Pesto Shrimp & Squash Fettuccine [P]

This recipe is directly from Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo

PESTO SHRIMP & SQUASH FETTUCCINE

2 dozen large shrimp
4 zucchini or yellow squash [I used 7 zucchini for family of 4]
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Pesto:
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1 bunch cilantro, rinsed
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

• Make the pesto first. Combine the macadamia nuts, cilantro, garlic, EVOO, sea salt and pepper in a food processor, and blend until smooth.
• Peel and devein the shrimp.
• Place a steamer basket in a large sauce pot, and boil about an inch of water. While the water is heating, run a julienne or regular vegetable peeler along each of the squash until you reach the venter, seedy part. Steam the squash for about 3-5 minutes Set the steamed squash "noodles" aside.
• Steam the shrimp for approximately 3 minutes or until they're pink all the way through.
• Place the steamed squash into a mixing bowl with the pesto and toss until well combined.
• Top the noodles with the shrimp and serve warm.

This recipe is directly from Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo

St Patrick's Day Food Ideas

Here are a few ideas of "green foods" that would be great for St Patty's Day!

  

  

  

  

  

  

Roasted Vegetables

Discovered this "new" way to cook veggies, and its been a huge hit for the family! The picture is of carrots, but you can use zucchini, squash or whatever your heart desires.

ROASTED VEGETABLES

Veggies of your choice [carrots, zucchini, squash...]
Olive oil
Seasoning [use can use any mixtures: salt & pepper, thyme, rosemary, sage, paprika, cumin...] I used salt, thyme and rosemary

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Cut veggie into even wedges (almost impossible, picture proves that) and toss with olive oil.
• Lay out on lightly greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with choice seasoning.
• Roast in middle rack for about 20 minutes, tossing half way, or until lightly browned on edges.

Greek Vegetables

Do you recognize these veggies? I served them with my Grilled Lamb with Brown Sugar Glaze that was posted yesterday. This is an excellent side to any dish. You can use basically any vegetable in the mix to cater to your likeness!

GREEK VEGETABLES

1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 orange pepper, sliced
1/2 bundles asparagus, trimmed and sliced
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon fried oregano

• Preheat over to 375 degrees F.
• After slicing all the vegetables, toss with olive oil. Split the batch into 2 different bowls.
• In one bowl, toss vegetables with rosemary. In the other bowl, with oregano.
• Then place the vegetables in a roasting pan.
• Roast in the over for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.
• Place vegetables in a bowl and sprinkle feta cheese over top. Serve warm.

Zucchini Bread

As the summer vegetables are going out of season and fall ones are coming in, I often look for ways to preserve those delicious veggies to use year around. I've shown ya'll how to freeze parsley already, and now I'll show you how to save your zucchini.

I went to the farmer's market and got about 9 medium sized zucchini for $1. They were a little beat up and not that pretty, so I wouldn't use them for sides that required them to be "pretty." But I've made some zucchini bread that is to die for, seriously, and it used the zucchini bread shredded up. You can also use shredded zucchini in other dishes (if you have a picky eater) to hide the veggie .

Anyway, It comes down to this: shred the zucchini up, and freeze. I got about 16 cups of shredded zucchini from my lot at the farmers market. Most recipes call for 2 or 4 cups shredded zucchini, so freeze them in those amounts. Most of my bags were 2 cup quantities, and 1 of them was a 4-cup quantity. Kinda think about what you want to use it for, and freeze accordingly.

And here is the amazing zucchini recipe I mentioned above. You can also make the bread and then freeze the loafs as well. I don't have a good picture of the bread, mainly because it didn't last long enough to grab my camera. Yup, its that good.

Zucchini Bread
click HERE for printable recipe
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup crisco oil
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven at 325 degrees F.

Slightly beat the eggs. Add sugar and crisco. Beat well. Add shredded zucchini and vanilla.

In a different medium bowl, mix flour baking soda and baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Mix both mixtures together and add the pecans.

Grease 2 loaf pans and evenly divide mixture. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hours. Remove from oven and let them cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and enjoy!

click HERE for printable recipe

Chicken Stir-fry

This is a really simple "semi-homemade" meal. Don't leave out the cabbage--it really hold all the flavors together and one of those "extra" veggies that kids won't normally eat. My kids had NO idea!

CHICKEN STIR-FRY

1 head of cabbage, shredded
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 orange bell pepper, sliced
1 can baby corn (I cut mine in half to make them more bite sized)
1 small can water chestnuts
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
3 large chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup stir-fry sauce 
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
canola oil for frying
2 tablespoons peanuts, chopped

Prepare all the vegetables and mix in a large bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in large cast-iron skillet over med-high heat. Put half of the veggies in pan and fry up for 3 minutes, or until tender. Remove and keep warm. Place remaining veggies in pan and cook the same way--adding more oil if needed. Remove and keep warm with the rest.

Add chicken until brown on all sides, about 5 to 6 minutes each side, and cooked through.

Push chicken to edges and add stir-fry sauce and ginger to middle of pan. Let it get bubbly (less than 1 minute) and stir chicken in. Pour the whole bowl of vegetables in pan and stir and cook until all heated through.

Top with chopped peanuts.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

  

PMM #2: Grilled Catfish

There has been cases of thievery in the blog world. Start adding watermarks to your images (if you haven't already)! 733 Blog gives a very easy tutorial on how to if you don't know.
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[Got that image from HERE]

This is me and my husband 8 years ago. Thats my Hero.

Getting his commissioning (pinning him) after college.

My, have times changed us.

This was from our Ball last year

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Ok, so the linky site is supposed to be paid for after your trial is over. And I'm too cheap to pay for it. I know, maybe some other time I will. So I'm still going to have my "Penny-Meal Mondays" and if you have one you would like to share, link it up in a comment. Thanks for understanding my friends!

And, of course, this week's "Penny-Meal" isn't really things I have on hand. Its more planned, but very cheap.

GRILLED CATFISH

6 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
4 catfish fillets 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 lemon, sliced into rings

In a large Ziploc, combine lemon juice, butter and Worcestershire sauce. Add the fish; seal a refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Drain and discard marinade. Sprinkle fish with salt and lemon-pepper.

Spray the grill with cooking oil. Grill fish, covered, over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily. [Cook with lemon slices on top of fish]


Serve with:

LEMON-PEPPER SQUASH & ZUCCHINI

1 large squash, cut into rings 
2 large zucchinis, cut into rings
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 to 2 teaspoons lemon-pepper seasoning

In a large bowl, toss squash and zucchini in butter and sprinkle lemon-pepper seasoning over top.

Grill, at the same time as fish, for 10 minutes or until soft, with lemon slices [from fish] mixed in.

Serve everything over white rice!


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COST: Catfish fillets: $4.75; squash & zucchini: $1.00 (summer sale!); Rice: "free"--whatever in pantry
TOTAL: $5.75 for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children)

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