:: panko almond crusted fish tacos with pico de gallo and dill crema ::

At the request of some Instagram friends (where I spend most of my time these days) I am blogging this ah-mazing recipe.

My favourite treat when we go to the Farmer's Market is a very expensive plate of fish tacos. I've been nervous to try my hand at it, but I am so glad I did. I daresay these are even better. I love the extra crunch of the almonds on the fish, and the lighter flavour when it's baked as opposed to fried.

First, Hunter and I decided to make our own corn tortillas. Daddy has been working late the past few weeks and it helps pass a little time while we wait for him to get home. I bought Maseca (a fine corn flour) at Superstore and it is so easy! You just have to add water to make dough, roll into balls, press them (we used a glass pie plate to press them between plastic wrap and our Silpat) and then cook them in a cast iron pan. Easy peasy and fun for the kiddo to "help" with :)....although I am now coveting a tortilla press -  anyone know where can you get one in Calgary?

Our new favourite fish tacos
adapted from a sweet pea chef

Pico de Gallo

2 medium tomatos
1/2 red onion
1/2 tsp jalapeno (Hubby had to warn Hunter not to take bites out of this because he regularly eats bell peppers like an apple right out of the fridge - yikes!)
4 sprigs cilantro
1 green onion
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp each of salt, pepper and cumin
a bit of lime zest

Chop it all up and mix together. You know the drill. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Dill Crema

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp jalapeno pepper, minced (or more if you like it hot!)
1/2 tsp each cayenne, kosher salt, cumin
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp freeze dried dill

Mix it all together and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Baked Panko Almond Crusted Basa

3 basa fillets
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water
1 cup panko
1/2 cup chopped almonds (I pulsed mine in the food processor)
a few shakes of kosher salt, pepper and cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Cut the basa into 2-3 inch strips, dip in egg and dredge in seasoned panko almond mixture. Cook for 15 minutes or until the fish flakes when you check it with a fork.

We spread each tortilla with dill crema, topped with fish, pico de gallo, sliced avocado, and coleslaw mix (you could chop your own cabbage if you want - I was lazy since there was already a lot of prep for the other parts of the recipe). They were so so so delicious and tasted so fresh. The dill crema was my favourite part. I'm thinking this will be a regular summer recipe :)

:: things i love sunday ::

First, thank you for all the lovely congratulations on our sweet little girl. We are just loving life as a family of four, and I can't get enough cuddles and kisses with this new bundle. She is just perfect!

I've had so many ideas for posts lately, but precious little time to sit and type between nursing our little piglet and playing with big brother. She's having a nap now, and H is out swimming with Daddy, so here's a little round up of things I love on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

- this amazing vegetarian cassoulet. Who knew carrots, kale, and white beans could taste so delicious?

- Downton Abbey. I am so loving Season 3. Are you watching? No spoilers if you cheated and watched it online! 

- Toca Boca Apps. Hunter gets some phone time while I'm taking care of the baby, and he just loves all the Toca Boca Apps....especially Doctor, Hair Salon, Band and Monsters. We also love the apps from Night & Day Studios  - he has been playing the Peekaboo ones since he was about 18 months old, and he is really loving the Eric Carle inspired My Very First App lately for counting and memory games. 

- my Nespresso machine. Seriously...I love that thing. Yay for lattes every morning for this bleary-eyed mommy. Best investment ever....now if only I can teach myself to make latte art early in the morning!

- the gold polka dot decals I just recieved from UrbanWalls. I am so excited to put these up in Scarlett's room. Danielle is the sweetest, and has an awesome blog here. Stay tuned for pictures once I muster up the energy to finish off her nursery!

:: she's here ::

Miss Scarlett Clare arrived on Boxing Day. 9 pounds, 1 ounce of pure perfection. We are so in love and this mama can't wait to shop the girl's section - finally!

