Almond-Crusted Tilapia

Okay, many of you know that I had a bundle of joy on 1/4/10. Prior to her arrival I was on a serious healthy living kick (which is probably how I got pregnant, eggs that where dormant came to life…lol). I was working out and eating right. Well now that little Ms. Wynter is here I am trying to pick up where I left off. I have eliminated red meat from my diet (the Baconator from Wendy’s was my best friend during pregnancy). I only eat fish, chicken and turkey that is broiled, grilled or baked. I double and often times triple my vegetable servings and aim for much smaller portions all while eating frequently. In addition I am exercising at least 45 minutes 3 days a week (my favorite exercise right now is walking on the treadmill because I can hold my baby while I walk). Anyway back to my eating habits. Instead of having a good portion for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I break my meals up to the point that I am eating 5 small meals a day and 2 snacks. You know how the saying goes, eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince(ss) and dinner like you’re deprived. I also make my own snacks instead of buying things like cereal bars, trail mixes, etc. This to me is just like making soap I can control what I put in it, which I love.

Eating just fish, chicken and turkey can become real boring very fast for some people and I happen to be part of the some. Therefore I am always on a quest to find different things to do with my meats of choice. So today I found a recipe that sounded wonderful on allrecipes.com (submitted by Michelle Woolf) called Almond-Crusted Tilapia. I am preparing this for dinner, which my family will eat but I will take it for lunch tomorrow…forgot to mention that I cut my eating off at 6:00. I will hopefully post tomorrow my thoughts on this recipe that received great reviews. Here it is

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic pepper
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
8 (6 ounce) tilapia fillets
1/4 cup all-purpose flour for dusting
6 tablespoons butter
salt to taste
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
8 sprigs parsley
8 lemon wedges

Directions
1. Beat the eggs with the lemon pepper and garlic pepper until blended; set aside. Stir together ground almonds with 1 cup of Parmesan cheese in a shallow dish until combined; set aside. Dust the tilapia fillets with flour, and shake off excess. Dip the tilapia in egg, then press into the almond mixture.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook tilapia in melted butter until golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium, and season fillets with salt if desired. Sprinkle the tilapia with the remaining Parmesan cheese, cover, and continue cooking until the Parmesan cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.
3. Transfer the tilapia to a serving dish, and garnish with parsley springs and lemon wedges to serve.