Vacation, All I Ever Wanted and Shrimp Too

While it is true that I have not been AWAY on vacation for the entire month of July, I have been on some form of vacation for just about a month. So, slowly getting back to cooking in my own kitchen has been a blessing!

Trying to get caught up with the daily things around here had me scouring for easy recipes this week. I found many versions of this very simple, one-dish shrimp recipe – all were pretty much the same so I ran with it.

Shrimp is a major staple in our home. Foodie Jr. is a shrimp fanatic and I can always count on it being gobbled up. I always keep it on hand for quick, easy and mostly healthy meals.

This recipe has only four ingredients – how much easier can it get? I was pleasantly surprised that for the little effort I put into it, we got a pretty good pay out – all of us liked it. It is almost reminiscent of a scampi with the lemon and butter flavors. I served it with rice and steamed broccoli and it all went really well together. I will most definitely keep this in the quick and easy meal rotation – especially with the school year starting. It’s definitely worth giving a try.

LEMON BUTTER SHRIMP

Ingredients:

-1 lb. of peeled and deveined shrimp (I left the tails on)
-1 stick of Butter
-2 medium sized Lemons, sliced thin
-1 packet of Italian Dressing dry seasoning (whatever brand you like)

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven 350 Degrees.

2. Melt stick of butter in 9×13 baking dish (I did this while the oven pre-heated.)

3. Place lemon sliced on melted butter in a single layer.

4. Place shrimp on lemon slices in a single layer.

5. Sprinkle dressing packet on top of shrimp evenly.

6. Bake for about 15 minutes. (I turned the shrimp once but I don’t think it’s necessary.)

Lemon Oatmeal Cookies – The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

A little bit about ‘The Swap”…

I was hanging out on Twitter late one night when I happened upon Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen‘s tweets about their Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  I was in luck as it wasn’t too late to sign up, which I immediately did.  I used to attend a local mother’s group cookie swap every year and it was a lot of fun.  I am no longer a member of that club and while I still participate in smaller swaps, I wanted to do a bigger one.  At the time I had signed up, they had about 550 bloggers from around the world signed up to swap cookies.  I thought that was pretty darn cool and it was fun being a part of it.  I got to exchange 3 dozen of my cookies with 3 other bloggers, blogs I had never read before!  They estimate that over 22.000 cookies were swapped across this big ole world!  That’s a lot of cookies and I’m happy I got to be a part of it!  If you missed it this year and would like information on how to participate in the next one, sign up here.

A little bit about the cookies I received…

1.  Sisters’ Snacktime ( AJ & Jas Hwang) provided me with my first cookies.  They sent me two kinds (!) –  Peach and Crisp Salted Oatmeal with White/Dark Chocolate.

2.  I got my second set of cookies from Lana Watkins at Bibberche.  They were called Roses and were Serbian recipe from her Grandmother.

3.  My final set of cookies arrived from Chrissy and Dana Marie DeCapite at Sorelle e Cibo.  They were a really yummy white chocolate macadamia and cranberry cookie.  (Mr. Foodie ate them all.)

Thank you to all of my Cookie Swappers!  I enjoyed the different cookies and stories.

A little bit about the cookies I swapped…

I wanted to make a cookie I had never made before and I wanted it to be a little bit different.  Don’t get me wrong, I love your standards like chocolate chip or peanut butter, but I definitely wanted to go in another direction.  When I was pregnant with Foodie Jr., I became part of an internet message board for moms delivering in the same month and year.  I immediately made friends with a gal named Jen and we’ve been friends ever since.  And although we haven’t even met in person, I still consider her one of my best, dearest friends.  One thing we have in common is a love of food.  I sooooooooo trust her taste in food and have not disliked any recipe she has ever passed along.  She gave me this recipe for her favorite cookie a few years back and I’ve never gotten around to trying it.  I have no idea why I waited so long because these are definitely on MY list of favorite cookies now!  This recipe came from her father’s mother and I just love that – recipes that are passed down from one generation to the next.  These cookies are pretty simple to make and generally are things you would normally (well, I would) have on hand.  These cookies can be made chewy or crunchy.  While I think everyone here preferred them on the chewier side (my friend Jen included) the crunchy ones are good too and great for having with coffee or tea.  I adore this recipe and am going to make it several more times this holiday season – my new go-to cookie.  These would be great iced too so I might have to try that!

