Spicy Shrimp Scampi with Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash? "What's that?" I asked my friend, Dana. She tried telling me how closely it resembles actual spaghetti. Now, on my Weight Watchers endeavors I need to find ways to get veggies in wherever I can. But I was skeptical to say the least. So, about a month ago I found a spaghetti squash in the grocery store. I'd never even noticed them before, because quite frankly, I'm not a fan of squashes (or is it squeesh?). Yes, friends, it took me a month to get up the guts to cook it. Now, Dana said she bakes her spaghetti squash. My friend, Jess, says she microwaves her. My Google search for spaghetti squash cooking tips landed me here. I found this site quite helpful for the spaghetti squash novice.

Well, I couldn't think of a better recipe to try the "squash instead of spaghetti" method than the Shrimp Scampi recipe previously featured on my blog here. Well, that was thanks to Dana again - because she tried it first.

Well, I made this dish last night - it was experimental. But guess what - I liked it SO DAMN MUCH that I had it again tonight! So I decided to blog it. Now, for those Weight Watchers followers - 1 cup of spaghetti squash is a ZERO point food! One cup of wheat pasta is 3 points! And 1 cup of regular pasta is 4 points!

To make this dish more enjoyable, I realized after the "experimental" half of the dinner last night that I would like it so much better with more sauce. So today I made up a new batch of sauce, cooked up some more shrimp, microwaved my leftover spaghetti squash and scarfed it down.

2 tsp EVOO (2 points)
6 oz shrimp (3 points)
minced garlic to taste (about 2-3 cloves)
1/2 cup white wine (2 points)
zest and juice of 1 lemon (or to taste)
crushed red pepper to taste (for spicy I used 1 tsp)
1 cup cooked spaghetti squash (0 points)
-----
1. Heat oil. Add shrimp and saute until pink and firm (1-2 minutes). Remove shrimp and set aside.
2. Add minced garlic to pan and saute until fragrant (about 30 seconds) - Be careful not to burn.
3. Add wine and lemon juice. Reduce a pinch.
4. Return shrimp to pan and remove from heat.
5. Serve over spaghetti squash.

Serves: 1 (easily doubled)

Seriously, this is a delicious, healthy and elegant 7 point meal. And you can reduce or eliminate the oil altogether to save on points.

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

This is one of our FAVORITE meals. My husband, of course, only eats the chicken and the rice, but that leaves all the veggies to me, which is a good thing as I just officially joined Weight Watchers. I usually make this dish by eyeballing everything, but for the purpose of my new Weight Watchers lifestyle, I measured everything out so that I could calculate the points value. Now this IS a spicy dish. If you choose to try it yourself and don't like really spicy food, feel free to alter the amount of red pepper and chili oil, or omit it altogether! That's just one of the many beauties of this dish.

SPICY CHICKEN STIR FRY
Source: Violet, an old friend who now lives in the U.K.

CHICKEN
2 chicken breasts (8 oz.), sliced thin
3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili oil

VEGGIES
1 green pepper, chopped to your liking
1 small sweet onion, chopped to your liking
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili oil
2 tsp crushed garlic

SAUCE
3/4 cup cooking sherry (or any dry white wine)
4 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp corn starch

-----

1. For the chicken - in a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, garlic, crushed red pepper and chili oil. Add chicken and stir to coat the chicken well.

2. For the veggies - in a large skillet, heat the sesame oil, chili oil and garlic over medium heat until fragrant. Add veggies and saute until tender crisp. Remove veggies and set aside.

3. Add chicken mixture to skillet and cook chicken over medium heat until cooked through.

4. While the chicken is cooking, mix together the sherry, soy sauce and corn starch for your sauce.

5. When the chicken is cooked through, pour in the sauce mixture and return veggies to skillet. Stir and simmer until the alcohol is cooked off or until your veggies reach the desired tenderness.

Serve with rice. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

Weight Watchers points value: 5 points (not including rice)

Cals: 241/Fiber: 2/Fat: 7

Disclaimer: the nutritional information was calculated on Spark Recipe's food calculator, which I then used to calculate the Weight Watchers points values.

What's up, doc?

Ever since I came across this recipe about 4 years ago, it's been a must-have for Easter dinner every single year. If you're looking for a new carrot cake recipe to try, I highly recommend you try this one! It's so moist and has the perfect density. The only change I make is I exclude the nuts entirely, and I prefer it baked in a 9x13 cake pan (which takes about 35-45 minutes).

