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An Appetizer Dinner on New Year’s Eve
Having just made a big sit down meal the day before, I opted for all appetizers on New Year’s Eve. Turned out to be a pretty good decision. Some of these recipes were pretty involved, but making them all together actually saved a lot of time with so many shared ingredients (corn, onion, green onion, all the seasonings for the pork, etc.). I marinated both pork butts the night before, had my mom roast them while I was at work, and then was able to throw it all together between 4:30 and 6:30. My mom also helped with some of the chopping and prep work – and then most importantly,…
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Shrimp Bake
This dish is one my mom used to make when I was growing up, and it was always one of my favorites. Tonight was my first time trying it… when I wasn’t able to reach her for the recipe this evening, I had to go off of memory and try to figure out how she got it to taste so great. Good news is, I think I figured it out. My mom made hers with shrimp, scallops and crab meat, but I only had shrimp on hand, so shrimp alone it was. This is a pretty easy meal to make – sauté mushrooms, onions and garlic, deglaze with wine, toss…
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Mexican Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Rice
Last night for dinner, I wanted to try something new with shrimp. My go-to with shrimp is pasta or scampi, but I was wanting my weekly Mexican fix. What to do, what to do… So I decided on shrimp with Mexican seasoning, sautéed with black beans, corn, salsa, lime juice and cilantro. I served it on top of copy-cat Chipotle cilantro lime rice. If I haven’t mentioned before, I LOVE Chipotle – one of my favorite places to eat. Good quality food, reasonable prices, and right across the street from my office makes it good and dangerous. But I digress. This meal qualifies for the 30-minute designation, so it’s definitely…
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Shrimp Scampi over Creamy Parmesan Orzo
I have stumbled upon a much easier, equally as tasty substitute for risotto – orzo. I must admit that my orzo exposure has been limited to (cold) salads, but I decided to branch out the other night in an attempt to replicate my favorite flavors of risotto without the 30 minutes of stirring. It was a success! This is definitely weeknight friendly, and was the perfect compliment to shrimp scampi. The rich and creaminess of the orzo went perfectly with the acidity of the shrimp. This will certainly be a repeat meal in this house! Hope you enjoy! Creamy Parmesan Orzo 1 1/3 cup orzo (half a box) 2 tbsp…
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Shrimp and Grits
I’m going to throw a warning out on this one – unless you don’t have kids or you have a babysitter, this is not a good weeknight meal. I regretted making this on a Tuesday immediately after I started – it’s a lot of chopping and shredding and a lot of moving parts all cooking at the same time. The kids destroyed the kitchen while I was making this one – they had snacks pulled out, Play-doh, pots and pans, tupperware, towels all over the place. It was a freaking wreck! And then I was so busy just trying to prepare the food (and fast to prevent any further destruction…
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Mediterranean Risotto with Shrimp and Lobster
Dinner last night was a result of lobster and shrimp being on sale at Publix, and trying to make use of some of my bulk purchases from Costco. And thus, my husband and I decided to create a Mediterranean influenced risotto made with lobster stock, artichoke, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and feta cheese. We topped it with shrimp and lobster that had been cooked in a white wine cream sauce. It was a tasty success – both adult and kid approved! Mediterranean Risotto 2 tbsp olive oil 1 1/2 cups arborio rice 1 large sweet onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 can artichoke hearts, diced 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced…
