Italian Shrimp

I've become a bit obsessed with everything coconut oil these days. I supposed I've jumped on the coconut oil bandwagon, and for once, I'm proud of following a trend. Coconut oil is amazing. More on that later. I saw a recipe pinned on pinterest for this delicious sounding shrimp. Where the source came from, I will never know, since the pin doesn't actually lead you to a recipe, just a blog with a bunch of pictures.

I modified the recipe a little and John proclaimed this to be the best shrimp he's ever had, just like the pinned claimed it would be. Note: he didn't know this was supposed to be the best shrimp ever! :)

Image found here

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp
1/2-1 cup coconut oil (the actual recipe calls for butter)
1 lemon
Italian seasoning

Directions:
Melt coconut oil/butter on a foiled line cookie sheet.
Thinly slice the lemon and place slices on top of the melted butter.
Place shrimp on top of the lemon slices and sprinkle with Italian seasoning to your liking. I used a generous amount. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 

We mixed the shrimp into some leftover fried rice, and it was pretty darn good. This will definitely be a recipe we will recycle over and over again. I'm convinced the coconut oil is what made it SO good, but, you can never go wrong with something soaked in actual butter, either!

Gourmet Shrimp Fettuccine

2 T olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1/4 c. thinly sliced celery
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 T. parsley (optional)
1 can cream of celery or mushroom soup
1 jar artichoke hearts - well drained (optional) or
1 c. sauteed mushrooms (optional)
1/2 c. cream
2 T. lemon juice
3 T. butter
1 pound of uncooked shrimp, peeled
1 pound of fettuccine or linguine
1 tsp. oil
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, saute garlic, onion and celery in olive oil until onion is translucent.  Add seasonings, stir to blend.  Put these ingredients into a saucepan.  Add soup, cream and lemon juice to saucepan.  Cook fettuccine in a large pan with 1 tsp. oil and 1 tsp. salt. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in the same pan that the herbs were in, saute shrimp until no longer pink.  Drain fettuccine, place into a serving dish.  Add 1/2 Parmesan cheese to the sauce.  Stir the shrimp into the sauce.  Pour over pasta and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.

*I always cut the onion and celery the night before.
*If you're using cooked shrimp, barely warm the shrimp in the sauce.

Veggie Casserole

I've become so lazy in my dinner making these days. Not because I don't want to cook, but I haven't had anyone to cook for for the last few weeks, and when I go weeks without doing something, I loose motivation.

I was trying to come up with a good dinner on Sunday, but laziness took over, so I decided to just go with this super simple sounding meal that would use up my polish sausage that I had sitting in the fridge. I don't think it was just me being super hungry, when things usually taste more delicious than they really are, but it really was just that, a super delicious, and easy, meal!

Picture found here

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
2 sausages, any kind any flavor
1-2 potatoes
1/2 pound carrots
1/2 bell pepper (I didn't have one, and used celery instead)
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves


Dressing:
2 tbsp oil
freshly cracked black pepper
1 1/2 tsp Italian herbs
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Dice all of the veggie and toss into a big baking dish, don't add the sausage. Mix the dressing together (only use two tbsp of balsamic vinegar) and pour over the veggies to coat cover with foil. Bake for 40-50 minutes covered, until fork tender. Meanwhile, while veggies are cooking, brown sausage and cut into 1/2 inch slices, don't worry about the sausage being cooked all of the way through, it will cook more in the oven. Once veggies have cooked and are tender, remove the foil and add the browned sausage. Pour the remaining two tbsp of balsamic vinegar on top, and mix. Cook for  an additional 15-25 minutes uncovered.