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Finger Food & Fish

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Mornin’ friends! After a few days of pumpkin in loaf form, it was time to have it in creamy oatmeal form again.

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This was the perfect bowl topped with banana (rather than putting it inside), homemade granola and almond butter. Super filling! My other breakfasts fill me up, but nothing does it quite like oatmeal.

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Ethiopian Decaf love –

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Later on for lunch, I made a deconstructed sushi roll in a bowl

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Layers of cooked wakame sea-veg, sushi rice, bell pepper slices, smoked salmon, goat cheese, avocado and almonds. Marcona almonds are SO buttery good!

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This bowl was delicious and fun for lunch! Took me 2 minutes to put together.

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After a hard run and Pump, my only workout goal today was to walk, so Mazen and I did about 3.5 miles around town, including a visit to the bakery! I love to walk in unannounced and see how excited Matt is to see M in the middle of the day.

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If only all fingers tasted this delicious!!! This is how he fell asleep.

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Sometime this afternoon I ate a quick mug of cereal. No time for photography, as my hands were full!

I am absolutely delighted that Alaska Seafood sent me some Wild Alaska Halibut (and Wild Alaska Black Cod) as an effort to spread the word on these delicious fish and Alaska’s sustainable and responsible fishing.

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The fish came frozen on ice from a retail store in Anchorage. While I peeked at the prices and they aren’t your grocery store fish sale prices, this would be a great way to get a season’s worth of fish dinners neatly tucked away in the freezer and ready to eat. A bonus knowing it’s all from a great source. I almost always buy frozen fish because I find it easier to manage in my meal plan and kitchen. I buy my regular wild salmon and herby chicken from our local butcher both in freezer friendly packs, which makes them so convenient to pull out the night before and thaw. {You could also easily do this yourself with either one of those vacuum pack machines or a good plastic wrap and/or airtight container system}

Alaska Fish

Halibut is one of my very favorite fish – I love how it’s firm but still flakes off into big chunky slices. It’s neutral enough that you can cook it just about any way imaginable.

According to Alaskaseafood.org:

“All Alaska Seafood is wild and pure, responsibly managed for continuing abundance. Alaska provides the largest supply of domestic halibut, which is strictly regulated through seasonal harvest and the exclusive use of longline gear. Alaska has pioneered the standard for sustainable, eco-friendly fisheries management… Unlike many of the world’s other fish populations, Alaska’s are managed for protection against overfishing and sources of habitat damage.”

Since I am a hugggggeeee seafood fan, this makes me happy to read.

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For our recipe tonight, we used a blackening spice (a generic one) and coated the fish with a generous amount. We filled our stainless steel skillet with a few tbsp of safflower oil (for its high smoke point) and seared one side of the fish until a nice crust had formed. Then we flipped it and put it in a 400* oven for about 10 minutes, or until the fish flaked with a fork. This fish cooking method never fails!

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Nutritionally, Halibut is low in calories (140 per 3.5 oz serving), high in protein (27g) and has 460 mg of omega-3s.

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While we were hovering around the fish, these Brussels sprouts were practically burning!!

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I thought they were goners, BUT, they actually turned out incredible!! Brussels sprouts chips a la kale chips! They were crispy and just barely charred. I’m going to “burn” them again soon.

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They were coated in olive oil and smoked paprika and roasted at 400* for too many minutes to count.

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Cville Crunch bread on the side.

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If you missed bedtime on Twitter/Instagram last night, here’s the cutie saying sleep tight all!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I’m not sure which is cuter – the pic of Maze sleeping while sucking on his fingers or the one of Matt tickling him. It’s a tie! 🙂 Those two look good together.

    Are Marcona almonds easy to find in stores or do you have to special order them? I love snacking on almonds and pack a few each day for an afternoon snack and would love to try them!

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  4. Your lunch bowl looks delicious. Every single one of those components is amazing. I saw marcona almond butter recently and I’m still kind of dying that I couldn’t afford it!

