Sautéed Shrimp Salad

Happy Wednesday!

We are officially halfway through the week! Jaxie starts school next week and he is so excited!!! As a former teacher I get super giddy about all the things school related..I have a special school themed breakfast planned for him and I have his lunch box, back pack, and nap mat ready to go!! He thinks he is such a big boy getting to eat his lunch at school this year!!! I am definitely going to be making a highlight of bento box lunches to give other mamas some helpful and healthy lunch ideas!

The other day we had meet the teacher and I was pressed for time. I really didn't plan out dinner but saw that we had shrimp in the freezer so I just pulled it out. When it comes to shrimp I am really picky.. Shrimp should always be WILD caught!! I prefer to buy the whole shrimp and then just peel and devein them myself. I also love going to my local seafood monger and buying the shrimp from there too! 

I decided a salad would be easy but I wanted to elevate it just a bit..so I pulled out a few veggies, a shallot, and my FAVORITE Tesse mae poppy seed dressing! I love this brand of dressing so much because it works as an actual marinade AND dressing. So flavorful and also very clean. 

It turned out phenomenal! I had a few friends message me for the recipe and they loved it!! I have been asked to make a blog post so here we are!! I hope y'all enjoy!

Ingredients: this recipe serves two. Double for more.

1 lb wild caught gulf shrimp

1 lemon

4 garlic cloves minced

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 shallot

1 yellow squash

handful of grape tomatoes

1 red bell pepper sliced 

feta cheese

salt and pepper

romaine lettuce

spinach

Method:

Start by setting half of the spinach and romaine in a salad bowl then set aside in the fridge. Make sure lettuce is rinsed and dried..if you are making it for a crowd go ahead and use all of your romaine and spinach.

Meanwhile-devein and peel your shrimp. ( you CAN Buy it deveined and peeled so you can skip this step)  pat your shrimp dry and set inside another bowl. Salt and pepper the shrimp and add the minced garlic and juice of 1/2 lemon. Add about 4 large tablespoons of the Tesse Mae marinade and mix together well. Set in fridge for 15 minutes.

In a large pan over medium high heat start heating up some olive oil or avocado oil ( both work well with this!) add in the sliced squash, shallot, red bell pepper and grape tomatoes. Cook down until almost caramelized and then add the shrimp in!! Take care to dump all of the shrimp ( with the marinade) into the pan. Cook until shrimp are pink and tails are curled!!!!

Next assemble your salad

On top of the lettuce add in the quinoa, and top with the sautéed shrimp and veggies. Add some feta and some extra dressing if desired. I also added some marcona almonds and they were phenomenal!!!! Squeeze extra lemon juice on top if desired as well!!

I am so sorry I don't have a picture of this! I was not planning on making this into a post!! So you may just have to make it yourselves and snap a picture :)

Happy cooking!!!!!

Homestyle Pork Carnitas

Happy Tuesday all!!!! I hope you are enjoying the start of your week! If you are anything like me right about now I am lusting after fall weather and ALLLL the pumpkins!! It has been SO dang hot here in Texas..like torturously hot!! So I have been counting down the days until October which officially ( in my book) counts as pumpkin season :) 

Because I am so ready for fall I have been making some of my comfort foods that can easily be interchanged in the crock pot OR the dutch oven. They are mostly foods that slow cook ...so very tender meats, savory sauces..just comforting. Perfect for when the weather starts to chill down a bit. 

This Pork Carnita recipe is truly one of our favorites!!! I love it because you can serve it in tacos with all of your favorite toppings or you can eat it on top of black beans and rice ( sort of like a bowl style). Any way this is such a delicious meal to serve and also FEEDS PLENTY! If you are cooking for a crowd this is a wonderful Go - To recipe!

Ingredients:

1 orange 

1 lime 

pork carnitas ( or you can take a boneless pork butt and chunk it into 1 inch thick slabs)

salt and pepper

oregano ( dried)

2 cups water

cumin

1 yellow onion sliced

bay leaf

Method:

Start by dumping all of these ingredients into a large dutch oven. Coat the pork well with the seasonings and be sure and coat them with all of the juice. Leave the entire orange in with the pork as well as the lime. Slice the onions and layer them all over. Add in the cups of water and bring everything to a slow simmer. Pop the lid on top of the dutch oven and then place inside a 300 degree oven for 2 hours. 

layer a baking sheet with some foil, and lay each piece of pork out on the baking sheet.  Allow what's left of the juice to simmer down and caramelize a bit on the stove over medium high heat- about 20 minutes. you should have about a cup of liquid once you are finished. Shred the pork a bit and then pour the liquid on top of the pork. Broil for about 5-8 minutes on high in the oven. 

Serving Suggestions:

*Stuff inside a corn tortilla and top with chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, and mexican cheese

*Serve on top black beans and rice with chopped cilantro 

* Serve on top sautéed veggies 

ELEIN'S Cuban Chicken

Cuban Chicken

Happy Tuesday!!

