Balsamic Shrimp Salad

This salad is very quick and easy to prepare. It is also light and refreshing, great for a spring or summer evening meal. I love balsamic vinegar and the sweet, tangy flavor it adds to recipes. For nutritional info about shrimp, check out my boiled shrimp post.

Balsamic Shrimp Salad

3 tbsp olive oil
2 lb raw shrimp, peeled
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
green leaf lettuce
cherry tomatoes

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add shrimp and cook until pink, about 6-7 minutes. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Serve over lettuce. Drizzle balsamic dressing over the salad. This will serve 4.

Balsamic Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic glaze (I used Gia Russa)
1/4 cup Newman's Olive Oil & Vinegar Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 balsamic vinegar
Shake together and serve over salad.

Heat shrimp, stirring until pink. Some will begin to turn pink immediately, as you can see in this picture. Pour vinegar over the shrimp and stir after they are done.

Spoon the shrimp onto lettuce and add cherry tomatoes, or whatever you like on a salad. I had some leftover steamed green beans that were still crisp-tender. I cut them into about 1-1/2 inch pieces and served them on the salad. It was a nice extra touch. Drizzle dressing over the top.

Fabulous.

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

I adapted a recipe for banana cake into these very tasty muffins.
They are a favorite of Amby and Zac. I hope you like them!

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
2 medium bananas, mashed
3/4 cup semi sweet morsels
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine dry (the 1st four) ingredients and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat with dry ingredients. Add banana, morsels, and nuts. Spoon into a greased or paper lined muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Open Up Your Kitchen Cabinets

Before we moved into our house, the kitchen had dark, heavy, dated-looking cabinets. So we had them painted a creamy white, which really helped to make the kitchen feel lighter and more cheery. We also decided to remove some of the cabinet doors to give a different feel to the kitchen. Gil removed the doors and hinges, and I now use the open areas to store and display some of my favorite pieces.

This is the area above my sink:

It ended up looking like it had always been that way.

I have collected antique pieces and have other favorites which are perfect to display in an open cabinet:

This is a large cabinet that is above my desk. I keep pieces that I use often in it because it is easy to access.

This type of storage can also become a form of decorating. If you have interesting and colorful serving pieces, this is an excellent way to display them.

So, if your kitchen needs a facelift, a cost-effective solution is a coat of paint and a few less cabinet doors.

Vegetable Soup

I use eight different vegetables in this soup, most of them fresh. You could adjust this to include other vegetables that you may like and just use the same base. I like for it to be very colorful and very hearty. This makes a huge pot, which is great for company, as well as for leftovers.

Vegetable Soup

1 lb ground chuck, browned and drained
2 cartons Swanson chicken broth
2-3 yellow squash, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
2/4 cup chopped carrots
fresh green beans, cut into small pieces
1 small cabbage, chopped
1 can field peas
1 can chopped tomatoes (I use petite diced)
1/2 bag frozen white shoepeg corn
1/2 cup barley
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano

Combine all ingredients in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Chop your vegetables into desired size pieces:

Simmer until vegetables are tender. I like mine a little crisp-tender, so I don't cook it for more than about 30 minutes.

This soup is low in calories and off the charts in nutrition, so I believe that totally justifies a cornbread muffin.

(Note: If you ever need to refer to a recipe I have previously posted, go to the navbar at the top of my blog and type it in the box that says "search blog", and it will pull it up).

Strawberry Cupcakes and the Pink Party

This recipe comes from Bay Leaves, which is one of my favorite cookbooks. It is actually a recipe for cake, but I made it into cupcakes for a special party we had at work. One of our secretaries, Marsha, just finished her last chemo treatment and we wanted to celebrate that with her. So, we had a "Pink Party" (invented by Erica Lumpkin, RN, MSN). This is based on the color for breast cancer awareness. I decided that strawberry cupcakes would be delicious, as well as meet the pink requirement. I made pink cancer awareness ribbons out of fondant and put one on each cupcake. (Instructions will follow)

Strawberry Cake

1 pkg white cake mix
1 3-ounce pkg strawberry jello
3 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs
1 10-ounce package frozen strawberries (5 ounces for cake, 5 ounces for icing)
1 box confectioners' sugar (have more on hand, if needed)
1/2 stick butter, softened

Combine cake mix, flour, jello, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add oil and water. Beat well. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in 5 ounces of mashed strawberries. Pour into greased and floured cake pans or paper-lined muffin cups. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes for cake and 20 minutes for cupcakes. Allow to cool completely. Frost with icing.

For Icing: Combine confectioners' sugar, butter, and remaining strawberries. Beat well, until blended. Add more sugar to achieve desired thickness. Frost cake.

Yield: about 30 cupcakes

Fill paper liners about 3/4 full with cake batter. Bake and frost with icing.

To make ribbons, roll fondant out into a thin layer:

Cut into thin strips with a sharp knife:

Shape into ribbons and trim ends with scissors:

This is how they turned out. Very pink.

 

It was a fun party and a really good reason to celebrate.

We love you, Marsha, and we are so happy that you are doing well!

Uncommon Box Lunches

My husband was going to host a meeting that would include lunch, so he asked me to make box lunches for it. I like to use a "gable" type box for this, and my favorite place to get them is Paper Works. For those of you who live in Birmingham, the address is: 3700 1st Avenue North. They have a great selection of party goods, wrapping paper, ribbon, etc. They had so many boxes to choose from that it took me about 15 minutes to decide what I liked best. I bought two colors of raffia to match, which they sell by the yard and by the bolt. When the outside packaging is unique, it builds the anticipation and expectation for whatever the inside holds in store. And that just makes it fun.

I decided on homemade chicken salad sandwiches, which can be prepared the day before. Sometimes I make homemade bread for these, but this time I chose a kaiser roll from the bakery at Publix. I bought large bags of chips and divided them up into ziplock bags. I also bought grapes and bagged them up. The directions for the brownies I included are in my previous post.

After I filled the boxes, I tied them with the matching raffia. I usually personalize each one with the individual's name, but this time, I didn't know everyone's names. Sorry, Randy.

The pretty fruit on them is what inspired me to include the grapes.
So, if you are having a meeting, a picnic, or just want to do a special meal for someone, try packing a lunch!