recipe: creamy shrimp fettucine

The last meal. The final meal before the diet kicked back in. Did you have one on Sunday? I'm normally really good about eating healthy but I have clearly not given any bleeps about it for the past two months or so. Now it's time to crack down again, but not after one meal full of terrible, terrible things.

By terrible, I obviously mean delicious... just ingredients that I tend to ban from my kitchen: Butter, cream cheese, and pasta.

Now that I got your mouth watering and you wanting to cheat on your diet [which I say is totally okay once a week, preferably Sundays], here's what you need, via Lauren's Latest: 

• fettuccine pasta
• shrimp [I buy frozen then thaw it out so I don't have to make a whole lot for one person]
• stick of butter
• 1/3 block of cream cheese
• minced garlic
• diced tomatoes
• lemon juice
• parsley, salt and pepper
  
  And I added:
  
• diced red peppers
• a little swirl/dump of white wine- any kind
• couple shakes of Old Bay because, duh.

 It's really easy to make and very quick. The shrimp/sauce is done in the time it takes to cook the noodles, and it's really hard to over or under cook any of it.

For the full recipe, click here! 

By the way- that wine is the bomb. My coworker Toby gave it to me for Christmas. It's called "Back Dat Glass Up" from Notaviva winery in Virginia. They pair every wine with music, which is making me want to visit the winery ASAP. Who's coming with me?!

love,
elizabethany

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recipe: baked salmon with avocado salsa

It's not often I get to make a solid dinner. 75% of the time, I'm making dinner at 1pm to eat in the studio at 8. Last night I decided to actually make something delicious. 

Some salmon, spices, and a simple salsa... the flavor only got better in the hours I impatiently waited to eat it. 

For the salmon: 

Mix equal parts of salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion powder, and black pepper. Rub it into the salmon with olive oil and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. 

Avocado salsa: 

Cut small slices of avocado, red pepper, red onion, and a spicier pepper if you'd like. [I used a potato peeler to make all the slices super thin and easy to soak in the flavors of the "sauce." Mix in juice from two limes, 3 tbs of olive oil, 2 tbs of chopped fresh cilantro, and salt to taste. 

Voila! It was light and healthy-ish and the spices on the salmon were perfect. 

If you wanna see the original recipe I was Pinspired by, click here!

love,

elizabethany

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my dinner: chili-garlic shrimp and quinoa

One look at Pinterest and you'd think the entire world is eating quinoa every night of their life. [BTW... if you're not familiar... it's pronounced keen-wah, which I embarrasingly learned after casually asking someone about kin-oh-uh.]

I decided to finally give it a whirl. I really should have come up with an easy dish to try first, but that's not my style. I had never even cooked raw shrimp before, but it was hella easy. So I found some plain quinoa [found by the rice, not the pasta] and this delicious recipe and went to work on a dinner for one.

Because I was too excited [/extremely flustered because reading and cooking is hard], I didn't get process-photos. Here's a look at the final dish, though!

The quinoa was a little undercooked but also burnt on the bottom of my pan, so I clearly need to read up on the proper ways to cook it, but the flavor was amazing! I didn't even use 1/4 of the butter sauce they recommended, and it was still one of the most flavorful things I've ever cooked.

Here is Pinch of Yum's recipe that feeds four, and a much better picture of a full dish.

YOU NEED: 

-1 tbs olive oil

-1 lb of raw shrimp [I used Nature's Promise frozen shrimp]. Leave only the tails on

-1/2 cup finely chopped onion

-5 teaspoons of minced garlic

-2 cups of uncooked quinoa

-4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

-6 tbs butter [they recommended salted, but I used unsalted and thought it was almost too salty]

-2 tsp chili powder

-fresh parsley for garnishing

-I also added 2 sliced green onions

YOU DO: 

1. Heat the oil and saute your onions until soft, about 3-5 minutes

2. Add in 2 tsp of garlic and saute for about a minute. 

3. Add in the uncooked quinoa, 1 tbs of chili power, salt and pepper [to taste] and stir for about a minute so the flavor really gets in there. 

