Archives for April 2014

The Prom Mom

If you read my blog called “Confessions of a  No Prom Mom” around this time last year, you know I was slightly lamenting over my oldest daughter’s decision to not attend her senior prom. I know it’s their prom and not mine, but I wanted to have the experience and memory of my kids attending their senior prom just like I did. Thankfully, my youngest daughter Fahrelle, who was a junior in high school at that time, committed to attending her prom the following year. I had been waiting anxiously to have a mother-daughter prom experience. The shopping, the dress selection, hair, make up, shoes, pictures…..awww…all the makings of a perfect experience for a girly girl like me. I was finally going to get my fill! Fahrelle made good on her PROMise this past Saturday.

 Although I couldn’t wait for her prom time to come, I was soon ready to see it go. In fact, I was becoming the “so over this prom thing mom”. What happened to all my prom excitement???? It dwindled in the process of planning all the details. Ironically, I enjoy planning, but this time….ehhhh not so much. The stores were overcrowded with moms and daughters just like us, going from store to store looking at limited selections or overwhelmingly large selections of prom gowns, dealing with sometimes rude (or maybe just overworked) retail assistants, standing in line waiting for a dressing room to open up, trying to find a great dress for a great price, yada, yada, yada. Then there was the online internet hunt for a dress. Wait, did I mention Fahrelle and I often clash over fashion choices? That only prolonged the process.

Our first prom dress shopping outing.

Our first prom dress shopping outing at Serendipity in White Plains, MD. All the dresses we loved were by Maggie Sottero for Flirt Prom.

To my daughter’s credit, she did a lot of work for several weeks, researching online for hours to find a prom dress and then texting me photos of the dresses. She used this texting method in an effort to keep the prom dress search rolling on her own as I was consumed with travel and my son’s basketball games. I picked apart every dress she texted me, thinking “will it look the same in person as it does on the computer?”, “is the online company reputable” and the fearful thought “we gotta nail it because these dresses are non refundable”. She scrutinized the dresses I texted her as well, only her responses were very brief (just like a teenager), “mom, that’s ugly”, “uh unnnn”, and “nope”. We did this for weeks until we ultimately got burned out. Finally, we went back to the stores, and then back online again. By this time, prom day was fast approaching and I had called off her attending the prom at least once (or maybe twice). We worked through all our frustrations, got back on board, rushed to get the dress we selected (which happened to be one of the first dresses we liked on our first shopping outing. We allowed our fear of commitment and the hope that something better and less expensive would come along to keep us on the hunt.) That store could no longer order the dress, so I ordered from an online store. It was scheduled to arrive via UPS just a few days before the prom and it DID. I was praying I could get the needed alterations done in time. *Wipes sweat from brow*. There was no room for error. Everything had to work right the first time!

The moment the prom dress arrived. Somebody cue the HAPPY song!

The moment the prom dress arrived just THREE days before prom. Somebody cue the HAPPY song!

And then there was the very important DATE factor. With no boyfriend as the obvious choice for a prom date, the selection process for the guy to escort our daughter to the prom was just as grueling, if not more grueling, than finding the dress. Hey, not just anybody gets to take our girl out for the evening. We needed a background check, credit report, birth certificate, etc. Just kidding. Fortunately, she was pickier than we were! The prom date conversations were hilarious, as we vetted the next president of the United States, uhhh… I mean her potential prom date. Nevertheless, as the dress ordeal came together, so did the prom escort ordeal. We got a parent and daughter approved young man to share this once in a lifetime occasion with her.

Fahrelle receiving her corsage from her prom escort, Christian.

Fahrelle receiving her corsage from her prom escort, Christian.

Prom day had a little drama of its own. My daughter experienced chemical burns on her arms and back from the hair removal product we used on her for the first time. (NOTE to you and reminder to me: NEVER experiment with your appearance on the day of a major event). That put a kink in our schedule that adversely affected the arrival time at the hair salon, which affected our arrival time to the makeup studio. Thankfully, our hairstylist and make up artist were so accommodating. Everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING), worked out just fine!

Makeup of Kelley Woods. Perfection! (Photo by Kelley Woods)

Makeup of Kelley Woods. Perfection! (Photo by Kelley Woods)

As I sit at the finish line and reflect back on this prom process, I cannot help but think of all the things in life we get so excited about the “IDEA” of experiencing. We have some fantasy-like thoughts about what our wedding day will be like, our marriage, our dream job, buying our first home, etc. All we can see is all the good, all the joy, all the fun times that will be wrapped into that experience. We approach it with such naivety, just as I did with this prom experience. But then, once I got into the thick of things, the shopping wasn’t as effortless as I had imagined in my head, the days out scouting for the perfect dress were longer than I liked, I invested more money upfront than I originally intended, and I felt like throwing in the towel a time or two. In essence, it took COMMITMENT to walk out the prom process, and COMMITMENT usually involves you COMMITTING more along the way than you ever intended to COMMIT when you started out. Commitment costs, but commitment pays.

 

Isn't she lovely?

Isn’t she lovely?

This past Saturday, we got to see the reward of our commitment. Our daughter was beautifully dressed for her senior prom with the perfect prom date by her side, and all the agony of the process was a thing of the past. Then God blessed us with so many beautiful surprises along the way as we walked out our commitment. We did not have to pay a dime for a few of the prom expenses we had planned to pay for. Although the process was agonizing, in the end it was all worth it! And guess what? Whatever process you are committed to will be worth it as well. That vision you had at the beginning wasn’t all wrong. There will be good. Lots of good. And truthfully, if you saw the struggle upfront, maybe you would not have committed to go throughout the process. Keep that vision, no matter how impossible it may seem to accomplish. It will propel you forward. Focusing on it will keep you standing firm when the negative distractions come that make you feel like giving up. It’s worth fighting for. The PROMise will come and it will be worth it!

