Delish!

I have tried some awesome recipes lately and I HAVE to share them. I get most of them from recipe blogs linked to my side bar. I try to cook things that are pretty easy with ingredients you can find at the normal store and are generally healthy. I’m always looking for new culinary delights; hopefully you try them like them as much as we did!

Oven Baked Coconut Shrimp
• 3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup panko* (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
• Nonstick cooking spray

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spread the coconut evenly on an ungreased sheet pan and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

Increase oven temperature to 400°F.

To prepare the shrimp, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a shallow dish, whisk together the flour, bread crumbs, cayenne pepper, and salt. Place the toasted coconut in another dish. Place the egg whites in a medium bowl and whisk until frothy. Pat the shrimp dry and dip first in the egg whites, then the flour, back in the egg whites, then roll in the coconut.

Arrange the shrimp on the prepared pan and spray lightly with cooking spray. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until cooked through and golden.

I served them with a sauce I made with Apricot preserves and Dijon Mustard.

IHOP French Toast
2 eggs
½ c. milk
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 T. flour
6 slices of thick sliced French bread

First beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients with electric mixer. Dip both sides of bread and place in hot buttered pan. Flip over when browned. Serve with Coconut Syrup.

Coconut Syrup
7-8 T. butter
¾ c. buttermilk
1 c. sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut extract

Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Then turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the 'fizz' to reduce before serving.

Just a note on this, it is AMAZING. I don’t think it falls into the generally healthy category, but is SO good.

Cafe Rio Pork Salad
3 lb pork roast
1 c brown sugar
1 c Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tb dried minced onions

Cook all ingredients in a crock pot on low all day (about 8 hours). One hour before serving, remove roast and shred it. Dump out all cooking juices and place shredded pork back into crockpot and add...

1 c brown sugar
1 c red enchilada sauce

Cilantro Lime Rice
3 c water
3 c Minute rice
4 cubes chicken bouillon
4 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tb canola oil
2 Tb fresh lime juice
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 onion
1 can green chilies

Blend cilantro, onion, and chilies in food processor. Bring water to boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked. *I hate Minute Rice and never buy it - you can substitute regular rice, just adjust the water to rice ratio accordingly.

Garlic Black Beans
1 can black beans
1/3 c tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)
1 tsp cumin
2 Tb canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tb chopped cilantro

Heat oil then add cumin and garlic until garlic begins to pop. Add rest of ingredients and serve warm.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
3 tomatillos, peeled and quartered
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/2 c sour cream
1 pkg dry buttermilk ranch dressing
1 c fresh chopped cilantro
6 green onions with ends, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)
3 tsp sugar
1 jalapeno, sliced thin - add to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Assembling your salad:
Toast a large tortilla sprinkled with cheese under the broiler until slightly crisp. Then layer chopped romaine, rice and beans, shredded pork, pico de gallo, guacamole, and crispy tortilla strips. Drizzle on dressing, sprinkle with cotija cheese and garnish with a lime wedge.

This was obviously a pain to make, so I skipped the rice and beans. The pork and salad dressing are dead ringers for Café Rio.

Enjoy!

Visitors!

This week was a little crazy, hence the lack of posts. Brandon’s parents came for a visit so we drove to Detroit to pick them up. On the way we made a stop at the Somerset Mall because I was in serious need of a Sephora and MAC. I think if I could pick one thing that I miss to transport to Lansing it would be a Sephora or an Ulta. We had dinner at an old fave, California Pizza Kitchen. I cannot get enough of the Barbecue Chopped Chicken Salad. On Saturday we took them around campus and showed them the Law School. I was thrilled that there was huge snow storm on Saturday, I wanted them to see what it is really like here and they definitely did. A few pics of our tour…

The Lobby of the Law School...

Where Brandon spends most of his time...

A plaque from the original Detroit College of Law...

The MSU Dairy Store...

Ice Cream in the snow...

Dinner at Clara's...

Thanks for a fun visit!

Don't Try This at Home

I watch Top Chef, which is basically like going to culinary school, right? After 5 seasons I feel like if I were asked to break down an entire pig/chicken/fish and use my classic French cooking techniques and a camp stove to whip up something delish in 30 minutes I could do it. My knife skills however, leave something to be desired. One time on Top Chef, this guy cut an avocado in half and then he held the half with the pit in his hand. Then you basically flick your knife at the pit, twist and it comes out all clean and awesome. I’ve done it before, its not complicated. Last night when I was doing the flick part, I sort of missed the pit and the knife when through the avocado and into my hand. I’m pretty sure after that Padma would have told me to pack my bloody knives and go.

28!?

I can’t believe you’re 28! I met you after you got home from your mission, when you were 21...time flies. I’m so proud of you and what you’ve accomplished in the last 7 years and I’m so glad your mine. I realize this is very “Seriously, So Blessed” of me, but I can’t resist…

28 Things I Love About You

I love that you always make up your own words to whatever song is on the radio
I love how when you get home from school and I’m cooking dinner, you come in and start stirring and end up completely taking over
I love that you’re on my side
I love that you make up names for me, jeebs and cash are my favorites
I love that you work hard
I love that you get good grades
I love that you always want to come with me, even to the mall and the grocery store
I love that you let me pick out your clothes
I love how you watch my shows with me, even The Bachelor
I love that you lace up my Uggs
I love that you dream big
I love that you love to play games
I love that you honor your priesthood
I love how you always make me feel safe
I love how you’ll see any movie I want to see, even though I don’t return the favor
I love that you served an honorable mission
I love that you want to be a dad
I love how much family means to you
I love how you are so great with kids
I love that you want me to be happy and will do anything to make sure I am
I love that I can ask you to get things down from high places and put them back up like 20 times a day, and you never seem to get annoyed with me
I love that you play with my sisters
I love that you remind me of my dad
I love that you are such a GUY
I love how insanely competitive you are (most of the time)
I love that you are so handy and can pretty much fix, hang, rewire anything
I love that I can count on you
I love that you love me

Happy Birthday!

No News Is Good News

SO LAME to blog about weather, I know, but… It was 50 degrees yesterday and the sun was out ALL DAY. I was in heaven! Apparently this has been one of the worst winters in Michigan in 30 years. I know it’s not over since it’s supposed to snow on Thursday, but progress is good. I love that a warm day has become blog worthy!

In even more lame news, we have no news. Brandon reads, reads, reads all day and night and tries to keep up on all his assignments. He has a huge assignment due on Thursday, the day after his birthday, so he told me to just pretend his birthday is on Friday since he won’t have time to celebrate on Wednesday. Sad! Luckily he squeezes in a little time for Mob Wars…do you know what that is? If not, stay far away, apparently it sucks you in. My days are filled with work, laundry, making dinner, telling Brandon to stop playing Mob Wars and luckily a few friends and some girls’ nights to break up the monotony.

But honestly, we feel really blessed to be here, for Brandon to continue his education, for my job, and for the great friends we have made here. I guess no news is good news!