We are resting up and enjoying the cuddly newborn days. I'll be back soon :)

:: around here ::

It finally looks like Christmas at our house. After almost a month of at least one of us being sick, we mustered up the energy to grab a tree at Ikea, string up the lights, and decorate in our mismatched eclectic style. I like the look of matchy trees, but I really love the look of our tree full of treasured ornaments in all shapes and shades. It reminds me of my childhood, and how much I loved pulling out each ornament and remembering the story behind it. For that reason, I buy a new ornament each year to symbolize that year. I have a Frog Prince for the year we got engaged, wedding ornaments from our winter wedding, but I think my favourite one has to be the super simple Crayola Model Magic footprint ornament we made with Hunter when he was just days old. If you have a wee one, you have to pick some up at the craft store and do it. DIY instructions here.

I'm finding it hard to believe we will have a new pair of tiny feet around so soon. I'm 39 weeks today, so the baby could be coming anytime. I'm nervous, but mostly excited. I can't wait to share my nursery pictures once he/she arrives and I put the final touches on the vintage storybook decor.

Hunter doesn't really understand how to spread out the ornaments and went with the "more is better" mentality and loaded up the branches. He was especially curious about the candy canes (which are super old from last Christmas!) and accepted my explanation that they are pretend and can't be eaten. I didn't think knowing how old they were would stop him. Truth be told, I fully expect him to unwrap one and taste it :)

I tried to get the looking at the tree pinterest picture.....but I'm going to have to fiddle with my settings more. I haven't picked up my camera much lately and I feel like I need to revisit my Photography Concentrate tutorials before the new baby arrives (among 124557 other things of course!)

Maybe my next blog post will be a baby announcement?

:: Cyber Monday - save 40% on Photography Concentrate ::

where are all the deals hiding?

If one of your goals is to learn how to use your DSLR camera better before the holidays, you will want to visit Photography Concentrate to nab a few of their awesome e-book tutorials for 40% off! Sale ends tomorrow. I absolutely loved Essential Camera Skills, and I am now working through the Lightroom Tutorial. Such a great way to support Canadian small business too (they are from Edmonton).

Happy online shopping. Have you found any great deals today?

p.s if you are all shopped out (or maxed out), check out some of the great free stuff on Photography Concentrate's site. I am especially loving the presets for Lightroom they just added :)

disclosure: this post contains affiliate links to Photography Concentrate. Any income I make from them goes into my camera bag & lens fund :)

:: no time to blog - too busy nesting ::

a few things I have ready to put up in the nursery!

After dealing with a man cold and then a mom cold (which one was worse? guess!) over the last two weeks, it only seems natural that my nesting instinct would kick in as soon as I felt remotely better. My drive to purge, clean & organize has been ridiculous this week and I've accomplished many random tasks and seem to lay awake at night thinking of more! So far I have:

- cleaned out and organized all the under-sink cabinets (kitchen, bathrooms)
- organized all my craft supplies into clear containers (for all the crafting I'll have time to do once the baby is born - ha!)
- organized all the christmas presents I have already bought into piles and made lists of what is left to buy
- cleaned out our files (that was a huge one!)
- made one of these pinterest binders with all of our manuals & reciepts for items.
- cleaned & organized our fridge and freezer.
- put together Hunter's new double bed in his room with the most awesome plaid sheets ever.
- put up some of our Christmas decorations....the snowy weather tempted me and I couldn't wait any longer!

H's new bed

But most importantly....we painted the nursery the most beautiful pale pale blue (Promise by Sarah Richardson for Para Paints) and today we will be putting together the crib and hanging a few things on the walls. Our vintage storybook theme is coming together nicely and I think it's going to be the perfect gender-neutral room for this librarian mommy.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! I hope to be back with some nursery sneak peeks soon :)

p.s Just so you can appreciate how huge I am while scrubbing & organizing my house, here is a comparison picture between 40 weeks with Hunter, and 35 weeks with this baby. I'm hoping I don't get much bigger in the next weeks!

:: sick days ::

There goes my post a day for November! I caught a terrible man-cold from my hubs and I've been feeling yucky all week. I'm on the mend now but I have no voice. Little H keeps telling me to "talk louder mommy!", but I'm trying to stick to whispering so my voice will come back.

We got to have lots of cuddles this week though. Hunter is loving playing doctor lately, and also "mivwives" where he checks my belly and listens to the baby. I just love this boy.

Plan for the weekend is to start on the nursery finally. Only 5 more weeks to go!