One-Pot Fish Tacos Casserole Recipe, Quick and Easy

I'm a penny-pincher, DIYer, health conscious, planet preserver. The kitchen is one of my favorite places combine those passions. Because home cooking saves money and reduces food waste by repurposing leftovers in tasty new meals. I call my recipes leftovers use-ups. These recipes also focus on food swaps to eat better and even lose weight. Creating diet food swap recipes is part of how I lost 100 pounds without weight loss surgery or diet drugs. 

I save money by cleaning out the fridge before shopping (funny how those kids can open six packages of shredded cheese and never finish one? Or the hubs starts three onions, leaves half behind and never can find them!) So once a week I go through, purge the refrigerator of flotsam and jetsam and make a meal of the leftovers. Today's leftover use-up recipe is fish tacos. I make them as taco casserole because it saves dishes and messy clean up. You can make regular tacos as casserole too. It's great way to repurpose ground turkey, chicken or beef. 

Leftover Use-up: One-Pot Fish Taco Casserole Recipe

We love fish tacos [;id and are eating more seafood as a way to live healthier. My husband and I are following the Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes seafood and fresh produce. During Lent, fish and veggies are all we eat. I keep lots of fresh vegetables on hand; to keep them from spoiling, I tweak recipes to add in veggies.

Most of the fish tacos recipes I've found have multiple steps and use lots of dishes: I feed six to nine people at a time, so I need one-pot, step-saver recipes. Since I'm cleaning the refrigerator and using up foods as I go, I write my recipes so that they are adaptable. Don't have something on hand? Don't make a special trip to the store. That wastes time and gas money. Improvise (I'll give you tips and substitutions) or omit it. I've also included tips for dieters on watching sodium and cholesterol.

Fish taco casserole recipe

* Place frozen, fresh or leftover cooked fish in a 9x13 baking dish. Tilapia, pollock, swai, whitefish, cod, catfish or salmon work best; Walmart has been selling large bags of frozen fish fillets reasonably priced. I used the whole 4-pound bag of frozen tilapia fillets, plus any individual pieces "swimming" around in the freezer. You don't have to use this much fish, but know that it does cook down. There is no need to thaw frozen fish ahead of time.

* "Baste" with leftover mayonnaise (any variety). Use a rubber spatula to spread evenly (about two teaspoons per fillet). For diet food swaps, use low-fat varieties or substitute with olive oil.

* Drizzle with fresh squeezed lime or lemon or use lime or lemon juice (lime tastes the best). Use about 1/2 teaspoon per fish fillet. Lime juice makes a great salt substitute and works great for hypertensive diners following the DASH diet or other low-sodium diet.

* Season with ground cumin, thyme, smoked paprika, minced or onion powder, black pepper, minced or garlic powder and celery salt. Add hot pepper if desired.  Add fresh or dried cilantro (a great way to use fresh or bottled herbs).

* Use up leftover shredded or sliced cheese by sprinkling over the top. Got a few hunks of cheese laying around? Slice and layer over fish. The tastiest kind is pepper jack. Omit cheese if you are serving diners on a low-sodium or low- cholesterol diet, though. Use less on one portion for these working on weight loss. 

* Crush leftover fresh or stale tortilla chips. You can also use leftover corn tortilla shells (no need to fry them as they will get nice and tender while baking). You can substitute leftover corn too. 

  

* Pour leftover salsa or pico de gallo over casserole. You can also use up fresh or canned tomatoes chili peppers, green peppers and onions instead of salsa. If you like your tacos with a kick, add fresh or canned jalapenos. Mix and match to use up all leftovers (omit salsa for low-sodium diners).

* Bake for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees until fish is tender and flaky.

* Garnish with loads of fresh cilantro, shredded carrots, chopped onions and tomatoes and bell peppers, leftover shredded cabbage or broccoli slaw mix. 

*Serve alone or with jasmine rice. Or fill taco shells. 

Caution: this dish is so fragrant and delicious that even avowed fish haters will demand seconds. 

Vegan, vegetarian and Pescetarian Recipes for Thanksgiving Dinner

I originally wrote this article for Labor Day but these vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian recipes work great for any holiday or celebration with vegetarian diners. Here are meatless grill recipes using your broiler. Use these vegetarian fish recipes for

Lent. The Catholic Church observes a Lenten fast in the dead winter to follow Jesus to the cross and

Easter. For 40 days, Catholic families eat simpler. For some, a Lenten fast means avoiding meat, dairy

and sweets. And it also means a LOT of hungry people if you have a big family. 

So proactive Catholic moms develop an arsenal of meatless, vegetarian Lenten Kitchen recipes. Vegetarian and pescatarian is how most of the world eats, so these meatless grill recipes for Lent a Catholic in solidarity with the poor.

Lenten Kitchen Veggie Bean-y Burgers. Meatless grill recipes must include veggie burgers but they

don't have to be store bought. Save money and make your own recipes for Lent. Donate saved

money to those who always go hungry. This practices the Lenten virtue of almsgiving. Mash any

kind of canned beans (adzuki, garbanzo, white, kidney, lentils) and add a little flaxseed, chia seed and

avocado (for binder, fatty acids and fiber). Chop any of your favorite veggies--peppers, onions, celery,

carrots, squash or yams.

Lenten Kitchen Fish Haters Fish Recipes for Lent. The best fish for meatless grill recipes are marlin,

tuna or swordfish steaks. Season with lemon juice, dill, rosemary, garlic, light olive oil butter and

cracked pepper. These fish recipes will fool picky eaters into thinking they're eating chicken, beef or

pork. If you're eating kosher, you can have blue marlin and tuna but not the swordfish.

