(94) Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Oh yeah baby, this is off the hook good!!! It's easy, quick, and healthy, too! Please make this! I'm going to make it again soon, it was that good!!

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Image is from Eat Better America website!

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Source: Eatbetteramerica.com
Yield: 6 servings

8 oz uncooked multigrain angel hair (capellini) pasta or spaghetti
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 lb fresh medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tail shells removed
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine or Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
1/4 cup Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons butter

1. In 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, cook pasta as directed on package. Drain; return to saucepan. Stir in spinach, tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of the oil. Cover to keep warm.

2. While pasta is cooking, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir 1 minute. Add shrimp, garlic and pepper flakes; cook and stir 2 minutes.

3. Stir in wine, broth, salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm. Remove from heat; stir in parsley and butter until butter is melted. Add shrimp mixture to pasta mixture in saucepan; toss to mix.

Nutritional Information
Calories 300 (Calories from Fat 80); Total Fat 9g (Saturated Fat 3 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 170mg; Sodium 370mg; Total Carbohydrate 30g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 3g); Protein 25g

(93) Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch

I was looking for a chex mix-ish type recipe to make for our annual pumpkin carving party. I found this recipe and was glad I did!! I couldn't find the cinnamon cereal, but just used Rice Chex instead. My husband requested a repeat appearance at Thanksgiving, so I'd say this is a winner!

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Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch

Source: Chex.com
Yield: 16 servings (1/2 cup each)

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups Cinnamon Chex® cereal
2 cups Wheat Chex® cereal
2 cups Honey Nut Chex® cereal
8 oz pecans

1. In small bowl, mix brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. In small microwave-safe dish, microwave butter on High about 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in vanilla. In large microwavable bowl, mix all cereals and pecans. Pour butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly distributed. Add sugar and spice mixture and stir until coated.

2. Microwave uncovered on High 5 minutes or until mixture begins to brown, stirring every minute. Spread on wax paper or a cookie sheet to cool. Store in airtight container.

Nutritional Information
1 serving: Calories 180 (Calories from Fat 80); Total Fat 9g (Saturated Fat 2.5g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 10mg; Sodium 150mg; Total Carbohydrate 23g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 7g); Protein 2g


% Daily Value: Vitamin A 8%; Vitamin C 2%; Calcium 6%; Iron 30%

(92) Black Bean Soup

This was good. I skipped the eggs. We could not find crema, so I used LF sour cream. I could have done w/o the garlic in the topping (I hate having garlic breath!!), but otherwise the topping was good! Next time I'll use canned black beans. My dry ones were a little too chewy and didn't blend great - maybe operator error? who knows!?! Anyway, the soup had a great flavor and was very filling! Will repeat!

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Black Bean Soup

Yield: 4 servings
Source: Cooking Light Magazine, October 2009

1 cup dried black beans
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 cup chopped onion
7 garlic cloves, minced and divided
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1/4 cup no-salt-added tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded
1/4 cup crema Mexicana
3 hard-cooked large eggs, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh cilantro leaves

Preparation

1. Sort and wash beans, and place in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water; cover and let stand for 8 hours. Drain beans.

2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 4 minutes, stirring often. Add 5 garlic cloves; cook 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beans, broth, and next 7 ingredients (through chiles); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until beans are tender. Let stand 10 minutes.

3. Place half of bean mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid; secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid. Process until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining mixture. Return soup to pan; cook 5 minutes, stirring often.

4. Finely chop 1 cup cilantro and jalapeño. Combine 2 tablespoons oil, 2 garlic cloves, cilantro, jalapeño, and crema. Ladle 1 1/4 cups soup into each of 4 bowls; top each with 2 tablespoons crema. Sprinkle soup with eggs. Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 369, Fat: 18.4g (sat 5.8g,mono 7.8g,poly 1.8g), Protein: 17.5g, Carbohydrate: 34.7g, Fiber: 11.8g, Cholesterol: 173mg, Iron: 4.8mg, Sodium: 829mg, Calcium: 114mg

(91) Easy Shepherd's Pie

This is a modified version of this recipe. SUPER easy and flavorful. The filling had tang (almost like sloppy joe casserole?!). We all liked it, though, and I will make it again for a quick weeknight meal!

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Easy Shepherd's Pie

Yield: 6 servings

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2/3 cup ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
16 oz bag of frozen mixed veggies (corn, carrots, peas, green beans, etc) - THAWED
24 oz container of prepared mashed potatoes (such as Simply Potatoes)

Heat oven to 400° F.

Place the beef in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until no trace of pink remains, about 5 minutes. Spoon off and discard any fat. Stir in the ketchup and Worcestershire. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Spoon the beef mixture into an 11x7" baking dish.

Spread the potatoes over the beef and bake until heated through, 15-20 minutes (or until slightly browned on top). Divide among individual plates.

(90) Green Beans with Bacon

These are a good southern style recipe. The beans were just right in terms of texture and the flavor was mild but nice. I thought the lemon would be weird, but it wasn't! Great side dish that I will certainly repeat!

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Green Beans with Bacon

This simple side is a classic crowd-pleaser. You can cook the green beans and bacon up to two days ahead; refrigerate them separately until you're ready to assemble the dish.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: about 2/3 cup)
Source: Cooking Light, November 2007

2 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
3 bacon slices
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook green beans in boiling water for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and plunge beans into ice water; drain.

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add shallots to drippings in pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add beans, juice, salt, and pepper to pan; toss to combine. Cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring often. Remove from heat. Sprinkle bacon over bean mixture; toss.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 46 (22% from fat), Fat: 1.1g (sat 0.4g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.2g), Protein: 2.5g, Carbohydrate: 8g, Fiber: 3.3g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Iron: 1.1mg, Sodium: 93mg, Calcium: 38mg

A note about the sugar cookies

I'm beyond excited to tell you that I ran the nutritional information on the sugar cookies and the results were better than I hoped! I wanted to take the 'ignorance is bliss' route but decided to be a good girl. I went to my favorite recipe calorie calculator - Sparkrecipes.com. 

The way we made the cookies, it made 30 cookies. That gives you 120 calories/6g fat per cookie. If you make as written and get 5.5 dozen (66 cookies), you come out to 55 calories/3g fat per cookie. Now that's nutritional information that I can handle! Everybody needs a little sweetness in their life :) I'd rather have one big cookie than one of those crappy 100 calorie packs!

Happy snacking :)

(89) Drop Sugar Cookies

My mom cut this recipe out of the newspaper recently. These cookies won 1st place at the Virginia State fair and I have to offer a rousing 2 thumbs up! I have serious issues when it comes to rolling out any sort of dough, even for cookies (sad, I know). But I LOVE sugar cookies!!! This recipe is the answer to my prayers! Very easy to make and oh wow, delish!! We made them bigger than called for and got about 2.5 dozen, not 5.5! (we did have to cook them a little longer than 8 minutes, so keep an eye on them)

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Drop Sugar Cookies

First place winner, Danhof VanDyke of Eastville, VA. Adapted from "All Time Baking Soda Favorites"

Yield: about 5 1/2 dozen 2-inch cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
2 Tablespoon milk

1) Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until and fluffy.
2) Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth.
3) Blend in milk.
4) Drop by teaspoon about 3 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Flatten with bottom of glass that has been dipped in sugar (author does it twice).
5) Bake in 350 degree oven about 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on rack.