GIGI'S CARROT CAKE
Source: Emeril Lagasse - Food Network

3 sticks, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Pecan Cream Cheese Icing:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
-----
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter 3 (9-inch) cake pans with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer.
Add the sugar, and beat.
In a medium bowl or on a piece of parchment, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the eggs, beating well after the addition of each.
Add the vanilla extract and mix.
Add the carrots and beat on medium speed until well incorporated, about 2 minutes.
Fold in the nuts.
Divide between the 3 cake pans and bake until set and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let rest in the cake pans for 10 minutes.
Invert onto wire racks, remove from the pans, and let cool.

For the Frosting:
In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly.
Add the vanilla and pecans.

When the cake is cool, place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread the top with cream cheese frosting and top with a second and third cake layer, spreading the icing between each layer. Spread the icing around the sides of the cake and let harden slightly before serving.

Scone? What's a scone?!

No, people, I've never had a scone. In my life. EVER. But alas, the day has come! I had about a half gallon of milk about to go bad. Basically my milk was dated today. I'm sure there are people like me; I hate to use milk past the date on the jug (I don't I've ever used the word 'jug' in my everyday life. Wow, another first!). I've wasted milk before, but I've never been ambitious enough to find a way to use up my kitchen and pantry items before they go bad. I don't know what came over me, but I knew if I asked my friend Katie, she'd have plenty of ideas for me to get rid of my almost-sour milk.

So I emailed Katie, and she came back with a few ideas, and I was like nah, that's not doing it for me, so then she wrote back with "blueberry scones." DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER! I knew I had all of the ingredients on hand at home (that's a first!).

I came straight home after work and immediately starting working on these babies. They turned out great!

BLUEBERRY SCONES

Source: Katie - Good Things Catered

2 c. flour plus 2 Tbsp, plus 1 Tbsp

1 Tbsp baking powder

3 Tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

6 Tbsp butter, plus 1/2 Tbsp, chilled

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 c. half and half, chilled (I used 1% milk with a few spoons of fat free vanilla yogurt)

2/3 c. frozen Maine wild blueberries (store brand frozen berries for me!)

-----

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment (I used my silpat sheet).

2. In small bowl combine frozen blueberries and 1 Tbsp flour and toss to combine.

3. Place blueberry mixture back into freezer.

4. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

5. Take butter out of fridge, cut into chunks and add to flour mixture. Cut butter into flour until pea sized or smaller.

6. Add vanilla and half and half and mix in with a spoon until just barely incorporated.

7. Take blueberries out of freezer and knead into mixture until mixture forms a ball of sticky dough.

8. Turn dough out onto floured surface and pat down into rough 9-10 inch circle.

9. Cut into 8 triangles and place triangles onto prepared baking sheet at least an inch apart.

10. Take 1/2 Tbsp butter and cut into 8 small pieces. Place one small piece of butter on top of each scone.

11. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy. Now as I've said, I've never had a scone before in my life, so I don't have anything to compare mine to, but if I still wanted more after eating one, that must be good!

"mock" Chicken Marsala and Oven Roasted Broccoli

I'm not really one for making elaborate or fancy meals. In fact, I have nothing against cooking with condensed soup. I came up with this really simple, delicious and healthy dish that also comes together really quickly. And recently somebody posted on the WC board raving about this oven roasted broccoli recipe. I'm always looking for a new interesting way to cook broccoli and it fit the bill. I tried it once last week and am officially in love with it.


"mock" Chicken Marsala
Source: me

olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
1 can fat free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 can condensed golden mushroom soup
thin/angel hair spaghetti
salt and pepper to taste
-----
1. Set pot of water to boil for cooking pasta.
2. Heat pan and lightly coat bottom of pan with oil (I use my Misto sprayer). Add chicken and cook until lightly browned.
3. Add chicken broth and simmer while pasta is cooking.
4. While pasta is cooking, add condensed mushroom soup to pan, stir well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until pasta is done.
5. Drain pasta and serve with chicken and sauce.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Source: Alton Brown - Good Eats

1 pound broccoli, rinsed and trimmed (I just used one crown)

2 tablespoons olive oil (I just spray with Misto sprayer until lightly coated)

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 clove per crown)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs (I did not use)

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or sharp Cheddar
-----

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Cut the broccoli florets into bite size pieces. Cut the stalk into 1/8-inch thick, round slices.

