Coconut Lime Shrimp

This week, I made a new coconut lime shrimp dish that was divine! It started with a bag of frozen, raw, deveined shrimp which I thawed in a bowl of cold water for a few hours, and I then peeled and saved the shells to make the sauce.

1-2 lbs raw deveined shrimp with the shells removed
Shrimp shells from above
1 large onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 Cup Coconut oil
2T Olive Oil
1 Cup white wine
Juice from 1 lime, or a few splashed from the bottled stuff
1-2 cups frozen or canned or fresh green peas
Cooked rice ~or~ cooked spaghetti squash

1) Place the shrimp shells AND your outer onion peels AND your garlic "papers" and peels into a sauce pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

2) Slice the onion thinly and cook them in the olive oil and a little salt over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until they are soft, but not yet brown.

3) Mince the garlic and add to the onions. Stir them around in the oil and onions so they don't scorch.

4) Add the coconut oil to the pan and allow it to fully melt and get hot.

5) Turn the heat to medium hot and add the shrimp to the pan and stir to get them mixed.

6) Add the peas and stir.

7) Add the wine and the lime juice, and place a lid on the pan to allow the liquid to steam the peas and cook the shrimp through, no more than 3-4 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp.

8) Remove the lid, stir, check for doneness on both your shrimp and the broccoli. When it's almost done, use a strainer to strain the shrimp peels and onions skins from your sauce and add that strained both to the pan with the shrimp, onions, garlic, and peas. (Throw away the shrimp peels and onion skins, these are not part of the dish.)

9) Serve over steamed rice, or coconut lime rice, or over spaghetti squash. The whole family will think it's dreamy and it's easy to customize for personal taste on the plate.

My Honey's plate. Not as much sauce and over rice.

My plate. EXTRA sauce and extra peas over a bed of spaghetti squash.

GG's plate. Peas and rice only. Our little minimalist.

Boo's plate! I just needed to pick out the onions for him. Notice he received "The Red Plate" this night for making excellent choices at school and being a super good boy!

Easy Button

Awe, Snap, y'all.  Could it be? Could bacon once again be the answer to life, the universe, and everything? Or is that still 42? I think I'll let you decide.

Last night for supper, I borrowed another recipe from my girl Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman, and I roasted green beans in the oven with onion and bacon for our green-veggie side dish. Here's the link to the recipe from Food Network dot com. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/roasted-green-beans.html

I didn't have thin cut bacon, and I had frozen, not fresh green beans, but I still followed her guidelines for the most part. I did not add the olive oil, and I did not add the salt. Both of which I felt the bacon would impart on the beans in plenty, plus, my clan isn't hauling cattle, so we don't need the extra calories from the added oil.

But, today's post isn't about last night's supper as much as it's about this morning. Check it out.

So ... in using the bacon for the green beans, I cut the pound in half and used only half of the bacon last night, and saved the other half for breakfast today. 

I did a little test. 

At 6:57am, I put a pan on the stove, turned it to medium, and walked to the fridge. I got out the other half of the bacon, removed it from it's zipper bag, and put it fat side down in the pan. No, I didn't separate each slice. Wait for it...

As the heat of the pan starts to melt the bacon fat, it warms the slices, making it MUCH easier to peel apart. As it started to cook, I slowly pulled of the half pieces and laid them in the pan to cook. I turned them as needed, arranged them as they shrunk and made space for the others, and lovingly cooked them until they were ready to come out. 

At 7:06am, they were crispy, brown, and amazing, and draining on a paper towel. I turned off the pan, and headed upstairs to wake up the kids. Yes. You read that correctly. Less than TEN minutes, and a half pound of bacon was cooked beautifully and ready for my little morning monsters to gobble them up.

I opened their curtains to let the morning sun in, gently kissed their sweet heads and told them I made bacon. "Get up, brush your teeth, put on your clothes, and come on down for breakfast. I've made bacon and pancakes."

When I went into GG's room, I simply said, "Smell that? What is that? What's for breakfast?" and she sleepily looked up, then jumped up and yelled, "BACON!" 

Never have I seen those 2 move so fast.

