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

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.

Canning: Squash Relish

When my in-laws were visiting, we went on a canning spree! Canned things from pickles, to jams, to pickled watermelon rhines! This week I'll show you what and how we made them!

SQUASH RELISH

Click HERE for printable recipe

8 unpeeled yellow squash
4 pickling sized cucumbers
3 large red bell pepper
1 white onion
1 red onion

Diced everything into small pieces. My pampered chef chopper is perfect for this! You can also make them in larger pieces if that is what you like. I use relish in my tuna and such, so the smaller the bits the better.

Put them in a bowl and let them get to know each other for about an hour.

2 cups white vinegar
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground celery seed
2 teaspoons ground mustard seeds

Bring these 4 ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan for 5 minutes. Add squash mixture and bring back up to a boil, and let simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.

After the boiling, pour mixture into sterilized pint jars and top it off with juice, keeping about 1/2 inch head. Seal them with sterilized lids.

This recipe will make about 5 pints. We doubled the recipe, and in a large stockpot--took a little more time to heat up and such, but well worth the little extra effort...especially since it was all homegrown and we had an excess of veggies! We made 11 pints with it.

Let these jars boil for about 7 min minutes. Turn off heat and let them sit for 5 minutes. Remove them and let them cool overnight (24 hours), and keep listening for the "pop" sound. Check the next day to make sure they sealed. If they didn't, refrigerate and use within a week, or process them again. These have a shelf life of over a year when sealed--but they never last that long around here.

Click HERE for printable recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sealing and preserving the jars
click HERE for printable

I'm no professional, and I don't have professional or fancy appliances. So this is how you can do it as well if you don't have any of those fancy pressure cookers and such.

LARGE stockpot. My husband used a pot he uses to make his beer with. The pot needs to be deep enough to cover the jars by at least 1 inch.
Canning basket. This is really cheap and can be found at the majority of grocery and retail stores. Its a little basket with "feet" and a handle--put a few jars in and lower into the water. It keeps them from touching the bottom of the pan and easy to remove from water. If you only get 1 thing, get this--its worth it.
Sterilizing jars. Send your jars through the dishwasher the same day you are canning. Make sure you set the "sterilizing" setting on. Leave them in there until you are ready to pour into them. If you leave them overnight and do the canning the next day, sterilize them again. This is to prevent any germ or yeast that might have gotten in over night. You can also boil them for a few minutes in boiling water. Dishwasher is easier for a larger quantity of jars.
Sterilizing the lids. Place all of them into boiling water and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. You can keep these in the water until ready to use.

Now, to seal the jars. Heat a pot large enough to cover jars you are using by 1 to 2 inches. The jars also shouldn't be touching the bottom, so use canning basket or wire rack that will fit. They only need to be off the bottom by 1/2 inch. Bring the water to a boil, and you are ready. Place jars in water, start timer. Leave in as directions say. When time is up, turn off the heat and leave in water for 5 minutes. Remove, carefully, and let them sit for a good 24 hours. Check seal--if it didn't seal, you can process them again or refrigerate up to 1 week.

These tips come from my own personal experience. I am by no means a professional, nor do I claim to be. Proceed at your own risk.

click HERE for printable

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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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)

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.cookinformycaptain.blogspot.com" title="Cookin' for my Captain"><img src="http://x00.xanga.com/edcf956300333276855046/t220581120.jpg" alt="Cookin' for my Captain" style="border:none;" /></a></div>