3. Place the broccoli into a mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, kosher salt and pepper and set aside.
4. Spread the panko into a 13 by 9-inch metal cake pan and place into the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted.

5. Remove the panko from the oven and add to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Toss to combine.

6. Return the mixture to the cake pan, place in the oven and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 more minutes.

7. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese and serve immediately.

My notes: Instead of cutting into bite size pieces and the stalk into rounds, I just cut into small spears. It just takes a little longer to roast.

...and I'd like to thank my fans!

Who would've thunk I'd've made somebody's day with my measly blog. Well I did! Crazy, I know, I have no lofty goals with my blog, I just like to, well, eat! Simple stuff at that. And every now and then I'm inspired to make something a little more creative from other blogs. So I must say I'm thrilled to have fallen into the blogging world and am able to make anybody's day with my own! I guess it's sort of voyeuristic, getting all up in somebody's kitchen, the good, the bad, and the ugly of it (hello numerous baking DISASTERS!).

Anywho, I won this beautiful award that I will proudly display here






And would now like to also call the following people for their acceptance of the award!

Lindsey, my "sis", over at Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings. I love to get all up in your kitchen ;) (I hope you don't mind getting another award, considering as you received it and then passed it on to me. Is that even allowed? Idk, I want you to have one anyway).


Katie over at Good Things Catered. I have to disinfect my keyboard regularly as I drool over your blog on a regular basis.

Duchess281 over at Confections of a Foodie Bride. Love your food porn girl! And thanks for turning me on to making my own vanilla!

and Mrs.OCandME over at My Apples and Oranges. Again with the food porn. I think I must have a fetish.

Thanks girls!

The Most Perfect BROWNIES

Recently I've been on the quest for the perfect brownie. Today someone posted the link to this very unique blog - all (or so I've seen) of her recipes are done by video! So you honestly can't mess anything up! And considering I've messed up a few too many brownie recipes lately, I figured trying one more before giving up altogether couldn't hurt. I'm so glad I didn't give up! This is the recipe I've been searching for all along (to my WC sis, you know I LOVE Aunt J's brownies, as similarly pictured below, but this are a bit cakier and a tad sweeter and I think more along Jim's lines of a really great brownie). So after rewinding this woman's video enough times to catch the ingredients and measurements, here you go!

FUDGE BROWNIES

Source: Kathy Maister's startcooking.com

14 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

pinch of salt

Optional: nuts, chocolate chips, etc. (I used 1/4 cups walnuts, 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips)

-----

See Source link for Kathy Meister's video directions!

Pasta e Fagioli

Oh Sweet Jesus! I've never tried a copycat recipe before but this one was hands down a success!! I'm not really a soup eater when out at restaurants, but when I worked downtown a co-worker and I would often head to Olive Garden for the unlimited soup and salad lunch special. I prefer soups with substance so I opted for the pasta e fagioli and it was so good! Ever since my first day enjoying that fabulous soup I have longed to make it myself. Thanks to cdkitchen.com I was able to do so. This has been on my list of things to make for a while now, but the husband was on night work this week so I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to make a big pot of soup and enjoy it for lunch and dinner all week. I scaled the recipe down to make 4.5 quarts and it filled my big pot up pretty well and would be plenty even for a small family. So for all those who were ever in search of a no-fail pasta e fagioli recipe, this is the one to try!

PASTA e FAGIOLI

Source: cdkitchen.com

1.5 tsp oil

1 lb ground beef

6 ounces onion, chopped

7 ounces carrots, slivered (I chopped)

7 ounces celery, diced

24 ounces tomatoes, canned, diced

1 cup cooked red kidney beans (I used 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup cooked white kidney beans (I used 1 1/2 cups)

44 ounces beef stock

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/4 tsp pepper

2 1/2 tsp parsley, fresh, chopped (I used dry)

2/4 tsp tabasco sauce

24 ounces spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu)

4 ounces dry small dry pasta (I used ditalini - I recommend cooking this separate and adding at after the soup is cooked)

-----

1. Brown beef in oil in large 10 qt. pot until brown.

2. Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot.

4. Add beef stock, oregano, pepper, parsley, tabasco, spaghetti sauce (and noodles if you choose to).

5. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes (I simmered for about an hour and a half).

Notes: my soup turned out thicker because I cooked it longer and the pasta went in dry. It's still wicked good though!

I iced it!

Yeah, I love that colored sugar - I can never get enough of it on my cake. A little difficult to see in my awful kitchen lighting, but I used pink for Valentine's Day :)

FINALLY!!!!!