 I hope that tonight's dinner gets you out of your comfort zone and introduces you to some cuisine that I learned from my very good friend Elein. 

Once upon a time around 6 years ago..I lived next door to a beautiful and very spicy cuban girl named Elein :) Elein and I had much in common including- our love for wine and cooking. We would take turns a few nights a week cooking dinner at each others houses. Sometimes it would be a recipe I came up with and sometimes it would be hers. She taught me some absolutely FABULOUS recipes..and this cuban chicken happens to be one of them. Over the duration of the 4 years we lived next door to one another we enjoyed wonderful conversation, laughs, lots of wine, and most of all the love we had for cooking other people food. One of the most beautiful friendships that I possess was born right in my very first kitchen. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and friends have!

Ingredients:

BONE IN and SKIN ON leg quarters and drumsticks- I buy a big Package of each

You can also just buy 1 lb of skin on thighs if you are cooking for a smaller family

Soy sauce or liquid aminos

Lowrys Teryaki marinade

1 can crushed pinapple

Pre heat oven to 425

In a small bowl mix together the lowrys teriyaki marinade ( 1/3 a jar)

a few glugs of soy

the can of crushed pinapple

in a baking dish lay your chicken and season them with back pepper and maybe a pinch of salt. pour the marinade over the chicken taking care that each chicken is well coated. ( I actually massage each chicken breast to ensure that it is well marinated. I am also aware this may freak some of you out!) 

Preheat oven to 425

cover your baking dish with foil and place in the oven for one hour-1.15 check your chicken after an hour as it should be starting to slightly brown. Pull the chicken out and take the foil off. Pop the chicken back in and set the oven to broil until it is a dark golden brown on top ( maybe 3-5 minutes)

We serve this meal alongside

Tomato Avocado Salad 

Black beans

and Cilantro Rice 

Crockpot Balsamic Chicken

Crockpot Balsamic Chicken 

Happy Sunday Friends!!! I pray you are all enjoying your day today!! By the time you read this it will be Monday AM! I am really pumped about cranking out blog posts BEFORE-hand so that y'all are no longer waiting on me to write them out!!! Life gets crazy with little ones as most of you know so I am hoping that this method works much better for everyone!!

It isn't quite crockpot season for me YET ( wait until fall and I will have a million and one recipes for the crockpot!) but what I love about the crockpot is that it does the work FOR ME!!! I have a commitment this evening with my family and it requires us to be out during dinner prep time.. So I came up with this very simple yet delicious crock pot dinner.

I love the versatility of this because you can serve it a few different ways- on top of a baguette, open faced, with some melted swiss...OR you can serve it in a taco...or like we will tonight- along side a green veggie and salad! SIMPLE!

Let me begin with the ingredient list:


Ingredients:

4 skin on chicken breasts ( double for more people)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion thinly sliced
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
garlic powder
italian seasoning
chicken stock
fresh parsley for garnish


Method:

Start by laying your chicken in the insert of your crockpot. season the chicken liberally with the seasonings mentioned above.
layer the sliced onion on top, then the diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup chicken broth.


Cook on high for 4 hours. Serve as you wish and enjoy!

Parmesean Baked Pork chops with Roasted Okra

Good Morning!

The southern gal in me love to cook old school comfort dinners like pork chops. I actually love a good fried pork chop with some home made gravy. When I was a little girl that is how my dad would cook for me..so I developed a sense of comfort and longing for those particular foods!!! 

Frying pork chops is a bit time consuming.. and although delicious, I needed to find something a bit healthier for the way my family eats. I figured out how to bake a pork chop which is a hands OFF method to cooking pork. No babysitting by the grill or stove top...something every busy mom needs is a QUICK recipe! So therefore this method was born. I used breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese and certain seasonings  and they turned out beautifully. 

Now the roasted okra was a game changer! I am always looking to find new ways for my family to eat vegetables that are both unique AND pleasing to my PICKY toddler's palette especially :) I love to roast vegetables because the vitamins are still locked in but the vegetable gives off a different vibe when roasted versus sautéed or steamed. 

I LOVE okra this was such a phenomenal side kick to the baked pork.

RECIPE BELOW!

Baked Parmesean Porkchop

Ingredient:

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup parmesan cheese

black pepper

garlic powder

1 egg lightly beaten

butterflied centerline boneless porkchops 

baking sheet with aluminum foil

Method:

In a shallow dish combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, black pepper & garlic powder. In a bowl lightly beat your egg. Dredge the pork chop in the egg and then fully coat on both sides the breadcrumb mixture. Lay on an aluminum foil baking sheet. Repeat until all the prokchops are breaded. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes ( check to make sure they are done. Everyones ovens vary) 

Roasted Okra:

Ingredients:

Bunch of whole okra sliced.

Paprika

cayenne

salt and pepper

olive oil

lined baking sheet

Method:

Toss the okra in olive oil and season with each seasoning...toss until all are coated. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes!!!

ENJOY! this is a wonderful, simple, and family pleasing recipe!