I went into our room to get dressed, do my hair and face, and GG was downstairs, dressed, and sitting in her chair at the table before I got back downstairs.

The second (are we up to 2, or is it more than that, I've lost count) amazingly wonderful thing about this morning was the elimination of the, "But Mommy! I don't want to wear that!" fight that we've had every day of school so far. 

To eliminate this, I bought a hanging shelf doohickey that hangs from the closet bar and has 6 compartments. We have one for every day of the week for school, and one for our practice uniforms. The kids helped me pick out what they wanted to wear for the week, and in the morning they just grab the set from the next compartment, and they're done. No fight, no drama. 

The third amazingly awesome part of this morning was that I made the pancakes yesterday, put them in between layers of wax paper, inside a zipper bag in the fridge, so this morning I just nuked them and viola, instant awesome breakfast.

While the kids had breakfast I made and packed Conner's lunch. Morning crazy DONE.

We went into the living room to watch the news before going to the bus, and I looked at the clock. 7:45pm. I was amazed! 2 kids up, dressed, totally fed, lunch made, drama free, in only about 42 minutes.

I'm sure I'll have readers who think, "Oh yeah? So What? I do this every morning. And you don't churn your own butter, or gather your own eggs? And you call yourself a "Mom"." To you, my sweet reader, I'm proud of you and in awe. Being able to do this day after day is an amazing feet. I'm on day 6 of school mornings, and it has not been the sunshine and roses of "Leave It To Beaver" days of old. I'm new here. Bravo to those Mom's and Dad's who do this with grace and style each and every morning. Who makes a cooked breakfast for their kids every day and manages to leave the house with a swirl of butterflies, chirping robins, and bouncing baby bunnies following behind.

To the rest of us who are just really grateful that our kids are dressed in clean clothes, have seen a hair brush in the last week, and remembered to put on shoes, I raise my coffee mug to you too. This is hard work!  And don't get me started on the parents that do all of this and then go to an office/place of work outside of the house. Y'all aren't human.

So ... the answer to life, the universe, and everything could easily be bacon, or 42. As it took about 42 minutes from start to finish to have fresh bacon cooked, cooled, ready to eat, and 2 kids up, dressed, and not fighting before school.

What do you think?

Bacon, or 42?

Another Week

Here I find myself sitting at the computer able to write whatever I want, and I'm (almost) totally alone. Meaning, the humans in my life are all off doing their very important things, and the dogs, cat, fish, and I are here at home also doing very important things.

These very important things have been put on hold, however, because I am able to write. Write, Write, Write, Write, Write. All the beautiful words hiding in my fingers just waiting to come out. And no one is climbing on me, or needing a nose wiped, or another glass of water, or their brother/sister moved from "their spot" on the sofa. Just me and the computer, and it's blissful. The possibilities are endless, and yet I find myself looking at the clock and counting down the minutes I "really" have before I have to get back in the car and go get GG from preschool.

The idea that I'll be able to write on Wednesday is a fun fantasy, and I look forward to making it a reality. Along with all the other things that I have/had planned for my 3-hours, 3-times a week time-to-myself. 

I'm going to work out more.

I'm going to train for a 5-K.

I'm going to make the head-board out of pallet wood.

I'm going to prep all the meals for the week.

I'm going to prep breakfasts!

I'm going to get the kids rooms picked up and organized with pictures on their toy bins of what goes where.

I'm going to tend to the garden.

I'm going to design, build, and plant the raised bed in the front yard what will hold all the bulbs for next spring's flower garden.

I'm going to get dirt and fall plants for the flower pots out front and out back.

I'm going to get the suitcases back down to the basement.

And this is just the beginning of the lists and ideas that I have for these sacred 3-hour time-slots that I have each week. 

When in reality, on week 1, I came home and sat on the sofa and I think I watched TV, but I don't remember, because I was so kurfluxed as to what to do with myself. I think I bought a coffee at Starbucks too, but really, that was all I did.

On day 2, I shopped and got a pedicure. Which was also glorious, I'm not going to lie!

