Tag: Shrimp

Weekending: Making Sausage & Pasta

6 Comments

Good morning! Another weekend, come and gone- how come they go by so quickly?! This past weekend was a real treat on the food front- too good not to share!

Weekending….

I had an apt in the city after work and after that I met RM for a drink and some snacks, but not before enjoying my “to go” wine from my waxer:

IMG_4263

When I met up with RM, we ended up going to Nix’s Mate- I enjoyed a rose bubbly, he had a delicious beer and we ended up getting some oysters and shrimp since they were only $1 each!

IMG_4265

To help with my Box FIIT certification, I’m trying to get to more Box FIIT classes so I hit one up on Saturday morning. It wasn’t as hard as George’s, but it was still a great workout and I seriously cannot wait until I can start teaching my own classes!!

IMG_4267 IMG_4268

I hadn’t seen my sister in almost 3 weeks so after class I met up with her and our other friend Amy for manicures in Southie. Amy and I ended up getting the same color and I love it!!

IMG_4270

The rest of the Saturday was spent at our friends Jessi and Chuck’s apartment doing all sorts of cooking. RM and I went to the north end and picked up the sausage and then headed over to their place to get cooking.

IMG_0427IMG_0432

We opted for 8 pounds of meat which ended up yielding about 35 decent sized sausages. RM also had the butcher grind it and season it (2 ounces of salt per 10 pounds of meat) to help save time. We decided to do 2 different kinds: regular and garlic/parsley/parmesan and I don’t know which one I liked more! The whole event was so smooth and seamless- we were all pleasantly surprised by how easy it was! In just a few hours we had loads of sausages to enjoy.

IMG_4272 IMG_4273 IMG_4274

And, if that wasn’t enough, Jessi and Chuck broke out their recipe for homemade pasta and sauce- umm hello deliciousness! Making pasta with the Kitchen Aid attachment was SO easy- RM was ready to go out and buy the adapter yesterday!

IMG_4279 IMG_4275 IMG_4276

Between the homemade sausage, which cooked in the homemade sauce and the homemade pasta, the meal was pretty freaking amazing!!

IMG_4277

We also played games and drank lots of vino while we waited for everything to cook. It was seriously one of the best Saturday afternoons we’ve had in a while… even though we were so exhausted by the end that we went to bed at 9:45 haha

Sunday started out with being up nice and early thanks to our early bed time so we ended up going back to the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown for breakfast. Our breakfast looked very similar to how it did the last time we went there, only difference was that RM got an omelet this time.

IMG_3945

I love being up and out early- getting to Whole Foods at 9:15am on a Sunday was such a nice treat! Besides Whole Foods, I went to Target, cleaned the house and then RM and I went to LensCrafters to get new glasses. Since I still love my current glasses, I opted to go for an entirely different style so I can rotate between the two. I’ll show you a picture once we go pick them up. Later that day we went to visit his mom since she just got home from vacation. We had pizza and salad and it was perfect!

And that about does it! How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun or different? Did you get in any good workouts? Do you like boxing workouts? What’s your favorite breakfast item to order? Have you ever made sausage or pasta? What do you have going on this week?

Ok, I really need a grill…

6 Comments

Yeah, I mean, this meal came out SO good, but I think it would have totally topped the charts had I been able to cook it on a grill. Next gym paychecks go to: buying a grill! I don’t know how we survived all of last spring/summer/fall sans a grill, but I know that I won’t be able to do that this year. Maybe I can get my dad to go shopping with me for one (hint, hint).

Anyway, before I get into the details of the meal I made on Tuesday night, let’s chat about how much I have learned to LOVE Tuesday’s. Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching so much and love my current schedule of Monday’s, Wednesday’s, Thursday’s (double) and every other Saturday, but there is really nothing like the feeling I have all day on Tuesday knowing that I can go home right after work.  I also like that I have the option of working out or taking a rest day, pending on what I have going on after work, what my week of workouts looks like, and how I am feeling physically. The nice weather makes me want to work out more (ie: go running, walking, anything outside), so on Tuesday I got home relatively early (6:15- that never happens) and decided that I could squeeze in a quick 30 minute workout, focusing mostly on strength and core. 32 minutes later, I was done, ready for a shower, glass of wine and a meal I had planned out in my head since Sunday, so let’s get to it, right?!

