Shrimp and grits

I have discovered grits in the last few years.  I grew up "up north" and never even knew what grits were.  When I moved south as an adult, it reminded me of cream of wheat and looked bland and tasteless.  Thanks to my favorite show "Top Chef", I was encouraged to order the shrimp and grits on a menu. 

Thank goodness I did, because they are delicious.  So I finally made my own last week, and it was incredible. I had dinner on the table in less than 10 minutes, start to finish.  Incredible.

I had bought a bag of grits at the store months ago, and accidentally bought quick grits.  I know some of you purists would say that it doesn't count, but I don't know any better and it was nice that they cooked in 5 minutes.

I followed the directions on the grits bag, half milk/half broth and add a handful of grated cheese when it's cooked. 

The shrimp was easy, I cooked 6 pieces of bacon, then I removed and crumpled the bacon.  Into the grease in the pan I added a minced garlic clove and about 1/4 diced onion.  This cooked for a few minutes, then I threw in 3/4 lb jumbo shrimp (de-shelled/tail on).   After the shrimp cooked a few minutes and was almost done, I added about 1/8 C lemon juice and cooked that down a minute.  When the shrimp is done, add the bacon bits back into the pan and remove from heat.  You could hit this with some fresh herbs if you have any (parsley, chives...).

Serve the shrimp over the cheesy grits and I guarantee you'll love it!

What's For Dinner

I made a pot of soup the other day that was really delicious and was made from "stuff" laying around.  I'll list my "recipe" but I don't really expect anyone to follow it exactly.  The idea is, you put in what you have and use up all the bits and pieces from your freezer/fridge/pantry! I served it with a cornbread mix I got for free at Bi-Lo (I threw in a handful of cheddar cheese and it was quite tasty).

1 large carton chicken broth
1 can tomatoes
a few carrots
one onion
a stalk of celery
handful of Lima beans from freezer

half a can of corn
bay leaf
pinch of thyme
1 t salt
1 t McCormick Montreal seasoning (it needed something when it was done)

-Cook all these ingredients together 30-45 minutes, then add

1 can navy beans
12 meatballs from the freezer
handful of WW egg noodles

-simmer another 20 minutes

I could eat soup everyday, and the great thing is that it's pretty healthy if you make it right!!

Anniversary Eats

Well, tomorrow is our Fourth Anniversary.  We have developed a tradition of going to a Thai restaurant every year, because our first day in town (4 days after our wedding) this was the first thing we did.  But this year, I'm working until 7:00 and this is a little late for us to go out on a week night because Charles gets up so early.  So we'll go to The Lime Leaf Friday, and we're going to stay in Thursday. 

The 4th year is traditionally the year to give "fruits and vegetables".  Since we don't really get presents (at first we were too poor, now I'm too cheap) I decided to make an appetiser dinner with fruits and veggies as the center. I had originally planned something else, but decided to try some new recipes to make it a little more exciting.  All recipes need to be of the "make ahead" variety as well, which limits things. 

Here's what I came up with:                               

Annie's Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips (I'll buy the cinnamon chips)


Avocado Feta Salsa (Served on maybe bagel chips or crustini)



Ham roll ups (we need protein and I've got a ton of cream cheese)

I'll also put out a relish tray and some sort of nut mix.

What's for dinner?

I got a great deal on some beef at Bi Lo this week.  For $7.00 I got 4.5 pounds of beef.  One roast, one package of stew meat, and one steak looking thing that I didn't know what it was and cup into stew chunks!

So the 2.5 pounds of chunks went into the freezer (I'm thinking beef/barley soup and either stew or beef stroganoff) and the roast went into the crock pot.  I love how a small roast can provide our little family of 2 so many options.  One day, we'll eat it with a potato and a veggie as a roast beef meal.  Then We'll put it on a bun with chips and the broth and have a French Dip.  It can also go into tacos, enchiladas, omelette's, or a quick soup.  We eat on $4 roast for days and never have leftovers!

This roast I just threw in the crock pot with onions, beef broth, and a little Lipton's onion soup mix.  It'll be ready to go in 8-10 hours.  If I had mushrooms, I'd put those in there too, but we're out.


(I ended up buying some portabellas the next day, sauted them in Pam and then simmered in the juice)

This does change my menu plan a bit, but I can't ever stick to it at the end of the week anyway.  So here's the changes:  Thursday: french dips, Friday: Steakhouse omelet with feta rolls and a small salad, Saturday: beef tacos.