Shrimp Stir Fry

Baby Girl is now 15 months old.  I have lost the pregnancy weight.  However, I am still working on the TTC weight gain.  I have been trying to start 2016 right and meal prep.  January was not that successful at all.  February is not too bad.  I have been trying to use Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration for meal ideas. 

This meal was a hit in my house.  El Husbee and Baby Girl ate it.



Stir fry shrimp with vegetables.  I also tried making rice with frozen vegetables.  It's okay.  I mean not my first choice.  But I am trying to get in as many vegetables as possible. 

Shrimp and Vegetables

1lb shrimp

1lb mushroom

1 onion, small

1 red bell pepper

1lb broccoli

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1.  Rinse and clean shrimp. 

2.  chop up all vegetables

3.  Heat up pan with oil and garlic. 

4.  Once you smell the aroma of garlic put in onions. 

5.  Once the onions are tender put in shrimp.  Cook until pink shows.

6.  Toss in mushroom, red bell pepper, and broccoli.  Put lid on pan.  Cook until broccoli is green. 

Keep cooking my friends!

XOXO

Shrimp Avocado Salad

I love avocados!  They are super yummy.  Avocados are very versatile too!  You can put them in sandwiches, wraps, salads, burgers, etc.  You can make them into guacamole!  You can use avocado as a healthy spread instead of mayo.  Some people have started using avocados as a pasta sauce.  The possibilities are endless.  (I have seen some people use it in desserts!)

I decided to try making a avocado shrimp salad. 

Shrimp Avocado Salad

Adapted from Add A Pinch

Ingredients:

1 lb shrimp, peeled, cooked

4 avocados, cut into large pieces

1/2 red onion, diced (very small)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

garlic salt

pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1.  Add shrimp, avocado and onion to a large bowl

2.  In a 2 cup measuring cup, mix together extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder and Dijon mustard.

3.  Add dressing to shrimp avocado salad until desired taste.  Add garlic salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Chill until ready to eat

O-M-G!  I loved this salad.  I ate it more like a dip with chips.  But now I am thinking it would be a yummy sandwich or wrap too!  The vinegar gives it a good tang to make you want to keep eating.  This is perfect for a snack or on a hot day.

Soak up the warm weather because fall is right around the corner!

XOXO

Salmon and Shrimp Dinner

One of my favorite parts of summer is grilled food.  Partly because it's yummy and partly because I am not the one standing outside in the heat watching the grill.  Thank goodness for El Hubby.

After months of not working out (sadly I am not exaggerating) El Hubby and I have been trying to eat healthier.  This means more lean protein, veggies, and less eating out.  For a little while we were eating out a lot and not at the best place.  Sorry McD's no matter what your commercials say you are no good to my waistline. 

This also means we are trying to be more realistic about our grocery shopping.  Sometimes we would buy all kinds of healthy food to only throw it all away when it went bad because we were eating out because we were too busy to cook the healthy items.  So now we also buy healthy frozen food and some not so healthy for those days. 

Hopefully this healthy eating and smart shopping will help my waistline and wallet. 

Ooops!  Almost forgot to talk about the food pictured above.  This is a dinner of a simple salad, salmon seasoned with pepper cooked in a foil packet with lemon on the grill, and shrimp marinated with garlic and butter grilled. 

Khloe the pup and El Hubby like to get into all kinds of trouble.  For instance, they like to play fetch inside the house.  It's all fun and games until something gets knocked over.  Oh and of course our house is not even that big.  What's a fur mama to do?  

Keep grilling friends!

XOXO

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Most nights it's a real struggle for me to come up with what to make for dinner.  I start dreading about dinner as soon as I come back to the office from lunch.  I go as far as asking my co workers what they plan on making for dinner.   Then there is always the dreaded text from El Hubby "what's for dinner".  Some times I just want to text back "poo".  Actually sometimes I do.

I literally threw this together and it was a pretty big hit in my house.  You can probably substitute chicken instead of shrimp or hey go all out and just add some chicken to the shrimp.  You can also probably pretty much use any kind of pasta.  Of course this absent minded wife only hand bow tie pasta so that's what I used.  I am sure you could substitute asparagus for broccoli.  You get the idea. 

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, with tails removed
1 lb bow tie pasta
broccoli
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
Italian seasoning
black pepper
red pepper flakes
salt

Directions:
1.  Boil pasta in water according to package directions.  Add broccoli at last 2 minutes of cook time.  Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water for use at a later time.  Drain pasta.
2.  In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter.  Add shrimp and cook until they are a little pink.  Add garlic and cook 5-7 minutes.  Add olive oil and continue to cook shrimp until they are pink.
3.  Add pasta and broccoli to the skillet, season with Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt.  Add enough of the saved pasta water until the mixture is not dry but not simmering in liquid (start by adding 1/4 of a cup and work your way up from there).
4.  Keep tossing all the ingredients around in the skillet until it is well combined and hot.

This will definitely be filed under "make when you have no idea what to make" recipes.

This face brings a smile to my face.  How do you stay mad at a face like that?  

Get those allergy pills read, spring is coming!

XOXO 

Shrimp & Pork Chow Fun

I have come to the conclusion that Chinese food is yummy because it takes so much more time to make than other foods. There is so much prep time to make Chinese food.

Last night I made chow fun. Chow Fun is pretty much as Cantonese as I get. Good thing my poor Cantonese husband is American born and knows no better.


1/2 pound of Pork (I will be quite honest I have no idea how much pork I really used)
12 shrimp
chow fun noodles
3 cloves garlic minced
oil
1 onion sliced
1/4 pound bean sprouts
green onions
soy sauce
salt

I sliced the pork into strips and then marinated it in the garlic and about 1/4 cup soy sauce. Cook the pork in oil with the onions until the pork starts to turn brown. A good amount of oil needs to be added which will later help in cooking the chow fun noodles. Then add the shrimp and a tablespoon of salt. Once the onions start to turn translucent add the chow fun noodles. Once the chow fun noodles start to become soft in the pan add your green onions.

Now the husband and I love spicy food so I added about 1 tablespoon of Chinese hot chili.

I high recommend using a wok to cook this or a very big pan. I love woks cause they are big and great for Chinese dishes or cooking pasta in sauce.

This dish turned out great for me. Husband ate 3 bowls. What a successful dinner.

XOXO

Spicy Fried Shrimp Sandwich

So coming up with what to eat for dinner is always a struggle. You want to have variety but racking your brain while at work can be frustrating too.

Yesterday afternoon I came up with this idea ... and then executed it for dinner!

So first I made a egg mixture with 2 eggs, salt, fresh ground pepper, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce. Soaked 18 shrimps in the egg mixture.

Then I made a dry mixture with 1/2 cup self rising flour, 1/4 cup corn meal, fresh group pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Put some oil in a pan and lets get frying! So take the shrimp out of the egg mixture and cover it with the dry mixture. I did each shrimp at a time but next time I am going to dump the dry mixture and shrimp into a bag and shake. It will save a lot of time. So I fried the shrimp and let them dry on some paper towels.

Next I made a little cayenne pepper and mayo sauce and what I mean by that is I just put some cayenne pepper into some mayo. Toast my sandwich roll, spread the cayenne mayo, put 6 shrimp onto each roll, lettuce, and some diced shrimp.


Man was dinner good! The husband ate 2 sandwiches! Dinner success and all done in 30 minutes. Whoot whoot!

XOXO