4. Now add the broth and bring to a boil. Bring down the heat and cover... cook for 15 minutes stirring regularly. [And keep and eye on it... mine burnt pretty quickly after the broth was dried up.]

5. While the quinoa is cooking, cook the shrimp. Melt 1 tbs of butter in a skillet then add the shrimp. Sprinkle with 1 tbs of chili powder and saute until slightly browned. [When almost done, add 1 tsp of garlic to the pan.]

6. Melt 5 tbsp of butter and 2 tsp of garlic in the microwave. This will be drizzled on top. [Like I said, you could use about 1/2 of this and be good]

7. Put the shrimp on the quinoa, and drizzle the sauce on top and VOILA! 

When I made this, I thought the calorie count was going to be through the roof, but it's only 330 calories per serving! Take out some of that butter sauce and it's actually a pretty healthy meal! 

If you have any tips for cooking quinoa to perfection, I'd pay you in love for them!

love,
elizabethany

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eb recipe: refreshing salmon wrap

Pretty sure I'm gonna have some new nickname all about how I only eat wraps for dinner soon... but like... SO WHAT! They're delicious and easy and there are unlimited ways to make your mouth orgasm from the goodies of a tortilla.

When I'm in need of something light, refreshing, and otherwise known as "healthy," my go-to is this salmon wrap that I concocted myself. It's typically not fresh salmon [because I ain't got time or money fo' dat], but everything else is fresh produce and straight up diet-abiding. [I think I just made up a word....]

Here's what you need:

• Salmon filet or frozen salmon burger [what I used]
• Tortilla- I recommend spinach or regular flavor
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/2 cucumber
• spoonful of greek yogurt
• lime juice
• chili powder
• dried cilantro
• dried mint [optional]

Here's what to do:
1. Cover salmon in chili powder on both sides and cook accordingly. Seriously, I put a lot of chili powder on that ish.

2. While the salmon is cooking, prepare the cucumber salad mixture- Chop up the cucumber. Mix it with 1 tbs dried cilantro [I might even use more than that], spoonful of greek yogurt, 1/2 tbs lime juice, and just a flick or two of the mint.

3. Slice up the avocado, and arrange on the tortilla.

4. Top that with the cucumber salad, then add the salmon on top.

5. Wrap it up and VOILA!

The best part about this is the cucumber salad stuff. A lot of times I make extra for a side or something... it's just so refreshing! You could totally pair it up with chicken or steak and it would be just as delicious.

Enjoy, you beginning-of-the-year health freaks!

love,
elizabethany

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food to try: tuna cakes

I'll never understand how someone could love canned tuna, but "hate seafood." To me, canned tuna is the fishiest of fishy, but to each his own.

When dealing with such people on a daily basis, you gotta get creative if you want some of the salty seas in your mouth. [hehe]

I found this recipe for tuna cakes and had to try them.

What ya need:

• 2, 5 oz cans of canned tuna in water
• 1/4 tbs of Old Bay [or more like a full tbs if you love Old Bay like me]
• half of an onion- chopped
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup of Miracle Whip or mayo
• 1 tsp chili powder
• juice from one lime

What ya do: 

1. Combine the drained tuna, Old Bay, onion, eggs, and bread crumbs in a bowl and mix well.
2. Form into four burger-like patties [I use was paper to make it easier]
3. Spray a skillet with cooking oil and cook over medium-high heat until browned on both sides. [I think it took about five minutes on each side.]
4. In a smaller bowl, mix the mayo, chili powder and lime. Top the cakes with this "Chipotle Mayo"

Flipping them over in the pan was a lot harder than I anticipated and was a pain in the ass, but they were definitely really good. I also made a bunch of extra mayo to put on all sorts of other things.

It's almost like you're eating crab cakes.... but you're totally not. And they're almost as good, but equally impressive.

love,
elizabethany

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