I've ruined so many baked goods these last few months. With the demise of so many cookies and cakes I was bound to be successful one of these times - so the desire to succeed never left. Earlier this week, one of the fabulous Nesties on the What's Cooking board posted the recipe for America's Test Kitchen fluffy yellow cake. I was immediately drawn to this recipe for a few reasons. 1. I've become a huge fan of the ATK recipes because they always work out for me. 2. My husband loves plain old yellow cake. 3. I still had to have a little success with my baking this week!!

And so it was meant to be, and I'm so proud to say that this cake did not fall flat on me! Which is what usually happens when I bake cake/cupcakes anymore.

I was so ecstatic that I had to post the pictures of this gorgeous yellow cake before I even iced it. I'm 100% confident that it's going to taste amazing, too!

I baked it in a 9x13 pan for transporting ease as I'll be taking this cake into work with me tomorrow - and it took a perfect 35 minutes to bake up.

FLUFFY YELLOW CAKE

Source: America's Test Kitchen

Nonstick cooking spray can be used for greasing the pans (proceed with flouring as directed).

Bring all ingredients to room temperature before beginning.

Makes two 9-inch cake layers.

2 1/2 cups cake flour , plus extra for dusting pans

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon table salt

1 3/4 cups sugar (12 1/4 ounces)

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly

1 cup buttermilk , room temperature

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 large egg yolks , room temperature

3 large egg whites , room temperature

-----

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch-wide by 2-inch-high round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease paper rounds, dust pans with flour, and knock out excess. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 1/2 cups sugar together in large bowl. In 4-cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and yolks.

2. In clean bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. With machine running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; continue to beat until stiff peaks just form, 30 to 60 seconds (whites should hold peak but mixture should appear moist). Transfer to bowl and set aside.

3. Add flour mixture to now-empty mixing bowl fitted with whisk attachment. With mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape whisk and sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium-low speed and beat until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.

4. Using rubber spatula, stir 1/3 of whites into batter to lighten, then add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Lightly tap pans against counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.

5. Bake until cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen cakes from sides of pans with small knife, then invert onto greased wire rack and peel off parchment. Invert cakes again and cool completely on rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Feta

For Christmas, my girlfriends and I all got together to exchange gifts, and my friend Jess's fiance cooked us a fabulous dinner that I'll never forget. He was so secretive when he was cooking and he wouldn't let us know what anything was until it was served. First up... wilted spinach salad with feta - OH MY GOODNESS, this salad (albeit not very healthy) was so freaking good!

Now here we are, 2 months later, and my other friend, Dana, mentioned having a dinner party and she didn't know what to make. This amazing salad was the first thing that popped into my head because as easy as it is, it's definitely an impressive dish. Then, of course, I started craving it, so I made it for dinner last night!

WILTED SPINACH SALAD WITH FETA

Source: Epicurious

1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach leaves

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium red onion, halved, cut into 1/3-inch thick wedges with some core attached

1 7-ounce package feta cheese, coarsely crumbled

2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

-----

Place spinach in large bowl.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat.

Add onion; sauté until brown and softened, about 7 minutes.

Transfer to bowl with spinach; remove skillet from heat.

Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil and cheese to skillet.

Stir to melt cheese slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over spinach; toss to coat and wilt slightly.

Serves 4 - see source link for nutritional info.

This photo doesn't really do it justice, but TRUST ME, it's beautiful and delicious and you will love this!!

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia

My friend Dana gave me this recipe. I liked it, my husband didn't, but he only likes his fish breaded/batter dipped and fried. So his opinion doesn't count. So if you're looking for a new, easy, FAST way to cook your tilapia, definitely give this one a try! And just so you really understand, I whipped this dinner together SO FAST, it was done before the sun set! I served it with parmesan couscous and brussel sprouts.

BROILED PARMESAN TILAPIA

Source: Spark People

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon celery salt

1 pound tilapia fillets

-----

1. Preheat your oven's broiler.

2. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

4. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan.

5. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes.

6. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork.

Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Makes 4 servings

See Source Link for Nutrition Information

Monkey Bread

Yesterday I got an email from my mom asking me to make monkey bread. Neither of us had ever had it in our lives, but my mom recently attended a party where it was served and was gone within minutes. My poor mom wanted more! I couldn't deny the chance to bake something so of course I was going to make it for her. For some reason I felt that it would be okay to bake in a loaf pan, and I think it would've been fine if I hadn't stuffed 4 layers of sugar coated cut biscuits into it, but in the end I think it turned out pretty decent. Mom's on her way over tonight :)

All of the recipes I searched for were very similar, but since I used Pillsbury biscuits I'll link you to the Pillsbury recipe.

