The salads and deviled eggs

Next up...Shrimp and Pasta salad.

I always buy shelled, deveined, tail off, RAW frozen shrimp.  I think the frozen cooked shrimp can get rubbery when you reheat them.  My trick to flavorful shrimp it to add Old Bay Seasoning and garlic powder to the water you cook the shrimp in.  Add a lot because most of it stays in the pot.

Shrimp Salad

shrimp

Hellman’s Mayonnaise

Trader Joe’s Goddess salad dressing

bow tie pasta

corn

pine nuts

Boil the shrimp, and cool them.  Don’t rinse them because you’ll wash off the spice.  I scooped them out of the water and reused it to thaw the corn.  Don’t waste the spicy delicious cooking water.  You could probably toss the pasta in there too but I just boiled it normally.  I chipped the shrimp into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat.  The corn and pine nuts add some nice crunch.  

Note- I’m not a brand snob but I only use Hellman’s Mayo in my cooking.  Don’t get the reduced fat or Canola or some other new fangled variety.  The taste is ok for a sandwich but the salads with not taste right.  You can splurge on the fat grams twice a year.

Salad dressing adds a nice punch of flavor.  You can use Ranch or Caesar for the best taste but it’s all up to you.  Use what you have.

Deviled Eggs

They are a southern summer favorite.  There are many ways to make them.  I’ll give you the recipe from the weekend and a few variations.

boiled eggs

liquid smoke

salt

pepper

Trader Joe’s Garlic Aioli Mustard

Hellman’s Mayo

chopped garlic

Tip- Don’t over cook your eggs.  Over cooked boiled egg yolks get that grayish color that makes your eggs look yucky.  They taste fine but appearances are important.  I won’t lie and say I know how long to boil the perfect egg but I’m sure you can find it on GOOGLE.com

Variations

You can substitute sour cream for the mayo for creamy lighter eggs.  Consider adding feta to the yolk mixture for some tang.  Dill, chives, chopped hot pepper and other herbs can really pep things up as well.  You can also add some chopped ham or bacon.

Last up, tomato and cucumber salad.  This one is super easy.  Slice the cucumber and tomato.  Add a little acid (lemon, lime, balsamic/regular vinegar), olive oil, salt and pepper.  This dish can be a side or a condiment.  It’s delicious on a burger.

No guacamole recipe.  My fella is the guac expert.  Hit him up for the how to…

Happy eating!

Turkey Burgers

Turkey Burgers

ground turkey

chopped onions and green pepper (from the frozen aisle..shhh don’t tell)

pepper

salt

Trader Joe’s South African Smoke seasoning flakes

garlic powder and chopped garlic

Nando’s sauce

I don’t measure anything.  Just throw it in.  Ground turkey needs a lot of spice so  don’t be scared to season liberally.  Special shout out to Traders Joes Smoke flakes….  Try them if you can.  They add a lot of flavor.

4th of July food on the 5th

It’s been a while since I've blogged anything but moving, wedding plans, new job and more has kept me pretty busy during the last year.  I’m going to try to write more often now that things have settled down a bit but don’t hold me to it.  Today’s post is inspired by my Apartment-Style 4th of July.  When you live on the 17th floor with no balcony you have to get creative   Enter the George Foreman Grill.  On the menu we had:

Turkey burgers

Shrimp and pasta salad

Tomato and cucumber salad

Hotdogs

Guacamole

Deviled eggs

My Uncle Jim and Aunt Paulette called to request recipes so here they are.  I experimented with smoked flavors to try and get a more BBQ taste in most of the dishes.

Maybe I should write a book

I have a writer friend who always says that she thinks everyone should write.  She thinks I should write a book.  To be honest, she thinks everyone should write a book.  Hanging out with her reminded me that it’s been a while since I’ve written anything for the blog.  My friend thinks I should write a self help/advice book.  I’m note sure the world is ready for my brand of advice.  In most situations I think you should quit whinging and do something about it.  Attitude matters.  If you have a positive attitude there is a higher chance of you being successful.  If you start out negative, how will you make it through the bad times?