———–

We New Englanders are finally experiencing the spring weather we have been waiting for since, oh, the past couple of months.  Along with the warmer, sunnier weather comes my craving for all things associated with grilling and BBQ’ing, so I decided to take one of my favorite grilling meals and make it in my oven.  And, you know what? It came out WAY better than I had hoped it would. I marinated the chicken overnight and I cannot describe in words how flavorful it was.  The shrimp was just OK, but the veggies, especially the mushrooms, more than made up for it. And, what’s not to love about corn on the cob and baked sweet potatoes?!

Chicken, Shrimp & Veggie Kabobs

For the chicken marinade:

  • 4 chicken breast tenders
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • ~1/4-1/3 cup white wine
  • ~1 tsp. ground pepper
  • ~1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • Few heavy shakes of Mrs. Dash

Veggies:

I cut up peppers, onion, zucchini, summer squash and mushrooms.  I didn’t measure, but I eye-balled about how many I thought I would need to make the skewers figuring there was really no right or wrong with how many I used.

Directions

1. Create the lemon-pepper marinade the night before and let the chicken sit in it for about 24 hours to get that really delicious lemon-pepper taste.

0292. The next day, when you’re ready to make the meal, pour yourself a glass of vino, get your apron on, and get to work!

027

3. Pre-heat your oven to 375*, wrap your sweet potato in aluminum foil and place it in the oven right on the metal racks.

4. Cut up your veggies and chicken and arrange everything so you can easily skewer however you desire.

028

031I created my kabobs by alternating veggies and chicken on some, veggies and shrimp on some and then for the leftover chicken, I just put all of the pieces on one skewer. I sprinkled on a little more pepper, sea salt, garlic powder and Mrs. Dash once the skewers were created.

5. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes (watch closely because you could need more or less time depending on how you cut your veggies and chicken). While the kabobs are cooking, steam your corn.  I also had to finish off my baked potato in the microwave since I didn’t start it early enough.

032When everything is done, place on a plate, add some butter to your corn and sweet potato (yes, this is a must) and enjoy!

035Look at those colors!! My mouth was so happy as it tasted all of the different flavors in this dish, especially the chicken. Wow, was that good! I am so excited for leftovers and think I will probably put the kabobs on a salad for a work lunch this week.

Questions for you:Do you have a grill? Suggestions for a good, affordable, no-frills grill? What’s your favorite summer meal?

Shrimp & Veggie Scampi

1 Comment

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make for my “Sunday Dinner” this week. I am traveling to Dallas Tuesday through Thursday and knew I didn’t want any leftovers;  I needed something where I could throw some stuff together and add as much or as little as I wanted.  Enter: a veggie dish… veggie scampi dish. I have been craving seafood lately and the grocery store just happened to have some jumbo shrimp on sale- perfect!

Healthy Shrimp & Veggie Scampi

Ingredients (rough estimates- I never measure anything!)

  • 1/4 lb. of jumbo shrimp (this was just for me- recipe for 1, remember:) )
  • 1/2 cup (ish) of white wine
  • 2-3 tbsp. EVOO
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 tbsp. garlic (minced)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup of sliced onions
  • 1/4 cup of sliced green pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped broccoli
  • 1/4 cup sliced summer squash
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Whole wheat angel hair spaghetti (1 serving)

012

Directions:

1. Start the water for the spaghetti. Sautee onions, garlic, EVOO, butter, wine and the juice of 1 lemon for 3-5 minutes. Add in the other veggies & reduce the heat.  I also added some lemon zest which was a great addition!

013

014

2. Once the spaghetti is added to the boiling water, add the shrimp to the wine & veggies.  The shrimp was pre-cooked, so all I wanted to do was heat it up and not actually cook it anymore.

3. Add some spaghetti to a bowl, top with the scampi mixture, sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese and voila! Dinner is served!

016

017

(Please note: I had some extra scampi mixture leftover… hoping that it reheats well tomorrow!)

I was pleasantly surprised with how delicious this dish turned out to be.  Scampi dishes are usually laden with loads of butter and oil, leaving you feeling a little greasy when you finish eating (right? my lips are always so soft after I eat a restaurant scampi dish, and I know it’s from the oil and butter coating them!), but this meal left me feeling full and satisfied, but not greasy in the least bit! I think the meal took me maybe a half hour from start to finish (probably even less), so this is a great week night meal to add to your rotation!

Bon appetit!

Questions for you: What is your favorite meal to “healthify”? Guilty pleasure meal? Do share:)