Taco Chicken

Several of us WC nesties get the Kraft magazines sent to us. When DH and I flipped through the most recent edition, we both saw this recipe and knew we had to try it - one problem: I didn't think potatoes really went with it. So I modified the cooking technique since I had some microwavable brown rice on hand.

The original recipe can be found here.

TACO CHICKEN FOR 2

2 chicken breasts
1/2 pack of taco seasoning
1/2 - 1 cup of hot salsa
mexican blend shredded cheese
-----
I lined an 8x8 baking dish with foil. I sprayed the bottom with non-stick cooking spray. I sprinkled a coating of taco seasoning into the bottom of the pan. I layed the chicken breasts in the pan and sprinkled taco seasoning on top of the chicken breasts until covered. I spooned about a 1/2 cup to 1 cup salsa on top (I recommend 1 cup so you can get some sauce when it's done baking). I covered with foil and baked for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. I removed the foil covering and sprinkled with cheese, and continued to bake a few extra minutes until melted. Serve with rice and sour cream - it was SO easy to prepare and really satisfying - you should definitely try this one if you haven't already!

Husband's Fave: Lemon Chicken

I got this recipe from a friend like 4 years ago that she got out of an issue of Oprah Magazine. If I remember correctly, it was the recipe of an actual bonified chef, and it called for using parts of a whole chicken. As some of you may have noticed by looking through my blog - I only like to eat chicken breasts. So I adapt the majority of my recipes to account for this. I wish I still had the photocopy of the page from the magazine, but it was so disheveled from the many times I had to use it over these past few years I eventually had to toss the original and transfer the recipe to an index card kept in my recipe box. For the record - I googled and searched Oprah's website to figure out if I could link directly to the original recipe, but I couldn't find it :(

LEMON CHICKEN

Chicken parts (I use 4 chicken breasts)

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil (I've found that you can reduce this by up to half and the results are still delicious)

1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp minced garlic (I always use more, and prefer crushed garlic)

1/4 tsp oregano (I don't recall if this called for fresh or dry - but I always use dried herbs)

2 Tbsp fresh parsley (I always use dried herbs)

Salt & Pepper to taste

-----

The gist of this recipe is to broil the chicken, flipping halfway, whisk together the remaining ingredients, then pour over the chicken. The recipe called for heating the lemon mixture in a saucepan. I've found that pouring the lemon mixture over the chicken and continuing to broil produces good results - and minimizes dishes! I always make this in a 9 x 13 pan, lined heavily with aluminum foil. Serve with rice :)

Sorry I can't be more specific, but if you have any questions, you can always email me at bluebridejan07@gmail.com

I love my WC sis :)

For my 1 year anniversary my WC sis, Lindsey (Luluk1102), sent me brownies made with a family recipe and she even sent the recipe on a pretty index card with her kitchen stamp on it - so cute! But I was sooooo bored this weekend, and needed to go get an onion for my salsa (below) so I figured I'd give these fabulous brownies a shot so I picked up a few things from the grocery store to make them. I love these brownies, and I love my WC sis - thanks Linds!

Visit Lindsey's blog for the recipe!

Hot-cha-cha!

The hubby and I enjoy chips and salsa - BUT... I really haven't found a store bought salsa that we like. They all are just too chunky for our taste. My friend, Jess, once said she really liked the Chili's restaurant salsa, so I googled for a knock-off recipe and found one!

And really, when you make your own salsa, you can make it as thick or thin as you like, as spicy or mild as you like - so it's perfect.

CHILI'S SALSA

Source: Recipezaar

1 14.5 oz can tomatoes and green chili's (Rotel) (I used 2 small cans then weighed the contents to get 14.5 ounces)

1 14.5 oz can whole peeled tomatoes (plus juice) (I could only find a 28 oz can so I took each tomato, deseeded them, then weighed them and added the juice from the can until I got 14.5 ounces)

4 teaspoons jalepenos (canned, dicked - not pickled (I get jarred diced jalepenos by Cento - and of course I added waaaaay more than 4 teaspoons)

1/4 cup diced yellow onion (I use vidalia onions)

1/2-3/4 teaspoon garlic salt (I used 3/4 tsp)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon sugar

-----

1. In food processor place jalepenos and onions and process for just a few seconds.

2. Add both cans of tomatoes, garlic salt, sugar and cumin.

3. Process by pulsing until you reach desired consistency.

4. Refrigerate a few hours to help blend and enrich the flavor.

Note: I also added about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of regular table salt.

