See What's Cookin' - Garlic Shrimp

Some might shy away from this dish because there is no melted better, no olive oil. But before you do, just hear me out. This is really a delicious dish that is extremely healthy - even without the butter.  Paula would be so disappointed.  

You're gonna start with raw shrimp - shelled and deveined.  Dump those babies in a bowl and sprinkle with salt and paprika.

In a skillet, heat up chicken broth, sliced garlic cloves and crushed red pepper flakes.  

When the garlic is just beginning to brown, add the shrimp and cook, stirring often.  Shrimp only takes a minute or two, depending on the size of the shrimp - and the pan.  Don't overcrowd your pan like I did.  I got lazy and didn't want to wash my large skillet.  

Now you're going to hit those with some lemon juice and parsley.  

And that's it!  So easy, so healthy and so DELISH!

Enjoy, y'all!  

To print this recipe, click here.

Linking up today with Tasty Tuesdays.  To get more delicious recipes or to link up one of your own, head over to Alicia's blog, A Beautiful Mess now by clicking the following logo:

See What's Cookin' - Apple Cobbler, A Healthy Spin

Sticking with our healthy menu, I stumbled upon this recipe and it really is good for being on a diet.  Kinda gives you the illusion that you're eating dessert and not just a piece of fruit.  So I thought I might share it and see what you all think.  It's become one of my favorites.  First, you need an apple...

Slice that baby up and put it in a bowl.  Sprinkle the apples with crumbled Melba Toast rounds, cinnamon and stevia.  The stevia is the trick.  It's all natural and zero calories.  Feel free to use another artificial sweetener or even no sweetener.  I have a tendency to leave the crumbled Melba Toast rounds until the very last step.  I have texture issues with my food and don't like the crunchy to become mushy, soggy bread.  

Then arrange your apples on a microwave safe plate.  Pop them into the microwave on high for two minutes.

And that's it!  See?  Easy peasy and healthy!  

ENJOY, Y'ALL!

To print this recipe, click here.

To link up a recipe of your own or find more recipes like this one, head over to Alicia's blog, A Beautiful Mess now by clicking the logo...

See What's Cookin' - Fish in a Bag

I mentioned yesterday that my husband is on the HCG diet, which is VERY strict.  Not only is it insanely low calorie but the types of foods he can eat is extremely restrictive, including spices & seasonings.  So creativity is really out the window.  But you still want the food to taste good.  So here's a simple, tasty and HEALTHY recipe I want to share with all of you.  Now, for those of you that aren't on a strict diet, you can be as creative as you like.  I've done this with squash, zucchini and onions as well as tons of other vegetable combinations.  But for the HCG dieters, this is all ya get!  

I started with orange roughy filets.  You can use any white fish.  This is my favorite though.  

Place a serving of fresh spinach on parchment paper (or aluminum foil).  Drizzle vinaigrette dressing (or lemon or citrus dressing) over the spinach.  I made my own (recipe at the end of this post) so that I could control the spices and sugar in the dressing.  But you could certainly use a store bought dressing.

Place your fish filet on top of your spinach.  Now, this is Mike's portion (about half a filet).  So don't freak out - you can use as much spinach and fish as you'd like.  Then, sprinkle spinach and fish with sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper.  Now give the fish a little drizzle of dressing as well.  

Then you just want to seal the bag up nice & tight.  You can use another piece of parchment paper on top and seal the ends or do what I did here.  Place the bags on a cookie sheet and cook in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.  But since it's summer, throw these babies on the grill!  Much better, in my opinion.  

The results?  Moist, flaky fish and tasty as well.  I promise, this recipe will not disappoint and it's just so stinkin' healthy!

So that's what's cookin' this week at our house.  Eat, Cook, Enjoy, y'all!

Linking up this week with:

To print these tasty recipes click below:

Fish in a Bag

Vinaigrette Dressing

Housekeeping

Just wanted to bring you all up to speed with some new things I've added to the blog. Boring, I know. I promise to be more entertaining tomorrow. First up, my nifty ChatBox on the sidebar. I'm going to just try this out and see how well it works and if it helps us interact with one another a little better. If we all hate it, out it will go.

Second, I've added labels to the sidebar as well. I've seen this widget on a few other blogs and was delighted to find out it is a Blogger widget.

Third, I've updated my pages (Recipes, Photography, Scrapbook Gallery & Sewing/Crafts). If you haven't checked those out recently, please be sure to do so. Check them frequently. I'll add to them as much as I can.

