Hey ya'll! Notice anything different? That's right. I've decided to use my recent amount of increase in spare time for good use. As a lot of you know, I love to cook...more specifically, I love to entertain. In our culture, and in many others, food is that one thing that brings family and friends together for an extended amount of social time. Even the first century church ate together after every service!
Today we're making something fun...now I love shrimp...and I love garlic, so I wanted to make a shrimp scampi-like dish, but healthier.
So, here we go!
Fabulously delicious...and a MUCH healthier version.
Let's get started. What's you'll need:
+1 Package Whole Grain Pasta (I recommend Aldi's Fit&Active, $0.99 a box)
+1 Package Frozen Leaf Spinach (Usually on sale for $1, stock up!)
+6-8 Cloves of Garlic
+2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder, optional
+1 Bag of Frozen Pre-cooked, De-veined, and De-shelled Shrimp
+2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
+4 Tbsp. Butter Alternative (whatever is on sale)
+1/4 Cup of Skim Milk (eye-ball it)
Now onto the recipe...
1. Chop your garlic..and in the meantime, boil a large pot of water.
2. Open the box of spinach and thaw in under cold water. Do the same with your frozen shrimp.
3. Get yourself some good pots if you don't already have some. You don't have to go broke, but Wal*Mart is not the place to go. I recommend coated cast iron because it holds in the heat, and evenly distributes it, unlike stain-less steel which distributes the heat unevenly. Coated cast iron is already non-stick and doesn't chip off like its disgusting cousin called Teflon that as soon as it starts to chip or has cut marks needs to be thrown away or else it will start leaking cancer-causing carcinogens into your food. So, if you can't tell where I'm looking...get coated cast iron. I got mine from aldi between $25-35 a pot. I love the oval-shaped ones and braisers.
For this recipe, go ahead and put the burner on medium and get your pot hot.
4. Go ahead and put in the olive oil and butter. The olive oil will keep the butter from burning, and is better for you anyways.
How much do you spend on EVOO (Extra-Virgin Olive Oil). Our wonderful supermarkets love to make the price ridiculous when there is no reason for it to be. Let's take this brand for example:
You can get this brand of Olive Oil at World Market in Westport. It is a 1 Liter jar in dark green GLASS for only $6.99...that same 1 Liter jar at Hy-vee is in clear plastic (causes olive oil to spoil because of the bright lights in the stores) is sold at a wopping $20.00. Please do yourself a favor, and go down to World Market one time and stock up. Keep in a dark jar, or minimum keep it in the back of your pantry.
5. Throw in the chopped garlic. (btw...if you notice in this picture, I have a very uneven burner...while the cast iron will keep the heat even, it causes all the oil to run to one side. MUST BE FIXED.
6. Go back to your spinach, and it will look like this:
Go ahead and throw it into the pot and saute it for a bit.
7. By this time that boiling pot of water should be finished...go ahead and toss as much pasta in as you want. I used about one package full. I hate boxes, so I have large canisters that I keep all my pastas and rices in.
8. While that's boiling, go ahead and add in the shrimp to the pot.
Cook it until the shrimp is hot (or pink if you used raw shrimp), and add in that 1/4 cup of milk at the last minute. Do a taste test and add in more garlic powder if needed. You can adjust the milk based on whether you want more sauce or not. It basically is a simple milk, garlic, and butter sauce.
Throw the mixture over a bowl of whole wheat pasta, and bon apetit!
Today we're making something fun...now I love shrimp...and I love garlic, so I wanted to make a shrimp scampi-like dish, but healthier.
So, here we go!
Fabulously delicious...and a MUCH healthier version.
Let's get started. What's you'll need:
+1 Package Whole Grain Pasta (I recommend Aldi's Fit&Active, $0.99 a box)
+1 Package Frozen Leaf Spinach (Usually on sale for $1, stock up!)
+6-8 Cloves of Garlic
+2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder, optional
+1 Bag of Frozen Pre-cooked, De-veined, and De-shelled Shrimp
+2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
+4 Tbsp. Butter Alternative (whatever is on sale)
+1/4 Cup of Skim Milk (eye-ball it)
Now onto the recipe...
1. Chop your garlic..and in the meantime, boil a large pot of water.
2. Open the box of spinach and thaw in under cold water. Do the same with your frozen shrimp.
3. Get yourself some good pots if you don't already have some. You don't have to go broke, but Wal*Mart is not the place to go. I recommend coated cast iron because it holds in the heat, and evenly distributes it, unlike stain-less steel which distributes the heat unevenly. Coated cast iron is already non-stick and doesn't chip off like its disgusting cousin called Teflon that as soon as it starts to chip or has cut marks needs to be thrown away or else it will start leaking cancer-causing carcinogens into your food. So, if you can't tell where I'm looking...get coated cast iron. I got mine from aldi between $25-35 a pot. I love the oval-shaped ones and braisers.
For this recipe, go ahead and put the burner on medium and get your pot hot.
4. Go ahead and put in the olive oil and butter. The olive oil will keep the butter from burning, and is better for you anyways.
How much do you spend on EVOO (Extra-Virgin Olive Oil). Our wonderful supermarkets love to make the price ridiculous when there is no reason for it to be. Let's take this brand for example:
You can get this brand of Olive Oil at World Market in Westport. It is a 1 Liter jar in dark green GLASS for only $6.99...that same 1 Liter jar at Hy-vee is in clear plastic (causes olive oil to spoil because of the bright lights in the stores) is sold at a wopping $20.00. Please do yourself a favor, and go down to World Market one time and stock up. Keep in a dark jar, or minimum keep it in the back of your pantry.
5. Throw in the chopped garlic. (btw...if you notice in this picture, I have a very uneven burner...while the cast iron will keep the heat even, it causes all the oil to run to one side. MUST BE FIXED.
6. Go back to your spinach, and it will look like this:
Go ahead and throw it into the pot and saute it for a bit.
7. By this time that boiling pot of water should be finished...go ahead and toss as much pasta in as you want. I used about one package full. I hate boxes, so I have large canisters that I keep all my pastas and rices in.
8. While that's boiling, go ahead and add in the shrimp to the pot.
Cook it until the shrimp is hot (or pink if you used raw shrimp), and add in that 1/4 cup of milk at the last minute. Do a taste test and add in more garlic powder if needed. You can adjust the milk based on whether you want more sauce or not. It basically is a simple milk, garlic, and butter sauce.
Throw the mixture over a bowl of whole wheat pasta, and bon apetit!