Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp

This is what we had for our "Anti-Valentines Day" dinner. A little more fancy than what a college kid cooks everyday, but why not treat yourself once in a while? It's way cheaper than Olive Garden! Haleigh gets kudos for this recipe, because she found it in a magazine (I think.)It turned out delicious!



You'll need 2 lb. of shrimp (peeled and deveined.)There were 4 hungry girls eating this, and we STILL had food left over, so you can have less shrimp if you want.



Coat your shrimp in some olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and lay them on a cookie sheet. Bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 6-8 minutes. Make sure they're pink!



This is what they should look like.



Now we're going to make the lemon dressing for the pasta. Combine 1/2 stick melted butter, the zest and juice from 2 lemons, 1/4 c. olive oil, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper.



Mix together. If telling you to mix made you feel inferior to me, I apologize.



Make one pkg (or 1 lb) of angel hair pasta according to package directions. Making pasta is a learned art I have decided. This is how Amy and I usually decide if our pasta is ready.
1. Pull out one noodle. This can take a long time because they're slimy.
2. Burn fingers multiple times trying to get noodle off of spoon and into mouth.
3. Chew while the other person waits in anticipation.
4. "Good?"
5. "Good." or "Nope. Still crunchy."
6. If answer is the second, repeat steps 1-4.



When noodles are done, save some of the pasta "water" (1/2 cup) to make your sauce a little thicker. Then, drain the rest of the water and combine the noodles with the sauce. Mix it all up.



Serve hot with shrimp. Warning: this meal might cause you to start speaking fluent Italian.



We had garlic bread with our shrimp, as well as salad. Making garlic bread is super easy-- just butter your bread, and lightly cover each slice in garlic power.



Wrap your bread in foil and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Two New Recipes Coming VEDY VEDY Soon

All I'm going to say is shrimp and red velvet.
And Amy is actually going to post one of them. I know, right?
I'm getting into my permanent state of excitement for the next few weeks because the Olympics are on. Particularly figure skating. Don't be like my dad and tell me its not a fair sport because there are judges. Let me love them. . and their sequins.
U-S-AAAA!

Roasted Green Beans

Before I go any further. . I cannot take credit for this delicious way to cook green beans. Our friends Kim and Bri came over one night and made them for us. They're so tasty!

Snap your green beans and place them on a cookie sheet. I'm sorry they're kind of symmetrical. Don't let it get to you.

This is where it gets messy. Get a little olive oil and pour it in your hand. Rub it all over the green beans, until they're covered. Then, take a little salt and do the same thing. Don't over do it. . you don't want them to be too salty.

Pop them in the oven at 350. They are going to pop and sizzle, but that's good. Don't be scared.

After about 15 minutes or when they are slightly brown, use some sort of utensil and flip them over. A fork works, but a spatula is the best. Pop them back in for another 15 minutes.

When they're about like this, pull them out. They make a great side dish!

Burritos

My mom has been making these burritos my entire life. I don't know where she got the recipe. . she probably made it up. Speaking of making up recipes, last weekend I decided I was going to made black and white cookies except without the black ( I had no chocolate chips ha.) I don't really want to talk about them--because they were a big thumbs DOWN. They were all cake-y and the frosting tasted like pure powdered sugar. Who knew you could have too much powdered sugar? I'm going to blame our oven. . it has a mind of its own. Anyways. . next time you want quick Mexican food try these burritos!

Chop up one onion and two cloves of garlic. Combine them with one lb. of ground beef and cook in a skillet until the beef is done.

Combine a can of pinto beans, your beef "mixture" (don't forget to drain the grease. . eww), and however much green chili and monterey jack cheese you want.

You want the tortillas to be somewhat moist. To do this, I just placed the tortilla on top of the mix and pressed down. The juices from everything will make it niiiice and juuuicy. Not too juicy though!

Fill your tortilla with the filling. (I don't really know what the inside of the burrito is called. . I've got from mix to filling.) That's beside the point though. Moving on.

Roll them up nice and tight and sprinkle some more monterey jack cheese over the top. The more cheese the better. Trust me. I would never lie to you. Bake them at 300-350 for approx. 10-15 min. Bake just long enough to melt the cheese on top. The time and temp will depend on how fast your oven cooks. Ours cooks FAST.

And here you go! Add guacamole, hot sauce or sour cream if you want.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Being a Texan, I can't claim any expertise when it comes to authentic Cajun food. My mom makes creole, and that's about the only cajun dish I've grown up with. I la-la-LOVE Cajun food and dream of the day when I am begged by everyone I know to make my famous cajun dishes. That's not asking too much, is it?

Anyway, I found this recipe at http://www.realcajunrecipes.com/ and thought I'd try it. I just got a crockpot, and have had a hankerin to use it more often. It just makes things so easy, I can't resist it.

The night before, soak your beans in water. It will make them nice and soft.


I know the yellow cutting board doesn't make things look too appetizing, so disregard it. I thank thee.
Chop up an entire onion, bell pepper, and two cloves of garlic.




Throw the beans, onion, garlic and pepper into your crockpot. The recipe also says to add a bay leaf and a ham bone, but I decided to go without it. I'll talk more about that in a minute. Cover everything with about 2 inches of water and set your crock pot to either 8 or 10 hours (whatever low setting you choose.) Add water if it starts to look dry. If you can, smash some of the beans about 2 hours before you want to eat. It will thicken the gravy.



About 30 minutes before you want to eat, go ahead and make your rice, rice baby. Sorry, I couldn't resist..wait. .why am I apologizing? That song is classic. Amy and I do NOT have a good rice-making record. We are quite frightened by rice, but we decided to conquer our fears and try again.



And that ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you pray over your rice. And beg your rice to work. Rice is a very needy food that must have lots of encouragement.



Pour your crockpot contents into a large pot and add salt, pepper, Tony's, and a lb. of sausage. Let it cook about 20 minutes.



We recommend eating it in bowls, but all ours were dirty in the dishwasher!


Advice from the Wise: It tasted great, but next time we're going to season it a little more and add less water. I thought skipping the bay leaf and ham bone wouldn't make a difference, but it probably does. Shun the unbeliever, right?


Therefore, go now to all nations and make red beans and rice. Amen.