I wonder what my book chapters should be?  Any ideas?

Relationships- romantic, familial, friends
Job
self esteem
what to do when things go wrong
Don’t try to change people
Practice makes perfect


I believe in the power of the mind and a positive attitude.  I’m not saying that life is all roses and sunshine but you have to get over the disappointments as quickly as possible.  Learn your lesson and keep it moving.  If you don’t learn them you’re doomed to repeat the lesson until you do.

Now, where to start?  The first chapter should explain how this book is different from other self help books out there.  I’m going for the tough love angle.  It might seem like some of my advice is difficult to follow but nothing good comes easy.  

I’m going to chew on that for a while.  You chew on it too and let me know what you think.

Wild wild south

Saturday we made a trip to Arlington, Va to go to the cheese and wine shop.  Not a wine person but the cheese it to die for.  Pictures and reviews are on the way.  We were going to have dinner in the city since we were driving through anyway.  I've never been to Ben's Chili Bowl so that was our    destination.  Uh, Cinco de Mayo anyone?  Well a holiday that is relatively unknown to Mexicans is widely celebrated here is in the US.  Apparently, it is a date of some battle NOT the Mexican Independence day (which was my guess).  No one in Mexico gives a shake but every bar in town was filled to the brim with revelers.  As we made our way to U St I started to notice the thick crowds wearing brightly colored tchochkies from Oriental Traders.  The closer we go, the thicker the crowds were.  We drove around for a while before just heading back home.  Next time we'll have to go earlier.

hola amigos.

It's been a while.  I don't know what I've been doing.  Nothing much really.  I figured it was high time I said hello.  I'm watching Flash Point and thinking about what fabulous tales I can regale you with.  At work I've been learning about Tall Tales so I could always wow you with a larger than life story of  perseverance.

 I started this last week and I'm just back here now.  I had a pretty busy weekend.  If you know me at all, you are aware that I am not the world's greatest cleaner.  I'm a woman on a mission.  My house must be decluttered or else.  Today I practically burned out the shredder.  I went through my old file box and cleaned out the crap.  Then I organized the new files that needed to go in.  I have a box where I'm placing give away items and several shopping bags and boxes for give away books.

 Side Note: If you itemize your taxes you need to keep detailed records of your donations.  IRS is going to ebay.com to price stuff for your deductions.  This year I had some receipts that were blank and I had to try and recreate the contents.


Anyway, I'm trying to do this a little at a time.  Last week I told a group of students that if they spent the same energy doing the work as they spent complaining about it, they would be finished.  time to take my own advice.  I'm still complaining but I'm putting some muscle behind it so something actually gets done.  Laundry is pretty under control.  I still have work to do in the other bedroom but it's moving along.  Today's major success was the shredding, hands down.  I filled the basket 3 times and there's still more.  I'm getting ready to use my groupon for house cleaning.  Y'all know how you have to pre-clean for the cleaners.  I also figured out that my vacuum cleaner might be broken.  It was super loud making me think it could be broken or clogged (another reason to call the professionals).  Once I get back on track I'll be ok.

Alright, bed time for me.  Sweet dreams of clean houses to you all!!


PS-  Did I mention how delicious the apple butter is?  If you want to try it and are local let me know.

Moving and shaking

I'm all ready for the week. I've checked the Zumba schedule and I'm all set for Monday and Tuesday at 5.  Bless Divinefiesta Fitness for having classes at a time that's perfect for me.  To be honest, they have a class that is perfect for almost everyone since they have 5, 6, and 7 o'clock start times.      My clothes are packed and ready to go.  I've got lots of lunch options waiting to go into the lunch bag.  Testing starts on Monday so I need tons of snacks.  My school is so cheap they can't afford to give snacks to the teachers who are helping to test the kids.  Nice.  The student's aren't the only ones who are trapped in the room and stressed out for the next 2 weeks.

Oh well, bed time.