Lenten Kitchen Pescetarian Platter. If you like fish, try meatless grill recipes with trout, whitefish or

salmon. These medium-bodied lake fish grill beautifully on a lower flame. Wrap in foil and spray with

cooking spray or olive oil. These delicate saltwater fishes can be served baked or or broiled. Baste

with fresh lime, rosemary, dill and butter sauce. Pan fry delicate lake fish like perch, whitefish, smelt,

blue gill, sunfish and bass. For lovers of breaded fish, use cod, pollock or catfish (avoid tilapia and

swai as they're very fishy tasting). Try Cajun fried fish--wash fish fillets and leave wet. Make breading of corn meal, cracker crumbs, lemon juice powder, red pepper, crushed bay leaves, oregano, file, garlic, dill and onion powder. . Fry in high heat avocado or olive oil on medium. 

Lenten Kitchen Seafood Kebabs. All grill recipes are better on a stick! Baste fish chunks, crab, shrimp

or scallops or with olive oil or melted butter. Season with Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, pepper

and paprika. Add mushrooms, green or orange pepper chunks and grape tomatoes to kebabs. Spray

with cooking oil. Good luck getting at any of these recipes for Lent. You'll have to fight the hungry

mob off with a skewer!

Lenten Kitchen Quesadillas. Make seafood kebabs as you did above, but season with cumin and

cilantro. Wrap in toasted corn tortillas and add cheddar and Monterray Jack cheese, chopped onions

and tomatoes and baby spinach. Serve with fresh fruit and non-alcoholic Mojitos (limeade, mint

leaves, sliced limes and crushed ice). Perfect for a winter fiesta. These vegetarian fish recipes will feel

more like feasting than a Lenten fast!

Lenten Kitchen Very Vegetarian Fish Recipes. To grill, wrap fish aluminum foil coated with olive oil.

Add asparagus spears. Or, for a greener wrap, place fish in large grape leaf or romaine lettuce leaf.

You can place the skewers and heavier bodied fish directly on the grill, but watch them carefully.

Keep cooked and raw foods separate on your grill. Don't dribble juices from raw meats or fish onto

cooked foods to avoid contamination. Don't cook on a high flame; fish cooks quickly. Fish is done

when the flesh turns from translucent to opaque and separates or flakes away from bone.

Mediterranean Diet: Best Healthy Diet in Town

Did you know eating a Mediterranean diet stops Alzheimer's disease and brain shrinkage? The Los

Angeles Time reported on Oct. 21 that the brain shrinks in old age (that's why the elderly slow down

and suffer memory loss associated with Alzheimer's). But happily, you can slow aging by eating more

fish, less meat and other brain food swaps on the Mediterranean diet. Following the Mediterranean

diet helps with weight loss, heart health and a bunch of other condition, too. Here are more brain

food swaps to slow aging, lose weight and improve health.

One thing that deters people from starting new diets is that they are afraid they'll have to eat weird

things or buy expensive "diet" food. That's what's cool about the Mediterranean diet: it features

common, simple foods, sourced locally and simply prepared. Senior citizens aren't known for liking

new foods. They like foods they ate it as kids. And that's what the Mediterranean diet is: lots of

vegetables, legumes (think soup beans), whole grain cereals (oatmeal), fish and monounsaturated

fatty acids like olive oil (instead of transfat or saturated fats). And the old folks love it because it isn't

processed junk food. It's homemade like mama used to make. And those elderly people tested who

ate a brain food Mediterranean diet had larger brain volumes than those who didn't.

Here are other Alzheimer's busting Mediterranean diet food swaps. Eat light, whole grain 35-calorie

per slice bread over regular bread. Regular bread has a shocking 2-3 times as many calories as diet

bread. Diet bread loses calories, high fructose corn syrup, transfat and sodium, but retains fiber and

fatty acids (essential brain food to lose weight and slow aging). Eat flaxseed, chia seed, almonds and

oatmeal instead of cereal or toast for breakfast. Drink lowfat milk, not skim (too little good fat) or

whole milk (too much fat). Trade butter and mayo for olive oil margarine and mayonnaise. Use

avocados instead of spreads, milk, eggs, oil and fats, even in baking.

Greek yogurt doesn't just slow aging, it can stop Alzheimer's in its tracks! Greek yogurt is super

healthy, with antioxidants, probiotics and acidophilous, plus it has double protein. Make Greek yogurt

smoothies. Add fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries, grapefruit, apples, melon or bananas.

Walmart's 4-pound frozen blend of strawberries, peaches, mangoes and pineapple has only 70

calories per cup. Add an Emergen-C packet (for metabolism boosting, antioxidant vitamin C) and light

almond, cashew or coconut milk and blend. Swap sour cream and cream cheese for Greek yogurt or

avocados.

Slow aging and increase brain health by reducing salt. The highly-rated DASH diet advocates cutting

sodium to lose weight, too. Eat low sodium vegetable soups. Make homemade veggie soup by dicing

summer squash, zucchini, tomato, celery, purple cabbage, peppers, mushrooms and onions. Simmer

in a broth made salt-free Spike, salt-free Mrs. Dash, Bragg's Liquid Amino, sea salt or Himalayan pink

salt. Add a little liquid smoke or chipotle for a bite.

Swap hot dogs, lunch meat, sausage and bacon for light turkey and chicken deli meat. Serve fresh

chicken sausages and turkey hot dogs. Skip meat altogether and try a nut and seed vegan burger.

Roast a big portabello mushroom or sweet potato and serve instead of meat. Eat more fish. Broil

salmon, swordfish, pollock, cod or tuna steaks. Season with lemon juice, dill and Greek yogurt. How's

that for yummy brain food swaps to slow aging and beat Alzheimer'