Today, however, today I went to Target to grab a few things I needed for packing Conner's lunches, I found some glorious "Dress Your Truth" jewelry on sale, and came home without spending a fortune. I then did laundry, which I had started last night, so by folding a dried load, and putting freshly washed load into dryer, and adding new load to washer made me feel like I had done 3 loads today. Then I hung up the kids closet organizers and put their clothes for each day of the week into the correct shelves. I wrote all of Genna's class activities on the family calendar, and I printed off Conner's school calendar so we know which days he needs to wear which color for spirit week next week.

I might get the hang of this Mom stuff here by the end of the school year.

Or like most other things, I'll jump in with 2 feet and then fizzle out. God, I hope not. One of the main reason's I'm home full time with them is so I can focus on them and their schooling. I do NOT want them to suffer the way I did with my ADHD, and as the Mom, I need to be on top of things, aware of what's going on, and not be caught off guard. 

Even though it was my kids first week of school, it was definitely me who felt the BACK to school jitters, excitement, and anxiety of a new year. A whole new generation of forgetting to do or return homework, forgetting it is picture day, forgetting to wear blue for peace day, forgetting lunch money or the lunch box. 

This Mom is trying desperatly to get her act together, get ahead of the train, and be on top of all these special and important parts of the kids lives.

Time to go get the girl ... 

wait ....

where is she again?

Easy Weekday Suppers For Crazy Weekdays

A friend of mine asked for ideas for quick weeknight suppers, so I sent her a few ideas. She then asked for recipes. Well, as we all know, there are only a handful of "recipes" I use, so I had to come up with directions on how to do what I was suggesting she do. I then took it one step further and added a prep list, and a shopping list.

Now, honestly, I 've gone over this so many times I'm blind. I'm sure there are things that I've missed and left out, so please leave comments on what you've found that I missed.

Hope you enjoy!

Busy Week Menu, How-To, and Shopping List

Saturday = Planning, Shopping, Prepping, and freezing

Shopping list: some of these are suggestions. Most of what I have listed is things that my family likes on/in taco’s, pizza, kabobs, stir-fry, and burgers. Pick and choose what your family likes. Things for specific recipes have been marked with an asterisk.

Proteins:

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Ground Turkey or Beef for your Monday night burgers. You’re going for ¼ pound burgers, so 1 pound of ground meat will make 4 ¼ pound patties.

**If making Chicken Sandwiches or Pulled Pork Sandwiches, but chicken breasts or pork butt, and add BBQ sauce and or Ranch dressing to your canned/dried grocery list below.

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Ground Turkey or Beef for your Taco’s on Tuesday.

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Beef or Chicken for Kabobs on Wednesday

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Beef, Chicken, Pork, Shrimp, or extra firm Tofu for Stir-fry on Thursday

1 Package peperoni and additional meats you would like on your pizza on Friday

Veggies:

Lettuce of your choice for your burgers and taco’s

Lettuce of your choice for salads to be sides for each night

2-3 large onions (for Burgers, Stir Fry, Kabobs)

2-3 Large Tomatoes (for Burgers, Taco’s, Pizza)

Pint of cherry or grape tomatoes (for Kabobs)

Pint of button or baby Portobello mushrooms (for Kabobs and Pizza)

Baby Carrots for stir fry, snacks, and lunches

Sugar Snap Beans for stir-fry, snacks, and lunches

Bean Sprouts for stir fry

Bok Choy Cabbage for stir-fry

1 bunch scallions

2-3 Bell peppers for kabobs and pizza, or more for snacks and lunches too

Jalapeño’s for taco’, stir fry, pizza, kabobs, and burgers if you like them as much as my husband does

Canned/Dried:

Rice or Rice Noodles for stir fry

Black Beans

Water chestnuts

Pizza Sauce

Olives for pizza

Condiments of choice for burgers = A-1, Heinz 57, Mayo, Mustard, BBQ sauce, etc.

