Recipes

Shrimp Linguine Fra Diavolo {recipe}

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Call it Shrimp Fra Diavolo, as the Italians say, or simply spicy shrimp with tomatoes and onions in a garlic wine sauce.  Either way, this easy pasta dish is one to add to your recipe repertoire, pronto.

Spicy Shrimp Fra Diavolo Linguine

When it comes to pasta, I’m usually a marinara kind of gal.  I find cream sauces heavy and overly rich and oil based sauces often taste bland and greasy.  This fra diavolo sauce is the perfect middle ground—light, yet flavorful, with a kick of heat from the red pepper flakes.  Two bites into our pasta Saturday night, Jarrod and I agreed we’d be making it regularly.  That’s when you know you have a good recipe on your hands!

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Recipes

Szechwan Shrimp

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Whelp, I haven’t been doing much blogging lately BUT I have been doing a decent amount of cooking!  Time to play catch up!

Three things that I look for in any good recipe:

  1. Easy.
  2. Healthy.
  3. Onions.

ok… The recipe just has to be friggin delicious (usually that comes with the addition of some onions, but not always).

This recipe for Szechwan Shrimp has been a favorite of mine for a couple years now, simply because it meets my three criteria (even the onions!).  Even though it has lots of ingredients, most of them are things I always have on hand.  Can’t complain about that!

First up, I mix up the sauce ingredients in a small bowl:

  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp ketchup
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp honey
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil

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Then I sprayed down a skillet, heated it over medium heat, and added 1 large sliced green onion and one clove minced garlic.  I let these sauté for a bit, then added 3 large raw shrimp:

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Once the shrimp was cooked through I added the sauce and used a rubber spatula to combine. 

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I let the mixture heat up until it started to bubble and thicken and then tossed on top of 1 serving of brown rice.  I also added some steamed oriental veggies and a Chung’s veggie spring roll:

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So pretty!

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So delicious…

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Recipes

Shrimp & Bean Tostado

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YOWZA!  Delicious dinner alert!  In my continued effort to use of more of the leftovers from last night’s dinner, I decided to make a tostado for dinner.  A Tostado is an “open-face” enchilada that you can order at pretty much any Mexican restaurant.  The base for the tostado is a flat hard-shelled taco shell, and it is topped with a variety amazing traditional mexican ingredients. 

First thing first, I need to crisp up my tortilla.  I sprayed a little cake pan with some cooking spray, and then tossed a Mama Lupe low carb tortilla into the pan.  I rubbed the tortilla around in the cooking spray on both sides, then popped into a 415 degree oven.  I cooked the tortilla for about 6 minutes, flipping halfway through. 

Mama Lupe gone crispy:

Meanwhile, I got to work on the shrimpies.  I sprayed a saute pan with cooking spray, seasoned both sides of the shrimp with McCormick’s Mexican blend seasoning, Cayenne pepper, and some black pepper.  Then I tossed them into the pan with a few drizzles of lime juice, and cooked them until opaque.

Next I heated up a 1/4 cup of Old El Paso Fat-Free Refried Beans in the microwave and smeared them on top of the crispy tortilla. 

Come to mama… Mama Lupe that is 😉

I also heated up some of the leftover grilled veggies from last night’s dinner (this was approximately 1/4 cup red onion, 1/4 of a green pepper, and 1/4 cup zucchini).  Once heated, I added the chopped up shrimp and about 1 tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro and gave it a good mix. 

Poured the veggies and shrimp onto the bean loaded tortilla and topped with 1 Sargento Light Mozzarella string cheese that I had cut into sticks:

Into a 415 degree oven for 5 minutes until the cheese was nice and melty… Try not to drool on your keyboard 😉

Ohhhhh yes.

But that’s not all! 

I topped the tostado off with some shredded lettuce, 1/4 chopped red onion, 1/2 a plum tomato, a few banana peppers, and 2 tbsp fat-free breakstones sour cream. 

Yeah that’s right.

Check me out:

Soooooo f.r.i.g.g.i.n. delicious…

The entire time I was eating this I kept thinking “why does this taste SOOOO good?”  

A.)  Cilantro

B.)  Spicy Shrimp

C.)  Beans?? 

D.) VEGGIES GALORE??!?!?

Nope.. It’s actually E.)  All of the above! 😀

Stats on dinner:  323 calories, 36g carbs, 6g fat, 29g protein, 10g fiber

  

Time to get my pack on for the HLS!!!  Anyone have tips for packing light??  I’m trying to avoid checked luggage fees at ALL costs…

 

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What I ate

A whole day of FOOD

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Guess who forgot her camera cord at home today???  That’s right, one fervent-frazzled-foodie 😀

That’s ok, now I get to take my time with this lovely Thursday post, rather than rushing through a lunch-time blog session!

Today should have marked Day #1, Week #6 of my interval training plan… But unfortunately during my run in Charlotte Tuesday morning I started to have some knee pain 🙁

I haven’t had any problems throughout my entire interval plan.  I think the pain was probably caused by having to run on the sidewalks in the city in combination with the TON of walking we did on vacation. 

When I woke up this morning, I was still feeling a little pain in my knee.  I think I’m going to forgo running outside for a week before attempting to pick up on my intervals again.  Hopefully that will be sufficient time for me to get right back on track.  Until then, I’ll stick to the low-impact elliptical. 

Can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already!  Love short workweeks–even if it has been a hectic one.  You can always gauge my level of overwhelmsion at work by the cleanliness of my desk.  Case in point, today  my desk looked like it might try to swallow me whole at any moment:

Breakfast #1

Leftover’s from the scramble I made Tuesday night:

This was tasty, but I was really craving some eggins with turkey sausage.  Think I’ll have to pull some of my Jennie O’s out of the freezer tonight!

