Firecracker Shrimp

Matthew bought, not jumbo, not extra jumbo, but colossal shrimp at the fish market today.
He gives them an egg wash after they are deveined, puts a small amount of panko on each one, and gives them a nice sauté in olive oil.
He combines 1 tablespoon chili sauce, 2 tablespoons of cocktail sauce, and 2 tablespoons of remoulade sauce for a delicious appetizer or lunch with a salad. He sautéed eight shrimp today for the three of us. It was delicious.

Patty Melts of All Kinds!

I started with a recipe from Ree Drummond on Food Network. Here's a link to her recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/patty-melts-recipe.html

I used her basic recipe, but instead of using a stick of butter, I used one pat per side of the bread.

For three sandwiches:
Six slices of nice bread of your choice.
Six pats of butter
Half an onion chopped and caramelized
Six slices of cheese. We use Swiss.
Your choice of ham, turkey, roast beef, or prepared hamburgers.

Throw a slice of cheese on each piece of bread, your meat, and cover with the other piece of cheese then bread. Throw down three pats of butter in an electric frying pan, then repeat that step when you flip sides. I put the top on between turns to steam the cheese a bit.

Makes a great lunch after church!

Smashed Potatoes (Crash Hot Potatoes) Freezes Well

I got this one from Ree Drummond on Food Network.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/crash-hot-potatoes-recipe.html
My husband loves potatoes of any shape, color, kind, or preparation. We had these for two meals. I used most of her recipe with a few changes (Parmesan cheese, no boiling) for the first round, then pan fried the leftovers for lunch the next day in olive oil. Makes a nice, easy version of potato cakes!

I purchased the small, microwaveable bag of golden potatoes at Ingles instead of boiling a bag of potatoes.

The potatoes take six minutes in the microwave. 

Once they cook, throw them on a baking pan and gently flatten them with a potato masher. Drizzle olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and pepper over them. The potato masher makes a nice pattern on them. Bake at 475 for 15 minutes. Ree Drummond is an excellent cook! I attached a link to her exact recipe. Potatoes are at the top of the picture.

BBQ Chicken Tacos (Chicken Recipe is Listed on Another Post)

It's been about a year since I have posted on my blog. I thought it was time to get back to it. I pull these recipes up on my phone through my Blogger App when I'm grocery shopping, and I needed some new recipes! Hope you are doing well! This is a new take on an old post. For the chicken recipe, please scroll back to old posts and look for BBQ Shredded Chicken. That will give you the dutch oven BBQ chicken recipe. This is our leftover meal from BBQ Shredded Chicken last night.

Take the shredded chicken out of the fridge and heat in a pan. We serve this leftover dish with a Southwest bag slaw with tortillas. Fix the bag of salad and stir the dressing into the salad. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Chop a tomato, chop some cilantro, serve with chips, sour cream and avocado verde and/or salsa. Throw your soft tortillas in a pan one at a time for 15 seconds on each side. We always have blueberries for dessert! It is a wonderful leftover meal that takes about 15 minutes to get on the table. Enjoy!

Kitchen Bouquet Roast

My mother taught me how to make this roast years ago. It is my favorite..

Ingredients:
Chuck Roast
A third of a bottle of Kitchen Bouquet
Cover meat with Lawry's seasoning--Just dash it over the meat on both sides. I don't rub it in.
One onion roughly chopped

Get out your favorite roasting dish, place meat in it, dash both sides of the meat with Lawry's. Pour a third of a bottle of Kitchen Bouquet in a cup and fill the cup with water. Pour that over the meat. Use about four more cups of water until the roast is almost covered. Throw your onions on top and to the sides of the roast in the mixture. Put on the lid and throw it in the oven for 3 hours at 350 degrees.

After three hours, put it on the stove, remove the lid, and cook it on the stove top on medium low heat for about 15 minutes. Some of the water and Kitchen Bouquet mixture will cook down and into the meat, but do not let it great too dry. The meat is so tender and seasoned to perfection.

We serve with coleslaw and mashed potatoes.
Have a lovely weekend!

Grilled Tilapia with Couscous, Shrimp & Avocado

We found this grilled tilapia recipe on Pinterest.

Our Take:
We enjoyed this dish. I will sear it a few minutes longer next time to brown it a little more. Matthew sauteed some shrimp to go with the fish. He used a dash of olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper to saute.  After they cooked a bit, he added a dash of white wine to deglaze the pan. They were very tasty!

Here's the web address:
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/low-fat-fish-recipe

2 tsp mild chili powder
1 Tbsp + 2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
4 tilapia fillets (6 oz each)
3/4 c Israeli couscous
3 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 c chopped scallions
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 c diced avocado
2 sliced grilled lemons (optional)

1. Preheat grill or grill pan and prepare couscous according to package instructions.

2. Combine chili powder and 1 tablespoon olive oil; brush over tilapia. Grill the fish for about 2 minutes on each side.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, soy sauce, scallions, parsley, and avocado. Fold into couscous and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4. Place each fillet on a bed of couscous; garnish plate with grilled lemon (optional).

Makes 4 servings.
Per serving: 446 calories, 20 g fat (3.4 g saturated), 388 mg sodium, 30 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 38 g protein

Lemon Herb Chicken

The picture above is from:
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/easy-chicken-recipes?page=5

The picture is not exactly how the dish looks. Your sauce will be light and filled with herbs. I haven't taken a picture of this dish, so I used the one on the website.



We found this recipe on Pinterest. It came from Women's Health Online.


Our Take: The original recipe called for mint, but we used Herbes de Provence instead because we had it in the pantry. I didn't have any fresh basil, so I used dried basil. We had fresh parsley. Fresh always has a little added flavor. The recipe calls for searing the chicken for two minutes, and then roasting for eight minutes. I actually seared for three minutes on each side, and I left it in the oven roasting for 20 minutes. I like to make sure the chicken is cooked through thoroughly. The sauce was wonderful. I love to make fresh sauces from scratch. It is a very fruity and herb filled chicken dish, and it's heart healthy! We serve with roasted zucchini, squash, carrots and onions.

Lemon Herb Chicken

This simple recipe has only eight ingredients, but each one brings major flavor. The lemon adds the tang while the herbs add an exotic, homemade touch. Serve with brown rice and a side of broccoli for the ultimate comfort meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 2 large chicken breasts
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1/3 C fresh parsley
• 1/3 C fresh mint
• 1/3 C fresh basil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/3 C white wine

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in an oven-proof skillet on high heat. Place the chicken in the skillet and sear for 2 minutes per side. While the chicken cooks, put the remaining 4 tsp oil, along with the lemon juice, zest, and herbs, into a blender or food processor and pulse until well mixed. Place the skillet with the chicken in a 400°F oven to roast for 8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven and place the chicken on a plate. Season with salt and pepper, then pour the wine into the skillet, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the herb sauce to the skillet and cook on the stove top for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Pour the sauce over the chicken.

Nutrition facts per serving: 377 cal, 24.1 g fat (3.5 g sat), 5 g carbs, 1.3 g fiber, 28 g protein