Worcestershire Sauce

*Soy Sauce (or a jarred premade stir fry sauce)

*Hoisin Sauce (or a jarred premade stir fry sauce)

*Minced fresh ginger in a tube (or a jarred premade stir fry sauce)

Coconut Oil

*Italian Dressing

Salad dressing your family likes

*1 small can Tomato Paste

Taco Sauce (Unless you buy the boxed taco set with the sauce included. But if you’re like my family, the packet of sauce in the boxed set is never enough, so we always buy more)

Taco Seasoning (Unless you buy the taco boxed set with the seasoning included)

Refrigerated:

Shredded cheese of choice for Taco’s

Shredded cheese or sliced cheese of choice for Pizza’s

Sliced cheese of choice for Burger’s

Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt for Taco’s

Extra Firm Tofu (If using in place of animal protein for either stir fry or kabobs)

Gluten Free burger buns for Burgers (if your family is GF)

Gluten Free French Bread for Pizza’s (if your family is GF)

Minced Garlic

Inside Isles:

Buns for Burger’s

French Bread for Pizza’s

Flour or corn Tortilla’s for Taco’s

(Or buy the boxed set for taco’s which comes with shells, sauce, and spice mix)

Prep:

Wash and dry all fresh produce.

Cooking temps:

Visit this link.  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/meat-and-poultry-temperature-guide.html

For Burger Night:

Make your burger patties. Using the ground beef or turkey, season the meat with salt, pepper, a teaspoon of minced garlic, and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce to each pound of meat being used. Form the patties and use wax paper cut into 6 inch squares to separate the patties. Put them into a plastic zipper  bag and squeeze out the air to keep them fresh until Monday.

Slice onions and tomatoes for burger toppings, and place into zipper bags.

**If making the Chicken Sandwiches or Pulled Pork Sandwiches, you’ll want to put your chicken breasts or pork butt into the crock pot with chicken stock and herbs of your choice. Cook until it’s falling apart, shred and drain any extra liquid out. On Burger/Sandwich night, you’ll reheat your protein, toast your buns, and chow down.

For Taco Tuesday:

Cook your meat of choice with the seasoning packet per the box directions. Or, if not using the packaged stuff, add a little cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder to get the flavor you like. Or use the recommended amount of a premixed taco seasoning bought separately. Let the cooked meat mixture cool completely, then put in a sealable container in the ‘fridge. Grill a few of the scallions if you would like to add those to your tacos as well. You’ll need to keep just one table spoon for your stir fry sauce. If you want to add the rest of the scallions to your stir-fry or to your pizza, prep them for use in those dishes per instructions below.

Dice the tomato for your taco toppings. Don’t shred your lettuce just yet because it will turn brown before Tuesday.

For Kabobs Night:

Make the marinade:

                6oz Can of Tomato Paste

                2/3 cup of Italian dressing

                ¼ cup water

1 TBLS Worcestershire Sauce

Dice the meat or tofu and place in the marinade in a plastic zipper top bag. Smush around to be sure all the meat is coated then put in the freezer. Pull it out the night before you’re going to cook the Kabobs to thaw, and then keep in ‘fridge the day of.

Cut 1 or 2 bell pepper(s) into squares, and cut one onion in half from tip to root, then each half in half again the same direction, making 4 wedges, then each 4 in half to make a set of 8 triangular / pyramid shapes. Wash and rinse your cherry/grape tomatoes. Wipe your mushrooms with a wet paper towel to get dirt off. Prep and wash any other veggies that your family likes on kabobs. Put all prepped veggies into a plastic zipper top bag in the fridge. (If you want to wait until the day of to slice the onion, that’s smart too. They will make everything else taste and smell like onion if they’re in there too long. If you and your family likes onions a whole bunch and you’re going to be very pressed for time on kabob night, go ahead and prep them on Saturday and store them. You can also double bag them and or put them into another sealable container until you want to use them to keep them from stinking up the place.

Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 20 minutes, and then arrange veggies on skewers. Alternate slices of pepper, onion, mushroom, and tomato so you can get an even cook on each skewer. The night before Kabob night, you’ll skewer the meats, lay them on a cookie sheet, and cover the sheet with plastic wrap.

For Stir Fry Night:

Cut up your meat of choice into strips about the size of your index finger, then place in a plastic sealable baggie for freezing. Squish the air out, then arrange the meat pieces into a single layer flat in the bag. This makes it easier to thaw later.