I love to hear from you! Did this post encourage you at all? Have you ever seen the benefits of not quitting during the process? Do you love prom stuff like I do? Thanks in advance for taking the time to share.

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Photographer and family friend DeAunte of PicsNMotion Studios having a talk with them about posing.

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Hair by Adia Day of Vogue III, Waldorf, MD.

Our family (minus one).

Our family (minus one).

Honored to have friends gather to for the prom send off.

Honored to have friends gather together for the prom send off.

 

Fahrelle attended prom with a group of friends.

Fahrelle attended prom with a group of friends.

Easy Panko Crusted Swai

Panko Breaded Swai

I love fish, so I am always in search of a new fish to try out in my kitchen. Recently, I noticed a fish called SWAI being offered in my local grocery store. I finally bought some to try out. It is a mild, white fish originating from Southeast Asia.  I researched a couple of ways to prepare it, and made it for done one day. I really liked the fish. My kids, ehhh not so much. I kept buying it and trying it out anyway. (I live by the rule of trying something seven times before deciding if you like it or not). I decided to try swai breaded with panko bread crumbs. It was a winner! My oldest child tried it and loved it. On another note, I put some pan seared pieces of swai in my middle child’s pasta dish and she thought it was tilapia and loved it. Shhh…I still haven’t confessed about that one. I don’t think she reads my blog, so no biggie. 🙂 This recipe is easy. I rarely make things with tons of ingredients. I also like to use ingredients that are commonly found in any grocery store.

Ingredients

 No worries if you are not into swai, this recipe works will with tilapia. 

Swai Fillets

I only used two swai fillets, but you can use up to five or six fillets with the amount of ingredients we will use.

Swai Fillets

I don’t like large fillets, so I cut mine in half. These fillets are pretty long anyway, so cutting them in half helps them fit into my pan. 

Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Place the panko bread crumbs (which happen to resemble Rice Crispy Cereal), Trader Joe’s 21 Season Salute, black pepper, and lemon pepper into a shallow dish, large enough to coat the fillets without bending them.

Panko Seasoning Blend

Stir the mixture until all the seasonings are distributed evenly throughout.

Panko Bread Crumb Seasoning

In another shallow dish, crack an egg and add 2 tablespoons of water to it. (My oldest daughter is my hand model today. She was the perfect choice since she has long slender fingers, and she always keeps her nails done.)

Egg

Water

Whisk away….(This mini whisk has to be one of my fav kitchen toys. Don’t have one? Grab one here.)

Egg Wash

Egg Wash

Dip both sides of the fillets in the egg wash.

Swai Dipped Egg WashThen coat them in the panko bread crumb mixture….

Panko Breaded Swai

Panko Breaded Swai

Panko Breaded Swai

Now they are ready to go into the pan. You can use a skillet, it’s all good.

Panko Breaded Swai

Just coat the bottom of the skillet with vegetable oil. Olive oil works as well. In a perfect world, my pan would be totally flat and my oil would evenly cover the bottom of the skillet.

Hot oil

Once the oil is  hot, add you fillets

Panko Breaded Swai

Panko Breaded Swai

Once they are nice and brown, flip ’em over to brown the other side.

Panko Breaded Swai

Panko Breaded Swai

So now, they are done. Remove them from the pan to feed the starving family that patiently waited for the food to have a photo shoot before they could eat. (Maybe that’s just at my house).

Panko Breaded Swai

Pretty, huh?

Panko Breaded Swai

I served mine with my crazy corn cakes and sautéed kale from my cookbook Fast & Fabulous Family Meals. Every southern girl loves greens and cornbread, right?

Panko Breaded Swai

So what do you think??? Let me know in the comments. If you post this on social media, be sure to use the hashtag #fastandfabmeals and you become an official #rocqstar!

 

Panko Crusted Swai
Serves 6
Easy way to cook Swai or almost any white fish of your choice. Panko bread crumbs, a few seasonings, and egg wash are all the ingredients needed for this quick and easy meal.
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
25 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
25 min
Ingredients
  1. 5 swai fillets
  2. 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, plain
  3. 2 teaspoons Trader Joe's 21 Season Salute
  4. 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
  5. 1 teaspoon black pepper
  6. 1 egg
  7. 2 tablespoons water
  8. 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil
  9. Kitchen equipment: skillet, spatula, tongs, 2 shallow pans for coating fish, tablespoon, mini whisk or fork.
Instructions
  1. Kitchen equipment: skillet, spatula, tongs, 2 shallow pans for coating fish, mini whisk or fork.
  2. Cut fillet in half horizontally.
  3. In a shallow dish, combine panko bread crumbs and dry seasonings. Stir until seasonings are evenly distributed throughout bread crumbs.
  4. In a different shallow dish, whisk together egg and water.
  5. Dip both sides of fillets in egg wash, then dip both sids into bread crumb mixture.
  6. Heat oil in skillet over high heat.
  7. When oil is hot, place fillets in skillet and allow them to cook for about 3 minutes, or until desired brown color is reached.
  8. Flip over fillets and cook on the other side for an additional 3 minutes or until desired brown color is reached. Be sure fish is cooked throughout as well.
  9. Remove from skillet onto a paper towel covered plate, to absorb excess oil.
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