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  5. Dinner looks amazing! Still trying to get mini-me to eat some fish. I have been looking for a firm fish other than just cod. I really want to try Chilean Sea Bass but its always expensive.

    S/n: I love the “bag” Mazen is zipped up in. It looks so warm. Like a little sleeping bag. Do you also have the plastic see-thru cover that protects against wind/rain?

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  9. Apparently it’s so much healthier to buy fish frozen. By the end of 24 refrigerated hours, fish has already decomposed a significant amount, even if it’s not immediately obvious to you. Since frozen fish is usually caught and dropped right into a freezer case, it’s actually much better for you. I wish this brand was sold near me.

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  10. Oh my gosh – those last pics of Mazen are adorable. What a happy baby!

    As for oatmeal, I find it only fill me up if I put lots of good toppings on it. Banana-peanut butter-chocolate oatmeal seems to work best. I know the fiber’s supposed to be the most filling part, but as a vegetarian I feel like I eat a lot of fibrous foods. Do you find that it’s the toppings too?

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  12. What an “amazin” smile your little man has! And thanks for reminding me about halibut, I’ve been in a salmon loop for too long. When we lived in New England is was much easier to find, that and cod and scrod were mainstays. I would use either 3 in fish stews as they didn’t fall apart and could stand up to complex flavors.

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  13. My dad swears by his Food Saver machine…it really is magical. It can save rice for a week and even keeps an avocado from browning! I love it.

    I love it when you get those photos of Maze looking right at the camera. It’s like he already knows how to take pictures! Too cute.

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  14. Mazen is seriously way too cute! He has the biggest smile!! I just love it 🙂 I also love roasting my brussel sprouts to a crisp, the best part is when the single leaves fall off and get nice and dark brown, delish! The fish also looks great, I need to try your sear/oven method.

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  19. The lashes, the smile … I can’t take the cuteness. Amazing that we followed him from baby bump form to now!

    You also remind me how even lazy me can cook fish in the middle of the week!

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  20. Oh my goodness, Mazen is adorable! His smile is just contagious. 🙂

    I have to say I am just not a brussel sprouts fan. I tried them recently, too, and just couldn’t eat them. They look good but the taste just doesn’t match the look. (haha)

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      • I think we steamed them one time and then sauteed them the other. It’s just getting past the actual flavor of them that is hard for me. I’m not a big cabbage fan and it reminds me of that.
        Your roasted ones look really good, though. Maybe I need to give them another try. It’s probably one of those things that just need to be prepared right.

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        • Yeah I don’t really care for them steamed. Make sure you cut them down in half or quarters and really cook them through. I don’t love cabbage either and when they’re raw they do taste like it

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  21. That’s funny that Mazen sucks his two first fingers! Our son does that too! He never sucked his thumb, and still chooses to suck on his index and middle fingers!

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  22. Hey, I’d love to follow you on Instagram…let me know your name on there 🙂
    And We LOVE, LOVE roasted, sauteed any kind of brussel sprouts. We roasted them the other night and last week we sauteed them, then finished them by braising in a little homemade chicken stock and finished that sauce with a pat of butter. Amazing!

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  23. THAT. BABY. He is just too adorable!!

    I had roasted brussel sprouts the other day too – soooo good. I haven’t tried enough halibut – I need to pick it up and try your method for cooking it because it looks delicious!

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  26. LOVE that last picture of Mazen!

    I am very jealous of your halibut! My family used to take fishing trips to Alaska for Salmon and Halibut (I have a cousin that lives in North Pole). It stocked our freezer every year! I think halibut is a great choice for people who don’t like “fishy” fish!

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  29. I actually “over caramelized” our brussels the other night too. But, I was pleasantly surprised with their flavor! The outside leaves reminded me of kale chips!

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  31. I always try to burn my Brussel on purpose…I love them like that!! Also, thank you for telling me about the Cville page. I am pretty much obsessed and ready to visit today and withdraw all other law school applications..haha!