Potato Soup sans Shrimp

My friend Dana said she wanted to try this potato soup recipe from Paula Deen. It looked easy enough to me, and it was something I always wanted to try making myself, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Only problem - I don't think I'd like shrimp on my potato soup. I'm one of those weird people that if I try something once, and like it, I can only have it in it's original form (meaning the form in which I tried it the first time). So potato soup to me is creamy potato soup topped with chives, cheese and bacon.

So all I had to do was not put the shrimp in it, and it was simple enough. It wasn't no Bennigan's potato soup (the only potato soup I've ever had - and enjoyed), but I did really enjoy this one. I think I'd try a different recipe before I tried this one again though - I think the chicken bouillon in it is what made it different from what I'm used to. But as long as the hubby liked it (and he did) I consider it a success.

The long awaited Shrimp Scampi

Well folks, I've had this recipe bookmarked for 7 months!!!! And I don't even know if this "nestie" is still around because I haven't come across her blog in a long time (good thing I bookmarked it!) because I'm not motivated enough to set up googlepages - so I visit blogs by clicking on the links in peoples' siggies. Anyhow, there was a series of events that led up to my finally being able to make this dish:

1. I've recently become obsessed with Trader Joe's, and I bought a bag of frozen shrimp - something I've never bought or cooked before, and
2. My husband was on night work - again - and he doesn't like shrimp.

Ok, that wasn't so much a series of events, but they were events nonetheless. And so I was 1 hour from leaving work today, and I was scrolling through all of my bookmarked internet favorites, and came across this long-buried link. LIGHTBULB!! But guess what - I don't normally stock lemons or fresh garlic in my house. So, a trip to the grocery store was necessary.

So off I went to the grocery store, grabbed what I needed, along with a beatifully fresh ciabatta roll to go along with it, and set off home and immediately began arranging my ingredients for dinner. Ok, I'm rambling. So here's the recipe with my notations in italics!






SHRIMP SCAMPI FOR TWO
adapted from Gourmet, April 2006


about 12-14 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used 24 frozen shrimp - the bag said they were large, but they looked small to me, so I read the servings sizes on the package - sure enough, 12 shrimp per person)
3 Tbsp - 1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio)
zest of one lemon
1 Tbsp lemon juice (I used 2 Tbsp because I love lemon in my pasta)
crushed red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used my handy microplane for this)
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley (I used dried parsley, because I don't do fresh herbs - didn't measure, just sprinkled however much I liked)
1-2 Tbsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper
1/3 box of long pasta (I used linguini)

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1. Boil and salt water and cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining, reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.

2. Heat oil over med-med high heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Saute until pink and firm (about 1-2 minutes - do not overcook). Remove shrimp and set aside.

3. Add minced garlic to pan and saute until fragrant (about 30 seconds).

4. Add lemon juice and wine. Cook to reduce just a pinch.

5. Add crushed red pepper (to taste), lemon zest and parsley.

6. Add butter and cook until just melted.

7. Return shrimp to pan. Transfer drained pasta to pan. Mix together.

8. Add as much of the reserved pasta water as is needed until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.






Serve with or without parmesan cheese - I meant to, but was too eager to EAT it so I forgot, and it was FABULOUS! HIGHLY recommend! Thanks Honeybear a/k/a Rach257!

3 Bananas

I had 3 very ripe bananas. What better to make than a batch of moist banana muffins? Nothing I could think of! So banana muffins it was. I'm sure I found this recipe somewhere on the internet several years ago, because back then, that's how I found all of my recipes. But that was before the days of blogging so I have no idea where it's source is. But anyway, here's my recipe, which is for a standard banana bread, but I halved it based on the amount of mashed banana I had and got 8 perfect sized muffins out of it. For integrity's sake, I'll post the banana bread recipe in it's whole form.

BANANA BANANA BREAD

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed banana

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1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Stir together dry ingredients.

3. Cream together butter and sugar.

4. Stir in eggs and bananas.

5. Stir wet mixture into dry mixture just to moisten.

6. Pour into 2 8x4 inch loaf pans

7. Bake 60-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note: As muffins, they took 20 minutes to bake.