Where are all the recipes?

If you ever see a week where I don't have seven new recipes showing on the blog, just check the "Week at a Glance" page.  I may have gone out or done something I already have on the blog.  So we did eat something that day!  I just didn't have a new recipe to put in a new blog entry.

I have to give a shout out to Olive Garden!  Last week my husband and I had a date night planned.  We like to find little gems and try new things.  But that day we were both tired and didn't want to go far.  We went to the local Olive Garden and had a great meal.  I had the spaghetti with Italian sausage.  I actually cleaned my plate!  I never, ever do that.  I guess I needed some carbs!  Of course, I felt it the next morning at my work out, but it was yummy!  Also, we ran in to friends who had frozen lemonades.  Those are refillable and I didn't know about them.  So I'm going for those next time!

Have a great week!

Melanie

Sweet Pork Burritos

I used the recipe I've already added to this blog:  Sweet Pork Burritos.

I also made Cilantro-Lime Rice adapted from ourbestbites.com:

1 cup dry white rice, cooked in 2 C water
2 T real butter
Juice from 1 large lime, or two smaller ones(taste as you go, I add a lot!)
½ – ¾ C chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice.  As soon as it’s done, toss in the butter and stir to melt.  Add lime juice, and cilantro.  Stir to combine, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

* You’ll want to serve this right away, if you don’t, the flavors tend to mellow a bit and you’ll probably need to add more lime juice because the rice kind of sucks it up.If you’re not quite ready to eat when your rice finishes cooking, just toss in the butter and keep a lid on it so it stays warm.Then right before you serve it, toss it all together.

We also had black beans, lettuce, tortillas, shredded cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole and white corn tortilla chips.  Some of us made burritos.  I made a salad and topped it with a creamy Ranch dressing.  Yum!  We also had a watermelon.  It's been months since I've had watermelon.  Oh I can't wait for summer!

Husband rating:  4.5 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Coconut Shrimp with Mango Sauce

from Better Homes and Gardens

1 lime
2 mangoes, halved, seeded, peeled and chopped
1/4 c honey
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
snipped fresh cilantro
12 oz fresh or thawed frozen peeled and deveined large shrimp
1 c unsweetened flaked coconut (4 oz)
lime wedges (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.  Finely shred 1 tsp peel from lime and squeeze juice from line; add lime juice to blender with 1 c of the chopped mango, the honey and cayenne pepper; cover and process until smooth.  Remove 1/4 c to shallow dish.  Transfer remaining to bowl; top with lime peel and snipped fresh cilantro.  Set aside for dipping sauce.
2.  Rince shrimp; pat dry.  Sprinkle with salt.  Place coconut in shallow dish.  Dip shrimp in the 1/4 cup mango sauce and then coconut, pressing to coat.  Place on baking sheet.
3.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until coconut is golden and shrimp are cooked through.  Serve with dipping sauce, remaining chopped mango, cilantro and lime wedges.

I guess I forgot a picture of all the cute little shrimp!  I put rice and an Asian Salad with the shrimp.  Would do this shrimp as an appetizer, not meal, in the future.

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  Husband rating:  2 stars (he hates coconut!)
  Boys rating:  thumbs down 

Shake n Bake Chops

My boys love to help in the kitchen.  This is an easy way to get them involved.  I let them shake the pork chops in the Shake n Bake mix.  We added beans and a fruit salad.  The fruit salad was easy too.  I used two cans of fruit cocktail.  I added one chopped apple and a chopped banana.  It's a meal that caters to the kid's taste buds, but that's okay!

Husband rating:  3 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Chicken with Tropical BBQ Sauce

from my college roommate Robin.  Thanks Robin!

¼ cup molasses

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp prepared mustard

1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce

2 Tbsp orange juice

3 chicken breasts

Combine sauce, pour over chicken in slow cooker. Cook on low 7-9 hours. 

**When it was done cooking I poured off the sauce and chicken juices and strained it and thickened it with cornstarch in a fry pan.  Then I poured it back over the hot chicken.

I doubled this and served it with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

Husband Rating:  4 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up

Strawberry Shortcake

And for my last easy recipe this week-Strawberry Shortcake

Buy pound cake at Costco (can you tell I like that store?!)  Slice pound cake then top with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.  Sometimes we mash the strawberries (that's the way my husband likes them).  Other times I mix them with sugar or sprinkle powdered sugar on top.  And if you buy the canned whipping cream, don't forget to spray some in your kids mouths.  My boys always get the biggest kick out of that!

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Hash Brown Breakfast

I guess easy meals were on my mind this week!  This is another easy one.

I bought one bag of a hash brown mix with peppers and onions.  I scrambled some eggs.  I washed and chopped berries.  Easy!

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up