Stats on B#1:  141 calories, 13g carbs, 1g fat, 19g protein, 3g fiber

Breakfast #2

Long-awaited return of OVERNIGHT OATS!  Missed these guys so much on vacation!  I actually contemplated packing OO supplies to take on  my vacation, but once I saw the exorbitant amount of food I packed I decided against it.  I also nixed bringing the immersion blender and almond milk to make smoothies… haha 🙂

Last night, I mixed up:

  • 1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • sprinkling of cinnamon

This morning, I topped the overnight oats with fresh strawberries and blueberries:

GLORIOUS!

Speaking of overnight oats, I get a whole lot  of questions on how to make these.  If you’re intrigued, check out my Overnight Oats Addition to the Foodie Q&A Page.  Also check out the recipe page for some ideas on what to put in your overnight oats!

Stats on B#2:  200 calories, 36g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

While making last night’s dinner, I threw and extra chicken breast on the grill for my lunch today.  I was feeling a little saucy 😉 so I decided to make up some healthified buffalo chicken.

This time, I used the following:

Lucky for me, this mixture made enough for 2 wraps so I saved the other half for tomorrow.  I put the buffalo chicken on a Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla:

Then topped with some tomato and onion:

I was super excited for lunch ALL day today… couldn’t wait to devour this spicy treat.

Last time I made this buffalo chicken salad, I used a lot less sauce.  I think I prefer it extra saucy 🙂

On the side, I had a jumbo salad with romaine, tomato, onion, banana pepper, green pepper, and 2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse lite Italian Romano dressing:

Stats on Wrap & Salad:  302 calories, 34g carbs, 9g fat, 28g protein, 10g fiber

Dinner

While trying to decide what to make for dinner, I came across a bag of calabacita veggies in the freezer:

This reminded me of my shrimp quesadillas, which sounded likes a fabulous idea for dinner. 

Here’s what went into the quesadillas:

First I carefully sliced a Joseph’s low-carb tortilla in half, then I topped it with a quarter of the bag of steamed calabacita veggies, a thinly sliced light mini baybel cheese round, and three large grilled shrimp that I had seasoned with lime juice, S&P, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes:

I put the other half of the pita on top of my masterpiece and grilled on the george foreman for 4 minutes until the cheese was melty and the pita was crispy.  Then I topped with 2 tbsp Breakstone’s Fat Free sour cream, 1/2 a plum tomato, 1/4 cup red onion, and some banana peppers:

I love it when a meal is healthy and tastes AMAZING like this one did.  Look how yummy:

On the side, I had 1 cup each of roasted broccoli and cauliflower:

These veggies were seasoned with Black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder.  I placed them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and gave them a good toss before roasting in a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Y-U-M.

Next time I make quesadillas I think I’ll sub in some pinto beans for the shrimp and make a vegetarian quesadilla with TONS and TONS of veggies…. mmm can’t wait! 🙂

Stats on the quesadilla & fixins:  296 calories, 34g carbs, 6g fat, 24g protein, 69g fiber

Stats on the roasted veggies:  55 calories, 11g carbs, 0g fat, 4g protein, 5g fiber

All together now:  351 calories, 45g carbs, 6g fat, 30g protein, 11g fiber

Late-Night Snack

Post-dinner snack tonight was a delicious fruit smoothie.  I put the following into the blender:

  • 1/4 cup plain Stonyfield Farms Fat-Free Yogurt
  • 1/4 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1 packet truvia
  • 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 cup spinach
  • 1/4 cup frozen blackberries
  • 1/2 cup ice cubes

 Blueberry bliss:

How can healthy foods taste so darn good??  Still baffles me!

All together now:  101 calories, 23g carbs, 1g fat, 6g protein, 5g fiber

Special Surprise

As you may recall, the BF was out of the country for work on my birthday, and the day after he returned, we headed to Charlotte/Charleston.  On vacation, he told me my present was “too big” to bring to Charleston, so I’d have to wait til we got home.  He also expressed some worries that I wasn’t going to like the gift…  Uh oh…  😯  

All I really wanted for my birthday was a night out in Charleston and a cupcake — (which I got several times over on vaca!), so I wasn’t too worried about the gift.

Last night was THE NIGHT.  I sat down with two nicely wrapped presents.  I was super excited to open them, albeit slightly apprehensive.

Here’s what was in the packages:

If you are like me, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’d use two travel guides to New Orleans for.  Maybe you are quicker at gathering the facts than me…. but for those who aren’t:  WE’RE GOING TO NEW ORLEANS IN OCTOBER!!!!  How awesome is that?!?!?  Flights and hotel are already booked!  Now all I have to do is research all the best places to eat 😀

 

QUESTION:  What’s the best surprise and/or birthday present you have ever received?

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Ramblings

Early b-day dinner with the moms

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The older I get, the cooler and cooler my mom becomes.

Let me clarify – my mom has always been cool, and I’ve always known that fact, but I feel the older I get the more and more I appreciate what a cool lady she actually is.  Why is it some things can only be appreciated with age?  Fine wine, gourmet cheeses, black coffee… 

My birthday is coming up, so in honor of that momentous occasion I thought it would be fun to have dinner with my mom and my friend Tracy tonight.  Mom suggested she make her paella — which is one of the dishes she used to make when I lived at home and that I always really really liked. 

Paella is a Spanish rice dish that includes sausage, chicken, and shrimp.  Reminds me of the jambalaya I made a few weeks back.  You just know any dish that includes three types of meat is going to be amazing.

One GIANT paella:

One birthday cannoli  😀 

Ninni’s Bakery makes THE best cannolis, Italian cookies, and lemon ice.  Hands down.

Super excited to have the leftover cannoli with my morning coffee tomorrow 🙂

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