Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp

I have been trying to incorporate fish or shrimp at least once a week. I just wish shrimp were a bit cheaper.  Most of us eat it and it is just good food (to me :).  And it is fairly healthy (low cal, low fat).  It is just that darn sodium level that keeps it from getting a gold star.

Anyway, I had a recipe pinned that looked promising so I decided to give it a try.  I was a little hesitant with all of the lemon in it but after one taste, I was hooked.  Oh, yum.

And it was easy. And quick. 

Definitely yummy for my tummy.

I know not everybody is a shrimp eater, but if you are, I highly recommend this recipe!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil

1 lemon

3-4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed (okay, I don't know if it is unhealthy but I just used the whole sprig...)

sea salt and freshly ground peppercorn

2 tbsp butter (I used light margarine)

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (the original recipe calls for fresh; that is hard to get around here...I did use about 2 pounds)

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Zest the lemon (I had never done this. I used a vegetable peeler and just carefully peeled off bits of the peel, trying to not dig in too much).  Then halve it.  Cut one half into thin slices. Save the other half for later use, though I didn't ever use the second half.

Pour olive oil in a baking dish. The original recipe called for an 8 x 8 dish. Since I had so much shrimp, I used a 13 x 9.  There was still plenty of olive oil to cover the bottom of the dish. 

Add the lemon zest and thyme to the oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes or so, checking to not burn the zest (which I did because I was peeling shrimp).

Remove pan from oven.  Add butter and stir to melt in oil.  Toss in the shrimp and garlic.  Stir to coat.

Bake for 8-10 minutes (watch carefully) until shrimp is pink.

We ate ours over angel hair pasta with garlic bread and a salad. Oh, and I added a little freshly shredded Parmesan because Parmesan goes with everything. :)

And I enjoyed every single bite.

Reba

The Survival Mode Menu

It is my first week with MY class (last week, our kinderkids were not assigned to a class so they "floated" all day).  And that means I am one tired mama by the end of the day. But I really am making an effort to cook. Most of the time.

I will confess that I strayed from the menu a little last week. By Friday I couldn't even think about cooking.  We went out to eat instead. And I enjoyed every bite.  Then I somehow had forgotten Hubby was going out of town over the weekend for work, so that threw my whole weekend plans off.  Needless to say, I have already had protests that I did NOT make any mostaccioli.  I will have to make that up to them soon.

Anyway, here is my menu for this week of survival.  We will see if I pass the test or not. :)

Saturday (after changing things around):  Korean Beef and Basmati Rice, carrots and Ranch, honey butter biscuits

Sunday:  Chicken spaghetti (even with Hubby gone, they ate almost ALL of this. I had like 1/3 a serving left over for lunch yesterday), garlic bread

Monday:  Pulled Pork Sandwiches (new recipe), Waffle Fries (a nice frozen version.  Once in a while I have to resort to frozen)

Tuesday:  Roasted Lemon Garlic Herb Shrimp (new recipe...YUM!), angel hair pasta, salad, asiago garlic bread

Wednesday:  On Your Own

Thursday:  Chicken Stuffing Bake in the Crockpot (kinda a new recipe), carrots/Ranch, some sort of bread (not sure what yet :)

Friday:  Taco Night!, salsa

Saturday:  Our grilling night is dealing with interference from that Razorback game. Bummer.  :(

I am not going to lie. It is tempting to eat out every single night this time of year.

But I am standing strong.

At least tonight. :)

Reba

Pork Tenderloin With a Pan Sauce

I am behind on recipes.  :(  It has been a really hectic week.

Anywho...

Recently on Pinterest, I found a recipe that looked SOOOO good.  Or maybe it was the picture that looked so good. :)  Either way, I just had to try it.

Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce.

So a couple weeks ago, I decided to give it a try.

And it was just as good as I hoped it would be.

I followed the original recipe fairly closely with just a few minor changes after reading some of the comments.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

juice from one lemon

1 or 2 tbsp Worcestershire

1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, finally chopped

2 tsp dry mustard

freshly ground pepper (to taste)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (if your grocery store has herb "singles", it is a great place to get already peeled cloves)

1 lb pork tenderloin (okay, mine was more like two so I upped my ingredients)

Pan Sauce:
Scrapings from pork tenderloin

1/2 cup chicken broth

2-3 tbsp pork marinade

1-2 tsp butter

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients from the first list (minus the pork tenderloin).  Reserve 2-3 tbsp for later use.

Place the pork tenderloin in the marinade in a large ziplock bag and marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

In a hot skillet, sear the pork tenderloin on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes per side.

Place in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

After reading some comments, I put this in a large baking pan.  Then I poured the marinade over it so it cooked in the marinade.

I am not sure if that is considered safe or not.

My thinking was that if the pork is going to cook any bad germs out, the marinade will too.

My main goal was to keep the pork moist while it was cooking.  I removed the pork from the marinade before serving.

Like I said, I was going on the advice of some of the commenters.

