Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice

This is another winning recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes (www.skinnytaste.com). That girl is good! The only issue I have with the recipe is that it was sorta, well... wrong. The ingredients didn't match the cooking instructions. The ingredient list doesn't include paprika, chili powder, and some other spices; however, those spices are included in the instructions without the measurements. So I kiiinda overdid it with those ones and Mike and I almost burned our tongues out of our mouths. Note to self: A little bit o' chili powder and red pepper flakes go a loooong way. Luckily I Googled 'How to cool down spicy food' and found a secret weapon that I added and made the rice edible.

Clearly I need to take a class in food photography

WW Points Plus: 8 per serving (1/4 of the recipe)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups brown rice cooked
• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined (peeled weight is .75 lb)
• 2 egg whites, scrambled
• 1 whole egg, scrambled
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 5 scallions, chopped, whites and greens separated
• oil spray
• 1 tbsp sesame oil with cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• 4 tsp soy sauce (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp Asian fish sauce - I didn't have this, so I just omitted it. Bet it would be even better with.
• salt and fresh pepper

Gina's Instructions:
In a bowl, season shrimp with cayenne pepper, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper and garlic powder. (<-- Huh? Those aren't in the list. I'd say use 1/2 tsp of each.)

Scramble eggs with a drop of water and season with salt and pepper. In a hot wok, spray a little oil and cook the eggs. When cooked, remove from pan and set aside.

Let the wok get really hot. Add sesame oil and saute onions, scallion whites, garlic and hot pepper flakes for about 1-2 minutes. Add shrimp and saute until no longer translucent. Add rice and cooked egg along with soy sauce and fish sauce, mixing well for about 2 minutes. Add greens of the scallions and serve.

Can I just say that I love having green onions growing in my yard? Have I said this already? lovelovelove.

Oh! Almost forgot... The secret ingredient for cooling down superspicy food after it's already cooked:

Worked like a charm and you couldn't taste the honey. Genius! You're welcome. :)   Or did you know that already?

Quick Chicken & Black Bean Burritos

Got this out of my Just 5: 125 Recipes with 5 Ingredients WW cookbook. It's a good one. Although you have to add some extra ingredients to make it really good. So, it's a Just 5 + 2 ingredients recipe.

Not the most flattering picture, but you get the idea. It was sooo good. Trust!

Per serving (1 burrito): 8 WW PointsPlus

Ingredients:
3/4 lb skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
1 15.5 oz can of no salt added black beans - rinsed and drained
4 7-inch flour tortillas
8 tbsp fat free salsa
4 tbsp shredded low fat Mexican cheese blend
+  A few dashes of your fave hot sauce
+ Cilantro (Added after I took the pic)

EDIT: I also added some onions in with the chicken and black beans.  High recommended.

Instructions:
1) Spray non-stick skillet with PAM & set over medium-high heat
2) Add chicken and cook until browned (about 6 minutes)
3) Add beans and cook, stirring occasionally (about 2 minutes)
4) Warm tortillas according to package directions
5) Place tortilla on flat surface and spoon 1/4 of the chicken mixture down center, top w/ 2 tbsp of salsa, 1 tbsp of shredded cheese, a couple of dashes of yummy hot sauce, and a few shredded pieces of cilantro
6) Fold sides of tortilla over filling and roll up.

It was super easy. Great for weeknight meals. And with a Corona Light.

House update

Latest purchase: Master bedroom ceiling fan. The Stratford II. 
http://www.hunterfan.com/Products/Ceiling-Fans/The-Stratford-Five-Minute-Fan-28686/   Let's hope it is indeed a Five Minute Fan.

We're not in the room yet. We want to be, but we've had some expenses come up that sucked up the new carpet monies. So, Molly is learning patience. And making peace with the fact that Mike is not in fact a secret millionaire.

WW Honey-Glazed Salmon

So, I'm trying to eat foods that bring my high cholesterol number down. I have never been a fan of salmon, but figured I'd try it again since it is a great weapon against high LDL numbers. This dish was definitely yummy, but needed some sort of additional flavor kick. Not sure what that would be. The old standby... hot sauce? Or spicy mustard?

