The EASY Working Mom way to make Fish Tacos

Seriously the easiest fish tacos you can make at home.....

Several years ago on a trip to California, I was introduced to the wonderful world of fish tacos. I loved them, but my hubs and family didn't share my taste buds for something new and different. Heck, we're southern! Why would I expect them to love my California treat? 

There are not many places to get yummy fish tacos in these parts, so I've learned to make my own EASY EASY EASY variety.  And with family approval! (We have a 13 Month old and work outside the home. If you get supper and it's not out of a to-go bag or a sandwich on a weeknight, you are getting a TREAT.)

The four ingredient must haves:

• Boxed fish - It can be the crispy baked fish, or the grilled. Either way, we get the boxed kind for quick week day meals. I buy it only when it's on sale at Publix. On the weekend when we've had more time, we've grilled catfish for our southern fish tacos. Way yummy. 

• Flour Tortilla shells (A pantry staple in this house)

• Packaged Coleslaw Cabbage from the Salad Aisle (No dressing, with the lettuce/bagged salads) 

• Southwest Ranch Dressing (We like the Marie's from the refrigerated section. Publix usually has it BOGO. We've also used the Hidden Valley Southwest Ranch, which was good.)

The quick  way - 

Bake the fish. Mix half a bag of coleslaw with a bit of southwest ranch dressing until it's lightly coated. Assemble. And EAT.   EASY. WAY TOO EASY.

To make it EVEN BETTER: 

If you are wanting a little more get-up and have these extras in your pantry, here are some suggestions. 

I add these straight in the slaw - so it's very easy assembly:

• Half a can of Mexicorn (Drained)
• Half a can of Black Beans (Drained and Rinsed)
• Fresh Lime Juice from one lime (This adds SO much!)
• Chopped Bell Pepper, Onions (We buy the chopped trinity from the veggie section in the grocery store) 
• A scoop of a good salsa (I love the Newman's Own Peach Salsa in mine. The black bean and corn is yummy, too!)

Other add on fish taco bar options, depending on your mood:

• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cilantro
• Avocado (My kid love it!)
• Mexi-Rice
• More lime!

Just a note -  Making up half a bag of coleslaw usually makes enough for two nights. We bake one box of fish for the first night, and we'll do something different - (frozen section) grilled shrimp - the heat and eat kind the next night instead of fish.

And if you are feeding the ittybittys that are sensitive to the heat in the southwest dressing ---You can mix the slaw with just  a touch of the southwest dressing and use coleslaw dressing or regular ranch for the moisture. 


The most important part of cooking - Teaching and sharing with your family. 

 

Happy Taco Tuesday! What's your favorite way to eat tacos? 

SMASH CAKE - Rainbow Cake with Roses - First Birthday Party

First Birthday, and the new Mama's first Birthday cake. It's can't be that hard, right? 

First things first. What I originally thought would be her smash cake turned out not to be suitable.  But at least it looked cute!

I bought Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix on BOGO at Publix.  On a whim, I added a few drops of neon food coloring to each little batch before I poured it in the pans.With the party on Saturday, I baked my cakes Wednesday night. I doctored my cakes by adding 2 Tbsp. of plain all-purpose flour along with an extra egg, 3 Tbsp. butter,  and 1 Tbsp. of sugar. The cake is a little heavier and more dense than it would have been.

I baked two 6 inch and two four inch for Arleigh's smash cake. When the cakes cooled completely, I wrapped them in wax paper, then aluminum foil to keep them nice and moist before the weekend party. (The cake was SUPER moist, so baking early caused no problems at all.)

 

Since I had originally thought this would be the smash cake, I bought cool whip cream cheese frosting for the inside layers and used the neon blue food coloring (with one dot of green) to make turquoise. 

 FYI  - Cool Whip frosting (in the freezer section) is THE BOMB.

Friday,  I made the hour long trip to Columbus to decorate cakes at my Mom's, since the party was held at the camphouse in their neck of the woods.

I followed the easy rose decorating directions on you tube and from I Am Baker.

I'll be your guinnea pig. Here's what I learned.

• I should have planned this better in general. I'm the QUEEN bee of procrastination. I tend to plan and make to-do list like crazy, but I have the ridiculous ability to change it all at the drop of a hat and go a different direction. (Like the colored cakes that were just going to be white with confetti and the teal icing that was going to be pale yellow.)  It's a blessing and a curse. Then again...I baked at my house, transported the just baked cakes to my mom, and then moved the iced and assembled cake to the camphouse. These poor cakes were gonna be a hot mess anyway you look at it. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) 
• I should have baked 4 - 6 inch or 4 - 4 inch cakes and not worried about tiers.  I think it would have looked better. I had two of each pan, which is why I baked 2 of each layer originally. My Mama, being the sweet Mama she is, told me it looked like a hat...Fits in perfectly with our Arleigh in Onederland theme. :-) 
• I should have been more careful adding color into my layers and with leveling out the batter in the cake pans. Because I was adding color, they were beaten too much, which made more peaks in my cake pans. I had to pull out my handy-dandy cake saw leveler.
• Don't forget to use dowels to sturdy the cake.
• I should not have tinted my inside layer icing. When I started icing my original crumb coat, you could see the turquoise through the original roses, which meant I had to color my outside icing. or I would have used it for the inside and done a plain white crumb coat on the outside. I'm just not quite talented enough to hide all the bad stuff.
• The roses required 3 batches of old fashioned decorator icing for one itty bitty cake.They are super SUPER easy to do and make quite the adorable statement.
• NEVER - (AND I REPEAT NEVER) use something so intensely colored for an almost one-year old's smash cake. I looked like a blue smurf after decorating, and we made a last minute decision to give Arleigh the top tier of the white birthday cake for her smash cake. I haven't played in icing colors in a long time, so I had no idea how bad it would stain.

• The cake stand we used for Arleigh's cake was the Mikasa ribbon stand that held our keepsake tier at our wedding. Sentimentality is my forte. The cake held the bride and groom from my grandparents wedding, also used at my parents wedding. The cake photos on the table are from our parent's weddings.  (See the stand in the back right corner of our table?)
• And the dowels used in Arleigh's first birthday cakes? Those were from our wedding cake, too.  (Yes, my mother and I both save everything.)
• Her cake knife was an engraved gift from a family friend. We'll use it every birthday, and eventually she can use it at her wedding. (I used my mom and dad's at my wedding.) 

Yes, I am a sentimental NUT CASE. :-) I had no business making Arleigh's cake either, yet, I did it! And it looked pretty ok, but it tasted fabulous! :-)  Mommy made it trumps pretty much everything. Made with love. Lots and lots of love.

I guess I should mention I was a 4-H Breads Sweepstakes winner back in the 90's, and I took a Wilton Cake decorating class in that era as well. Does that even count?  I'm thinking I would love to take more classes. I do love baking! It was lots of fun, and I may even try it again! :-)  I was proud. 

I'm already planning on baking her a #1 cake for her "real" birthday in February. 

What do you like to "control" with your own parties? What is your party forte?