processor you can use a blender like me. In a bowl combine the Oreo crumb, sugar, and melted butter. I actually doubled the above recipe for the crust so that there would be a deep Oreo crust. 

Then in a mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, sugar, and corn starch and mix until creamy. Add eggs one by one, scraping the side of the bowl each time you add an egg. Try to make the mix as creamy as possible. Add the sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Mix all ingredients well.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I used a 9" springform pan which seemed the right size for the above recipe. Line the springform pan with parchment paper, you can find pre-cut 9" parchment rounds at Sur La Table, then grease the pan. Take the crust mix and put it into the bottom of the mold. Flatten the crust to desired thickness, and add the cheese cake mix.

Put the cake on a sheet pan with a layer of water on the bottom of the sheet pan, about a half an inch to avoid burning. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the a tooth pick comes out clean.

Once it comes out of the oven, let it cool then chill over night before un-molding. If you have any left over Oreos you can crumble those over the top for a better looking finished product! 

Happy Feet

Friday's are great for a number of reasons, one of which for me is that I get to trade my boring finance garb for casual attire. Today I wore one of my favorite pairs of flats. I first spotted them at the J Crew store on lower 5th Ave in NY. I had just moved to the city so I was on a tight budget, with very little discretionary spending for clothes and shoes. Sadly the shoes were not in my budget so they would not be coming home with me. Fast forward a couple of month and they were suddenly on sale and marked down drastically. There was only one pair left and although they were a little bit smaller than my actual shoe size, they were going to be mine. So here they are! I have had them for years now, and they are still in constant rotation in my wardrobe, when I look down at them they make me smile.

Apps!

My two best friends birthday's both fall in June so this year instead of throwing a big bash at a bar, and inviting everyone we know via evite, we opted for something a little more low key after all we are grown ups now ;)

Everyone came over to our place for drinks and appetizers, then we headed out to a local mexican spot in Downtown Manhattan called Mucho. The girls sipped on skinny margaritas while the guys opted for the real thing, it was a great night with even better friends!

The plans to celebrate came together at the last minute so I opted for some of my easy go to recipes that don't require a ton of planning or time in the kitchen, after all I would rather be catching up with my girls and not be stuck in the kitchen!

I first made a Pea Pesto crostini inspired by my good friend Caitlin's blog, seen here. Caitlin is an amazing chef and alway puts out an incredible spread, reading her blog really inspired me to start this one!

I then made bruschetta the recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, cupcakes and cashmere; seen here.
The best lesson I learned from her recipe is rubbing raw garlic on the freshly toasted bread, it makes a big difference and helps to evenly distribute the flavor of the garlic.

As I get into the swing of this whole blogging thing I promise to do a better job of documenting the recipes I use and the step by step process that results in something tasty and delish on your plate!!

Welcome!

Considering this is my first post I thought I should say welcome! I am excited to share with you what is going on in my kitchen, the clothes I am wearing, and the fun I am having. Enjoy!

3 months ago I moved form Brentwood to Manhattan Beach. I am loving living at the beach, we live in El Porto, North Manhattan Beach, it is a great little beach community where we are able to walk or ride bikes to all of our favorite spots! 

Above is the sunset from my previous apartment in Brentwood 

View from the roof deck of our new MB apt!