Nobody got sick, so I would probably do it again that way. :)

Oh, latebreaking news...one commenter said that she had read to boil the marinade for about 5 minutes and it would be good to go.  Take that for what it is worth. :)

Or just cook it without the marinade and avoid all of these questions and concerns I have. That is what I may do next time if I don't want to live life on the edge. :)

Sorry for the rambling.  It is late and I am really tired.

So toward the end of the cooking time (start checking it around 30 minutes so it doesn't dry out), get the pan sauce ready. 

Add the chicken broth to the skillet, scraping up any pork tenderloin that might be left in the skillet from earlier.

Add the reserved marinade and bring to a boil.  Boil for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the butter. Remove from heat and stir the sauce, letting the butter melt.

Pour over the pork tenderloin.

Enjoy!

We ate ours with potatoes and black eye peas. Yum.

Reba

Smores Dip

Monday was the first day of school.

I don't get to do a lot of the fun "first day of school" traditions a lot of families do, mainly because it is MY first day of school too. And I am plumb exhausted all day long.

But I wanted to do something special.

So I checked out Pinterest and found a recipe for Smores Dip.  Hubby doesn't care for Smores (how is that possible???) but the kids and I love them. And this was a very quick (less than 5 minutes) recipe.  How could I go wrong?

It didn't disappoint. It is taking all of the willpower I have to not go finish off the leftovers (it made a lot).  And it is actually easier to eat than real Smores are.

Ingredients:
1 can condensed sweetened milk (14 oz)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate...my family couldn't tell a difference)
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
graham crackers for dipping

Directions:
Place sweetened milk and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally until chocolate chips are melted. (I think mine took 1 minute)

Pour/spread chocolate mixture into a 9 inch glass pie plate.

 Drop marshmallow creme/fluff by the spoonful into the chocolate mixture.

Microwave 30 seconds.

Use a knife/spoon to spread marshmallow throughout the mixture, giving it a marbled look.

Serve with graham crackers.

Enjoy.

(We refrigerated the leftovers and just heat it up when ready to eat, though I may or may not have eaten a spoon full cold. :)

Reba

Back to School Menu

I am still behind on posting recipes.  I would like to think I would get caught up this week (because I KNOW you are on the edge of your seats waiting), but it is the first week of school. I will be doing good to stay up until 9 every night.

Because of that, I am sticking with some tried and true recipes this week.  It really is a miracle I am even cooking (or hoping to). In years past, this was a HUGE take out week for us.  But I am determined to try.

Sunday:  Bubble Up Enchiladas, carrots and snap peas with Ranch
Monday:  Poppy seed Chicken, wild rice, crescent rolls, dessert (new)
Tuesday:  Pizza Bread
Wednesday:  On Your Own
Thursday:  Pot Roast Pizzaiola, roasted baby bakers (Schwans), cheese stuffed breadsticks (Schwans)
Friday:  Mostaccioli, Caesar salad, garlic bread
Saturday:  Steak, hashbrown potatoes, black eye peas, Katie bread 

Tried and true. That is all I can do this week.

How about you?

Reba

Easy and Delicious Fruit Salad

The other day I wanted a little sweetness but nothing heavy. Since the good "fruit" season will be ending soon, a fruit salad just seemed like the perfect dish.

And it was.

This recipe came from my cousin P. It was in the family cookbook. I have made it before but it has been a while.

Easy, quick, and good.

Ingredients:
Fruit (I used kiwi, apple, strawberries, grapes, and blueberries...you can use what you want. :)

1 box vanilla instant pudding

1 regular can of pineapple chunks

Directions:
Drain juice from pineapple chunks.

Mix desired fruits in a bowl.

Add in drained pineapples.

Mix the pineapple juice with the vanilla pudding.

Then pour over the fruit.

Enjoy,

I know, it is very simple.

And very good.

Nothing like a good fruit salad on a summer day!

Reba

Back in the Swing of Things Menu

It is time for me to go back.  My summer vacation, break, what is the word I am looking for here? is over.

Like that, it is done.

Finished.

Kaput.

It is time to get back to regular life.

Just in case you wonder, this is called "New Year's" for teachers.

Everyone else's life starts "over" on January 1.

Not so for teachers.

It is more mid-August (at least around here).

Anyway, on to the menu.

I am going to make every effort to cook most days this week.  Since I am in in-service rather than on my feet, maybe I won't be too tired.  Next week, I may be too tired to eat...

Sunday:  Pizza (out)
Monday:  Skillet potatoes and sausage, carrots/Ranch, rolls
Tuesday:  Crockpot honey chicken (new recipe), Basmati rice, Oriental salad, garlic bread
Wednesday: Sloppy Joes, Sweet potato fries
Thursday: On Your Own night (I will be at Open House)
Friday:  Shakes and Popcorn (Per Kid's Request)
Saturday:  Grilled Shrimp Boil Kabobs, Katie bread, probably a dessert of some kind

Not many new recipes this week, but I still have some from last week to share.  

What is for dinner at your house this week?

Reba
PS I did pretty good sticking to the menu last week. We did swap out an On Your Own night for pancakes and bacon one night, so we had OYO night the next night rather than Taco Pasta. I am going to put that off for next week...