Shrimp Scampi

OMG not only does this dish take less that 30 minutes but it tastes like you were slaving away on it all day. Everyone in my family loves this dish and asks for it frequently, including my picky eight year old. I found this one on Pinterest, surprise! If originally comes from the Barefoot Contessa, who I love but her pounds of butter don't usually suite my trying-to-be-healthy-but-not-100%-of-the-time attitude.

As usual, I tweaked a few things. I don't have a zester and don't see the need to buy a lemon for the zest, so I skip it. I also didn't add fresh squeezed lemon juice or lemon wedges, just my preference.

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil
Salt
Linguine noodles - amount depends on how many you are feeding, I usually keep all ingredients the same and just adjust the past portion
6 tbls butter
5 tbls olive oil, I use a little less butter and oil if its just three of us
3 tbls garlic, we like garlic so I keep it at this amount
2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined, I find mine frozen and fully cooked with tails on but I just run them under water until they are thawed and pull the tails off before cooking them
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 c fresh parsley or 1-2 tsp dried
lemon juice, between 1/8-1/2 cup depending on how much you are making
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes



Cook the noodles according the directions on the package. Meanwhile, in a skillet melt butter and oil together. Add garlic and cook until tender being careful not to burn it. Add the shrimp and cook until they are cooked through if using raw or just until they are coated nicely with the sauce if they are already cooked. Add pepper, parsley, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes and simmer to combine flavors. Once pasta is done, drain and combine pasta and shrimp together and serve!

Seriously this dish is amazing. Perfect summer meal too because it is light and quick, yet filling. I didn't use anything from my Bountiful Basket this time, but adding asparagus pieces or broccoli would be delicious I am sure! Enjoy :)

Mango Lemonade

We received two mangoes in our Bountiful Basket last week! Besides eating a mango as is, I had no idea what else I could to with it. I had heard of mango salsa but it didn't really appeal to me, so I hit my trusty research site - pinterest. First I needed to know how to handle these little guys and came across this very helpful link on how to cut a mango. Now I was ready to try some new recipes! I found a recipe that my daughter picked out for mango lemonade.

Ingredients:

1 mango, pureed
2 large lemons, juiced
1/2 cup sugar
3 - 3 1/2  cups water




Cut the mango as directed and puree. Juice the lemons, I had about 1/2 cup when I was done juicing. Pour all ingredients together and shake! Perfect job for the little ones. It was a little plain at first, but I let it sit in the fridge overnight and tried it again in the morning and it was delicious. Light and refreshing, just like lemonade should be!

Red Kale

Monday's dinner was planned around a bunch of red kale that I got in my Bountiful Basket. I had recently bought kale to try a "green smoothie" and BLEH! it was terrible. So I used the kale in chile verde instead....mmm. You can find the recipe I used here. I added diced potatoes, kale, and frozen corn to the mix. I picked a variety of peppers from the store and didn't chop the meat first. I just threw the whole pork tenderloin in the mix and shredded it later. I didn't cook it first either, just put it all in the crockpot! I love my crockpot ♥ 

So today, since I ended up with more kale, I found another crockpot soup recipe at Taste of Home. I tweaked it a tad to fit my family's taste, for example I only used one onion and then added some onion powder.

Ingredients:

1 lb kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 
1/4 inch slices
2-3 medium potatoes, cubed
1 onion, diced
1 bunch kale
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp onion powder 
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can beans (garbanzo, chickpeas, great northern, etc), drained and rinsed
32 oz. chicken broth

I chopped, diced, peeled, and poured all ingredients into my crockpot and set it on low for the day! The original recipe used a large stock pot and said it cooks in about 25 minutes, so that is an option also.

It seems like A LOT of kale but it will reduce down and not be so full as it cooks.

Do you love kale? What other recipes should I try? I am always open to new suggestions, please feel free to share your recipes with me :)

I have to say, I have tried kale chips and I was not a huge fan, I might have to give them another chance though. 











Here is what the soup looked like right before we ate it. My daughter had soccer practice Monday night, so she came home HUNGRY! She informed me that this healthy soup is called "sports candy". I guess her coach had a talk about eating healthy! Hey, whatever works! She devoured it, and even took it to school for lunch today! Nothing makes me happier than seeing her eat a good, healthy meal. Much better than her usual request (followed by whining when I deny her) of Ramen Noodles. Bleh. We topped ours with a little Parmesan Cheese, what doesn't taste better with a little cheesy goodness?!

Welcome!

Recently a friend told me about a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. Basically, every two weeks you place your "contribution" or order and pick up your basket the following Saturday. There are locations all over the US, and if there isn't one near you, there is a link to start a new location. I was so excited when my friend told me about it that I could hardly wait to get my first basket! I had my mom pick it up for me yesterday, because we had plans and I was NOT about to miss my first basket! Here is what I came home with:

Cauliflower, asparagus, broccoli, apples, oranges, carrots, mangoes, lemons, grapefruits, key limes, ginger, onions, bananas, lettuce of some variety, spinach, red kale, a beet, and flat leaf parsley.

Disclaimer: There are several options for baskets, one basket is $15 then you can add other things on, for instance this week there was a "juicer basket", I did add that. There is a bread option usually, there was a granola option this time as well. Like the variety, it changes every two weeks. So this week, I paid $25 for what you see. That comes out to be $12.50 per week. 

WOW! Now for the reason I started the blog, what do I do with that?? This time it, I think I know what everything is at least, but making something with it might be a different story. 

I will be posting my recipe tests and results with the food that I get from my bountiful basket! I am sure there is bound to be a few failures, hopefully a few successes and everything in between!