Cut the baby carrots into pieces about the size of a 4-prong Lego. The other veggies are going to stay whole, or you’re going to cut them the night of stir fry. You’ll chop your cabbage the night of stir fry, to keep it from turning brow and getting yucky. As with the onions for Kabob night, you can either you’re your stir fry onions now and store them, or wait and duce them the night of stir-fry to keep them from stinking up the ‘fridge. Your snap peas, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts will be dumped in whole. You’ll need to drain the liquid from the water chestnuts before dumping them into the mix as well.

Make a pot of rice and freeze it. You can add a little water and microwave it the night of to have with your stir-fry. You can also use rice noodles, which cook very quickly, and can be made fresh the night of Stir-Fry.

Make your stir fry sauce and put into a glass jar with a lid, like a mason jar.

                1 cup water

                ¼ cup Hoisin Sauce

                1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger in the tube

                1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Garlic from the jar

                1 Tablespoon chopped scallions

Place the lid on the jar, shake to mix, and keep in the ‘fridge until it’s time to cook stir-fry.

For French Bread Pizza Night:

Prep your toppings. Slice your peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. Whichever toppings your family wants on their individual pizza’s, go ahead and chop and slice them and package them in zipper top baggies. You can also add any leftovers from the weeks dinners as pizza toppings too. For instance, a taco pizza would be pretty tasty.

Sunday = Chill. Watch Football. Relax.  Make a big pot of chili and a big pot of vegetable soup to take to work for lunches. Make spaghetti for tonight.

Monday Night Cooking

Burgers, or Chicken Sandwiches, or Pulled Pork Sandwiches – Prepped on Saturday.

Pull patties out of ‘fridge, allow to come to room temp while you’re heating your gas grill, or inside grill pan, or “George Forman”, or oven broiler. Cook patties to your taste/temp preference, use a meat thermometer if you’re unsure of times and temps. Pull out your containers of burger fixings and toast buns if that’s your family’s preference.

Tuesday Night Cooking

Taco Tuesday – Prepped on Saturday

Don’t’ get stuck in a taco rut. You can use many different meats in tacos and they are all delicious. Shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, tofu, beans, fish, lobster, sausage, etc. The list is really endless.

Reheat taco meat in the microwave. Toast your shells in the toaster oven or regular oven. Grab your prepped toppings, and have a taco feast. Eat on paper plates so you can toss them and run out the door.

Pull out Kabobs to thaw. Once thawed, skewer, put on cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and put in fridge for Wednesday night’s supper.

Wednesday Night Cooking

Kabobs – Prepped on Saturday and Tuesday. Pull everything out, cooktime should be around 15-20 minutes total.

Kabobs are as versatile as the tacos and sandwiches. Use whichever meat your family prefers. Chicken, beef, venison, shrimp, pork, or go meatless by using mushrooms or extra firm tofu in place of a meat.

Preheat your gas grill, or your inside grill pan on the stove, or your “George Foreman”, or your oven’s broiler. Depending on the cooking method, you’ll need to cook for 4-6 minutes per side, turning ¼ turns until all 4 sides are cooked through. Use a meat thermometer if you’re unsure of temps and times.

Thursday Night Cooking

Stir-Fry – Prepped on Saturday. Pull everything out, cook time should be less than 15-20 minutes total.

Again, your choice of meats and veggies are endless. Use what your family enjoys.

Preheat your wok or large sauté pan to medium high, add your coconut oil and let it get hot. Add onions and carrots to let them soften and begin to cook. Add meat of choice and cook through. Add remaining veggies, and cook no more than 2 minutes, stirring constantly just to warm them through. They’ll taste better the crunchier they are, and they’ll add texture that way so you’re not eating a bowl of mush. Add your sauce in the last minute, make sure it’s all hot, then spoon over rice.

Friday Night Cooking

French Bread Pizza’s

Nothing prepped for this ahead of time, all ingredients are in ‘fridge and ready to be opened, sliced, and put on pizza.

Preheat oven to 375, slice French bread lengthwise, add sauce of choice, cheese of choice, toppings of choice, and bake for 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bread is warm and crusty to your liking.