Excuse the brokenness of the fish. I was trying to see if it was flaky and done, but it was fighting me.


9 Points Plus per serving. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet)

Instructions:

• Preheat broiler.
  
• Combine first 7 ingredients, and stir well with a whisk.
  
• Place fillets on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Brush with honey mixture; cook 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting frequently with honey mixture. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet).

Ingredients:

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper

4   6 oz salon filets (I actually did my maf wrong at the store and got two 6 oz filets and cooked those up. Oops. It was a lotta fish.)

1 spray PAM

P.S. I served it with green beans tossed with sesame oil and a little bit of coarse salt. Yum!

Foiled Fish

I have read about an easy way to cook fish that involves wrapping it in foil. How easy is that? Wrap it up, toss it in the oven, take it out, done. So, I tried it last night and it is just as easy as I thought. And of course fish is healthy as can be, so score there as well!

I forgot to take a picture, but it looked exactly like the picture from the recipe I followed... minus the yummy looking buttery noodles. I served it with rice pilaf and broccoli.

 Ingredients that I used:
Tilapia fillets
Mrs. Dash seasoning
Tomatoes, sliced
Green onions, sliced - Got these from my front yard! They're growing everywhere.
Garlic, minced
Lemon juice
Olive oil
(NOTE: I would add more flavor next time. Not sure how. Probably basil since it was in the original recipe. Recommendations welcome!)

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450
Foil squares to wrap the fish and veggies
Rub a bit of olive oil on the foil so the fish won’t stick.
Place a tilapia fillet in the middle of the foil. 
Shake some Mrs. Dash seasoning on the fish. 
Layer tomatoes, green onions and garlic on top. 
Shake a bit of lemon juice over it all. 
Wrap the foil around the fish loosely to make a packet. 
Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. 

WW Points: Depends on the size of the fish filet. I estimated 5 points plus for 5 oz fish + oil.

Source: http://eatathomecooks.com/2009/06/tilapia-with-veggies-baked-in-foil-packets.html

House update

If you're on FB, you saw the kitchen updates (yay!). Figured I'd put the master bedroom update here for some social medium variety. We FINALLY finished painting the walls with Cider. It is definitely a strong color, but it also feels very cozy and cabin-like. I'm excited to accessorize it with furniture, shelving, etc.

Here's a sneak peek:

We will be replacing the carpet, closet doors and the ceiling fan/light. As a reminder, this is our bedding (although we didn't buy all of those fancy pillows). It's not what I'd usually go for, but the fabric is SO awesome and the colors felt warm to me, so we went for it.

SO outside of my comfort zone, but I'm confident it will work. Any ideas for accessories are welcome!

We're considering this bedroom set:

We can't wait until all of the rooms are done being fixed up. Then we can just spend all summer gardening and cutting grass. Having a house is work, y'all!!

Chowdah

If you can't have a bowl of cream-heavy clam chowder because you're watching the waistline, this is a yummy alternative. But Gina of Gina's Skinny Recipes needs to realize that raw potato cubes do not cook in 10 minutes.That's just crazy talk.

Servings: 5 • Serving Size: 16 oz • Calories: 305 Points: 6.5 pts

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 large white onion, chopped fine
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 cups 2% milk
• 2 (10 oz) cans clams, drained, juice reserved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• kosher salt and fresh pepper
• 1 cup frozen corn

Instructions:
In a large pot, melt butter.  
Add onions, and heat on low heat until onions are translucent.
Add flour and stir.  
Add milk, clam juice, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme and salt & pepper to taste.  
Cook on low until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.  (Um, yeah...no. I had to cook on medium for 25 minutes before the potatoes were soft... and Mike still commented on how the potatoes could be softer. Not sure...maybe I bought the hardest potatoes in the universe.) 
Remove half of the soup and put in blender. Return to pot.  
Add clams, corn and adjust salt if needed and cook another 5 minutes.  
Serve and garnish with fresh parsley.

I served it up with a couple of pieces of garlic Texas toast. Oooohwee... you gonna like it!