Now, I shall leave you with a favorite recipe which will also be added to the Recipe page for future reference. It's from the one and only Paula Deen, but don't worry - it's a rather healthy recipe for Mrs. Paula and very tasty. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday so far! Check back tomorrow for my 100th post! EEK!

Southwestern Avocado and Black Bean Salad

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 or 3 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
• 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 avocados, peeled and diced
• 2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
• About 3/4 cup (3-ounces) grated pepper jack cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the cilantro, oil, lime juice and hot sauce.

In a large serving bowl, add the lettuce, avocado, corn, beans, tomatoes, and cheese. Add the dressing and toss well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

A while back a friend turned me onto a blog called Smitten Kitchen. Now, I know you've got to be thinking, just how many blogs does this chick follow? Lots. It takes a good portion of my morning to sit and go through all the new posts. But I continue to find blogs that I truly enjoy reading and truly feel inspired by. Smitten Kitchen is definitely one of those blogs. I love to cook and this blog is all about cooking. Recently, Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe that I was somewhat familiar with but had not produced in sometime - St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake. Her take on the recipe is a bit different so I'm interested to try it again with a different spin. Smitten Kitchen's recipes have yet to disappoint. Her step by step photos keep you on track which helps the novice chef. I know you're going to LOVE this recipe. This cake is to die for! In fact, I believe this will be my first recipe posted on my "recipe" page. Indulge in something sweet today!

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

For the cake

For the topping
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling.

Make the cake dough: In a small bowl, mix milk with 2 tablespoons warm water. Add yeast and whisk gently until it dissolves. Mixture should foam slightly. (Very slightly in my case.)

Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and the milk mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition. Clark doesn’t say to do this, but I switched to a dough hook at this point to beat dough on medium speed until it formed a smooth mass and pulled away (just a little, my dough was still very soft) from sides of bowl, 7 to 10 minutes.

Press, stretch and nudge dough into an ungreased (original recipe suggests this; I found that my topping stuck a lot and I really had to cut around it with a sharp knife; I will grease mine next time) 9-by 13-inch baking dish (see Note above about baking dishes) at least 2 inches deep. Cover dish with plastic wrap or clean tea towel, put in a warm place, and allow to rise until doubled, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Make the gooey topping: Heat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare topping, in a small bowl, whisk corn syrup with 2 tablespoons water and the vanilla. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and corn syrup mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

Spoon topping in large dollops over risen cake and use an offset spatula to gently spread it in an even layer. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes (see Note above about wide range); cake will rise and fall in waves and have a golden brown top, but will still be liquid in center when done. Allow to cool in pan before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar for serving.

Trick-or-Treat Thursday

A little about what's been going on with us and why I've been a little neglectful of my new blog.  We're going on a week now and still have sick kids.  I'm exhausted.  So I know my poor kids are.  Today we went to the doctor for the third time and hopefully the last for a while.  Keegan has been diagnosed with croup.  We've been down this road before so this is familiar territory.  I was just praying for it to be something other than pneumonia.  So praise God!  New meds = well kids.  At least we hope so.  I'm so looking forward to putting an end to my babies' misery.

For all of you carving pumpkins for Halloween this weekend, thought I'd share a little something to do with all those pumpkin seeds being scooped out.  This is a fairly easy and yummy recipe.  Very cute, too!  Happy Halloween!  ENJOY!

Sweet & Spicy Pepitas Popcorn Balls

Ingredients

• 3 (3.5-ounce) bags natural microwave popcorn
• 2 cups pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for forming
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Pop the popcorn according to package instructions. While hot, carefully open package and dump into a large bowl.

Toast the pumpkin seeds in a large skillet over medium-high heat, until browned and popping, tossing and stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. (Do this in batches, if needed.) Add to the popcorn.

Make caramel: Warm the cream over low heat and keep warm while you cook the sugar. Put the sugar and corn syrup and in a deep, heavy-bottomed large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, raise heat to medium-high, and simmer until the sugar reaches the hard crack stage, or 305 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 7 minutes.

Whisk the butter and salt into the sugar mixture. Gradually pour in the cream and vanilla taking care since the mixture will bubble up. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar reaches soft ball stage, 240 degrees F on the thermometer, about 5 minutes more. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the cinnamon and cayenne. Cool for about a minute. Pour caramel over the popcorn and stir to evenly coat.

When the popcorn is cool enough to handle, coat your hands with some butter and shape into 4-inch balls. Wrap in waxed paper and tie with a string, if desired. Serve or store covered at room temperature for up to a week.