LEMON OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Shortening

1/2 Cup White Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 1/2 Tsp Grated Lemon Rind (I used the rind of an entire lemon)

1 1/2 TBS Molasses

1/2 Tsp Vanilla

3/4 Cup plus 2 TBS Flour

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats

Directions:

1.  Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees (once dough is done chilling.)

2.  Mix the first seven ingredients (shortening, white sugar, brown sugar, egg, lemon rind, molasses and vanilla) thoroughly.

3.  Sift together the next three ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) and add to the first mixture.

4.  Stir in rolled oats and mix thoroughly by hand.

5.  Press and mold into a long smooth roll about 2 1/2′ diameter.  Wrap in wax paper and chill until stiff (several hours or overnight.)

6.  With a thin, sharp knife cut into thin slices 1/8′ thick.  Place slices on an ungreased cookies sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

A few notes:  These overcook really quickly so if you prefer them on the chewy side, they won’t look quite ‘done’ when you take them out.  Just let them sit on the sheet for another 5 minutes before moving to a rack to cool.  Also, this recipe doesn’t double well, so make each batch individually.

Dessert Three Ways

I really enjoy being a part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  I was recently picked to try out Duncan Hines and Comstock products for this go round.  I was given some coupons for myself and to share with others for free products.  All my friends and family were very happy!  I chose several products to try:  Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake with the Amazing Chocolate Glaze, Duncan Hines Brownie Mix and the Comstock Lemon Pie filling.

I made the Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake with the Amazing Chocolate Glaze as- is for my mother’s birthday party.  This cake was to die for!  We all really enjoyed it.  I made it as a bundt cake and it was so moist and rich.  The Glaze was so, so easy to use and I personally think it is much more yummy than regular frosting.  This is definitely a must-try, even if you are partial to scratch baking.

I used the Brownie mix to make a peppermint mocha brownie by just adding one tablespoon of instant espresso powder and 1 cup of chopped white chocolate peppermint bark.  I based this around popular holiday drinks as I thought the brownie would lend really well to the flavors.  I used a lot more instant espresso than I normally would as I really wanted to drive the mocha flavor home and it worked!  The brownies were very easy and turned out just as I had planned so I was really happy with them.

For the Comstock Lemon Pie filling, I made a bread pudding.  It was my first time making bread pudding but I really thought that lemon would go well with the texture and mild flavor.  Again, I was really happy with the result!  It came out creamy with a mild lemon flavor, our family really enjoyed it!

I really urge you to try any of these products, whether to bake as-is or to experiment with putting your own twist on them!  Thank you to Foodbuzz, Duncan Hines and Comstock for giving me the opportunity to try these great products!

LEMON BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients:

12 Cups of Croissant or Butterflake Rolls, cubed

6 Eggs

1 Cup Sugar

2 Cups Whole Milk

1 Tsp Pure Maple Syrup

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1 Can of Comstock Lemon Pie Filling

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a 9×13 pan.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and maple syrup together.  Gradually mix in the milk and the flour until well blended.

3.  Add bread cubes to the mixture and stir until all bread cubes have soaked up the liquid.  Add half the can of lemon pie filling to the bread mixture and mix well.

4.  Add half of the bread cubes to the baking dish.  Spread half the can of the lemon pie filling over the entire the layer.

5.  Add the remaining bread mixture on top of the lemon pie filling.

6.  Bake for 45 minutes, toothpick inserted should come out clean.