Fresh Fish Balls and Vacation

Around the first of May we went on a family vacation to Gulf Shore/ Orange Beach Alabama. While we were there we went fishing. Hubby, Rebekka and some random stranger on the State Pier caught some fish. They called them blues. And one Spanish mackerel. We decided to cook them tonight. We fried the Blues. We also made hush puppies and french fries. Since I only had one Mackerel I decided to make a fish patty type food with them. Here is what I came up with.

 These are the fish balls.  I steamed the fish until done. I then picked all the tiny bones. (It ended up about 1/12 or 2 cups) I added a tablespoon of Mayo, 8 saltine crackers (crushed up), and one egg. It formed a paste. I loosely rolled them into little balls. (So as not to pack the filling.) I then rolled them into corn meal and deep fried them until they were golden brown and delicious. It made 30 little balls.

Fried Blues and Homemade hush puppies.

The hush puppies are onion, cornmeal, flour, egg, ketchup, and a can of cream corn. You can add jalapeno to them if you want it to have a little kick.  There is no measurements. I just mix them until they are kind of thick. I test one in the oil. I then adjust the mix until I get it where I want.

While we were on vacation we ate out once a day. There are a lot of good restaurants down there but we have three we always go to. Here are their web sites.

Lulu's    At Lulu's Rebekka and I always get the fried basket for two. It is more than enough food to share with three people or more. Hubby always gets the Cheeseburger in Paradise. He swears that is the best burger around. He also looks forward every year for the day we go to Lulu's.

Original Oyster House  It depends on our moods as to what we get here. It is all good. They have a great salad bar.

Cosmos  This is a great place that is off the beaten path. I had the fish taco wrap, Rebekka had the Chicken Roulade, and Hubby had the Cuban sandwich. This is the place to go for beer to. They have a long list (longer than any place up here but I live in the middle of nowhere).

Moe's BBQ I like thier BBQ but thier sides were the best thing.  The Grit Casserole and the Tater Salad were my favorite. The Banana pudding was Wesley's He had to have two of them.

Brett/Robinson  Here is where we always stay. They are nice properties and beaches. You do not find the rough, loud, disrespectful party atmosphere here. After 10 at night it is quiet. They have indoor pools, outdoor pools, hot tubs, and other amenities. We always try to stay at the Phoenix V. That is just a tradition with us. We have stayed at others but always go back to the same one.

Mexican Pizza

Most of us have been to Taco Bell. Most of us have had a Mexican Pizza from there. This is a homemade version. The picture has no beans on it but the others had pinto beans on them. They are two layered but you can see it in the photo. I started out with large tortillas. I baked them until crisp. I placed diced canned tomatoes (with dehydrated onion and chili powder in it) on first. Then came the beans and hamburger meat (browned and drained) I then topped it with cheese. I placed another tortilla on top and layered it again. Baked it until the cheese was melted. These were thrown together with stuff I had laying around my kitchen. There are endles possibilities here.  Wesley said these were better than Taco Bell. He got to have what he wanted on it. I want to try corn tortillas next for more flavor.

Wesley's Hot Wings

Here is another recipe from Wesley. He loves to play in the kitchen when Rebekka is gone to her Grandmothers. I let him and most of the time he comes up with really good recipes.


Wesley's Wings
1/2 stick butter
2 tbs franks wing sauce
1 tsp roasted garlic powder
1 tsp Kroger zesty salt free seasoning blend
2 tsp Dangold Hot and Spicy Cajun Style Spice Blend
9 frozen wings pieces
Cayenne powder to taste. We used 2 tsp and it was hot!!!

We melted the butter in a bowl. Then Wesley added the other ingredients to taste. It was so much fun watching him adjust the spices until it tasted like he thought it should. He then dipped the wings in the sauce to coat them. We placed them on a baking sheet and baked at 350 until done. We did baste them several times with the pan juices.

Here is the site to get the Dangold Hot and Spicy Cajun Style Blend.
http://dangoldinc.com/Gourmet_Collections.html   I got this for Mothers Day from my mom. We have used it on chicken alot. I am planning on trying a few more of them as soon as I get a chance to order some.

Wesley's Garlic Mushroom Smashed Potatoes

Today is one of those I dont feel like going to the grocery store, my car is broke and I need to clean out my pantry kind of days.

Wesley is here with me by his self so I let him play in the kitchen. He came up with this for lunch. We baked three potatoes. When they were done we smashed them up.( Peel and all)  He then added a little butter, some roasted garlic powder, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Stirred it together and ate it up. This was a great meal.

I love it when he gets in there and plays he comes up with some great things.