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  32. I’m interested to know your thoughts in the area of the decreased nutritional value of burned or over-cooked foods. I’ve always heard that excessively charred meats are carcinogenic and while I don’t think the same holds true for vegetables, I do believe their nutritional content declines significantly.

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    • I have heard that too about charred meats. But I’ve also heard that pairing them with an herb (like rosemary + lamb) cancels out the effect. I think this is more about char over a fire, but I could be wrong on that one. I’m not sure they clarified what kind of char.

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  42. As someone who lives in Alaska – WOW, they are really charging a lot of that fish. You can buy from many other places (same seafood really – yes, Alaska really does a great job of regulating this industry) for almost $15 a pound less.

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      • It’s their price per pound that gets me. If it included shipping, it’d be one thing. But it doesn’t unless you order at least 8 pounds worth – which is easy enough to do but it doesn’t even out unless you order a lot more than that. I’ve had halibut, salmon, and crab shipped for local prices. Yes, I pay for shipping ($50-70 to overnight it because you have to), but you shouldn’t pay more than $20 a pound for halibut.

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  47. Love love the pic of Mazen biting his fingers and the last pic of him smiling wide!!!! He’s so happy!

    The sushi bowl sounds great, never thought about how easy is to make it. 🙂

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  48. Breakfast, dinner, lunch, it all looks delicious! I completely agree that other breakfasts may be nice, but nothing hits the spot quite like oatmeal does. Mazen’s smile is way too adorable in the final photos. What a happy baby! 🙂

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  50. I’m trying to eat more salads and I noticed that you try to eat one daily but I don’t see a mention of dressing. Do you have one that you use regularly or do you go without?

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    • I just use a drizzle of olive oil, honey or both. I don’t really like salad dressings or vinegars that much – or really anything acidic on my salads. In a restaurant, yes, but not so much at home. Plus a drizzle of EVOO is a lot easier than making my own salad dressing and a lot faster, so it’s a convenience thing too.

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  53. I know its a nutrition blog but I LOVE the big baby smiles at the end! They are like dessert. Keep em coming!

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  55. I get Marcona almonds at Costco. Their prices are great and Marcona almonds can be really expensive. Now if only they carried chia seeds…

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  56. Hi Kath!
    Your baby is adorable…seems soooooo happy and love his widemouth smiles! 🙂
    A quick question for you…know you are blog smart 😉
    Another blog I follow is http://www.mooberry-farm.com and the last week I haven’t been able to find it…keeps coming up this:
    Google 404. That’s an error. Requested URL/was not found. That’s all we know.
    Makes me so angry! Any suggestions of how I can locate it once again??? Thanks so much!
    Kay

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  57. He’s so adorable. Now i look forward to his daily pics more than anything else on the blog. Sorry Kath…He’s too precious.

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  59. My little sister used to suck on her two fingers like that when she was a baby. Your picture just brought back that memory, thank-you. You’re brussels sprouts look divine!

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  63. He certainly is gorgeous and such a wonderul gummy smile. Enjoy every moment, it all goes way too fast. I only cook my brussell sprouts in the oven, only complaint is the smell it creates in the house even with the exhaust canopy on – they taste better than they smell.

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  64. Growing up in Alaska, I gotta say that nothing beats the halibut and salmon. It is top notch. I am amazed at how much they are charging per pound, however. It must have something to do with the shipping to the states? As with most places, local is always cheaper so I am sure they don’t charge that in the stores. Still, it is so good! I live in Santa Cruz, California now and I will say that my husband and I miss the fish. Fishing was a fun part, too!

    Your brussel sprouts actually look quite tasty, though a bit charred! 🙂

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  66. Kath,

    10 and M seafood is where we get all our seafood packaged. Im a born and raised Alaskan, but Im living in VA. I will not eat anything other than fresh Alaskan Seafood. Im glad you enjoyed it! I love catching it myself:)

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  68. I don’t know you or your adorable boy, but I am in love with that picture of him sleeping with his fingers in his mouth. I have two young girls and could just stare at them all day!

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