Garlic Shrimp

We had this tonight. I halved the recipe because I knew if we had the entire thing we would have eaten it! I also made mine dairy free so I can only imagine how much better it would have tasted with actual butter. We had it served over whole wheat spaghetti garnished with lemon and fresh parsley. I imagine it would be good over rice as well. This will definitely be a go-to recipe when I can buy shrimp on sale because it was super fast and super easy!

Ingredients:

2 lbs shrimp (fresh or frozen, shelled)

1/2 cup light olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

12 garlic clove, minced

1 Tbsp flour

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Prepare your shrimp. If frozen, thaw out. Pat dry so the excess water doesn't mess up the sauce.

2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Add the minced garlic and sauté for about a minute.

3. Add flour a little at a time to avoid clumps. Stir well. Add chicken broth and salt.

4. Add shrimp. If raw cook 4-5 minutes until they turn pink. If cooked, just heat them up 2-3 minutes over medium-low heat.

Nutrition: (serves 6)
Calories: 388.6
Fat: 27.8g
Sodium: 514.6mg
Carbohydrates: 2.5g
Protein: 32.2g

Kung Pao Chicken

The hot sauce in this recipe didn't provide enough of a kick for us, but it was great for the kids. We sprinkled red pepper flakes over our plates with the green part of the scallions and that did the trick!

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp canola oil

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

1 clove garlic, minced

4 scallions, chopped

1 red pepper, cut into bite sized chunks

1 1/4 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce (I'd recommend low sodium!)

4 tsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp red wine vinegar

hot pepper sauce (to taste)

Directions:

1. Toss chicken with sesame oil and set aside.

2. Heat canola oil in skillet and add peanuts. Saute 23 minutes, without browning them. Transfer peanuts to a large bowl and set aside.

3. Add garlic, white portion of the scallions and the pepper chunks to the pan and saute about 1-2 minutes until tender. Transfer these ingredients to the bowl with the peanuts.

4. Add chicken to the pan. Saute until browned and fully cooked, about 6-10 minutes.

5. While chicken start preparing the sauce in a bowl by adding the water, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar, vinegar and hot sauce. Stir until well blended.

6. When the chicken is full cooked add it to the bowl with the peanut and pepper mixture. Stir the sauce one more time to ensure the cornstarch isn't sticking to the bottom and then add it to the pan, stirring constantly until thickened.

7. Once the sauce has thickened add the chicken and peanut mixture. Simmer 1 minute until heated through.

8. Serve over rice with scallion greens sprinkled on top.

The Perfect Baked Potato

I had to write this here because every time I look up how to bake a potato in the oven I always get different instructions and different temps. On the search for how to make the perfect baked potato, I finally figured it out!

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Wash and pat potatoes dry, then pierce them with a fork to let out steam while cooking.
3. Place potatoes on rack in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes to an hour or until tender.

You get a soft tender inside and crisp skin. Just the way I like them!!