Shrimp & Pasta

As much as I would like to not admit it, I secretly love Lean Cuisines.  I credit the LC's with a major part of my weight loss success - they taught me proper portion sizes & made lunch easier.


I would not go near one with a 10 foot pole now, but do miss some of the dishes.  My favorite one was a shrimp w/ angel hair pasta dish that had a light, lemony sauce.

On a trip by Whole Foods Friday night, I was struck with a craving for the shrimp dish, and decided to make it on my own.  I picked up the shrimp (1/2 pound, med, uncooked), a bottle of white wine, whole wheat pasta, and a lemon.  I headed home and prayed that the food gods be with me. 

For Two Servings:

1 tbsp EV Olive Oil
1 tbsp Butter
3-4 oz pasta (or between 1.5-2 servings of your pasta)
Garlic (I used 2 cloves)
1/8 cup diced red onion (or shallot)
.5 lb peeled, uncooked shrimp
1 baby zucchini, sliced VERY thin
1/2 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)
Zest of 1 lemon


Get pasta going in boiling water.

Once the pasta goes into the water, head the olive oil & butter over medium heat in a medium sized skillet.  Once the fats are warm, add the onion & garlic.

Sautee for a few minutes, then add the shrimp.  Let them cook - don't constantly stir.

After the shrimp start to turn pink (5-7 mins), add in the wine, zucchini and lemon.  Let sit over medium heat until the wine has reduced slightly & the shrimp is cooked.  Add in your cooked pasta, stir to coat the pasta.  Let sit 2-3 mins, serve immediately!

Now, I used the zucchini because I really wanted zucchini on Friday.  This would be GREAT with some summer squash if you had it around, or maybe som broccoli.  Just make sure to cut the veg super thin if you want to add it in after the shrimp cook - it needs time to warm up!

SO easy & SO delicious.  I thought it was better the next day as leftovers too!

Roast Chicken!

Yesterday I embarked on a cooking adventure - Roast Chicken.  I love chicken.  I hate cooking chicken.  It's hard, turns out rubbery, and is generally dissapointing when I cook.
I used the Jamie Oliver recipe to a T.  Questions I had that were not answered in the recipe:

1)  Covered or not?  I did not cover and it turned out fine
2)  What to baste with?  There were not a ton of juices at that point, so I basted w/ a bit of water.

I let the chicken cook a bit too long - my probe thermometer was reading 155 degrees, then I realized I had it in the cavity of the chicken, not in the meat.  D'OH.  To accompany the chicken, I made some roast veggies at the same time the chicken was cooking (Potatoes, carrots, turnips), and tossed together a small green salad.

Verdict?  AWESOME.  Super easy to prepare, made the kitchen smell great, and there are a ton of leftovers.  The meat was super tender - when I went to move the drumstick to cut the thigh off the body, the entire bone just came out without any meat! 

To be honest, by the end, I was more excited to kick off my chicken stock making than to eat the chicken!  Nerd, I Know.

I got the majority off the bones & body.  While carving, I had a serving plate and a bowl for 'stuff' that was to go into the stock mix.  I threw both wings in there, the bones, carcass, and a bit of skin.  I scraped out the herbs and garlic from the cavity.  Then, all of it went into the crock pot for a few hours with a few tbsp of white wine vinegar.  AndreAnna says to use apple cider vinegar, but I didn't have any. 

After a few hours, I tossed in all of the veggie bits I've been saving for the last week (knowing this was coming up), chopped onion, bay leaf, and thyme in & set on low. 

I had dreams ALL NIGHT of food because the house smells so good!  I can't wait to go home and get a straining!  My one concern is that I don't have jugs or jars for the stock - my plan was to foodsaver-bag it, but I'm not sure of how that will work.

Weekend Food Plans

This weekend is the last before Christmas, and I plan on cooking all day Sunday.  Normally, I would go on a baking spree, but since I'm calorie-conscious at the moment, that sounds like a not so great idea.

My biggest challenge on Sunday will be a whole roast chicken.  I'm using the Jamie Oliver recipe (http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/perfect-roast-chicken), and plan on freezing 1/2 the meat once cooked as an easy add on for dinners in the future.  I also want to make some sort of chicken-bake.

In my Amazon Fresh order today I included Rainbow Chard.  I've never had Chard before, and I'm not the biggest fan of fresh spinach.  We'll see how this goes, but I plan on having that as a side w/ garlic and nuts for Sunday dinner.

I'm also making another batch of Taco Soup - I've been living on it for most of two weeks and I'm still not sick of it!  As long as I have a pinch of cheese and cilantro I can't get enough of it.

My plan for the new year will be to have homemade dinners (fresh or frozen) 5/7 nights a week.  We're already near this goal, but I want to expand past my normal 5-10 recipes. 

Brightening Up Frozen Meals

I love freezing soups & stews .  The trouble is, sometimes I want the taste of something fresh in them.

Fixing that is easy - I just dice up some green onion, scallion or other bright veggie and toss in.  It may not be perfectly normal - but it's delicious!

Chicken Taco Soup

2 Cans Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatos (14.5 oz ea)
1 can Muir Glen Organic Tomato Paste (8oz)
2 Cans diced Green Chiles
1 bag frozen corn
3 chicken breasts, skin off
1 packet taco seasoning

1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can pinto beans, rinsed

Fresh cilantro
Cheese
Sour Cream

Makes 8-10 1 cup servings

Toss first set of ingredients into crock-pot.  Leave on low for 6-8 hours.  Make sure chicken is covered with tomatoes, etc. 

Pull out chicken, shred with two forks.  Put back into crock pot.  Add beans at this point.  Return to crock-pot and warm for an hour or until ready to serve.

Serve w/ fresh chopped cilantro, shredded cheddar, and a dollop of sour cream.

Note - I used 2.5 of the chicken breasts in the soup and saved the other .5 for other random eating throughout the week.  NOM!

Tuesday, November 23

Breakfast:
AndreAnna's Fauxmeal
Greek Yogurt (FF)
Organic Frozen Berries

Lunch:
Chelsea Salad: Greenleaf & Romaine Lettuce, 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 carrot, 2 stalks celery, 7 black olives, handful sunflower seeds, 1 Tbsp Organic/GF Ranch Dressing
AndreAnna Savory Biscuit

Snack:
Handful cashew nuts (unsalted, raw)
Apple
Mandarin Orange

September 20, 2010

Breakfast:
Two eggs, scrambled, Johnny's Seasoning
Two bacon slices, oven cooked
One Honey Greek Yogurt.  (Had sugar, didn't realize. BOO!)

Lunch:
Specialty's Small Salad
Egg, Tomato, Carrot, Mushrooms, Feta, Chicken Breast, Avocado

Dinner:
Beef Stir-fry
Broccoli, celery, zucchini, lots of bell peppers, lots of garlic!