Lava Flows

Last week marked the one year anniversary of our last trip to Hawaii. 

Such great memories!  And one of the memories that we have tried to recreate is this yummy treat!

It took me a couple of tries, but I think I finally got it pretty close to the real thing.

Enjoy!!!

*3 oz of pina colada syrup
*1 cup of ice
*1 cup vanilla ice cream
*whipped cream

*1 1/2 cups strawberry puree
(I made my own strawberry puree

by blending 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries,

a little bit of water, a splash of lemon juice and

about 1/3-1/2 cup of sugar)

-Make the strawberry puree in blender first if you need to.

-In a blender, blend the pina colada syrup, ice

 and ice cream. Pour into glasses and

garnish with strawberry purree.

-Top with whip cream. 

(You can add some sprite to the lava flow if you want a little kick to it,

because the "real"

lava flows have rum added to it.  We add the Sprite sometimes and this is good either way.)

Mrs. Dash Pasta

This is so easy and we love it at our house.  The hardest part is cooking the chicken and the noodles.  The rest? A cinch. 


Mrs. Dash Pasta 


3 cooked chicken breasts (I used chicken tenderloins, I like them better.) cut up
Angel hair pasta, cooked
Steamed Vegetables (I used the steamer packs, so much easier)
2 tbs Olive oil
Mrs. Dash original spice
Shredded Parmesean cheese
Hot pepper flakes (optional)

Put olive oil in frying pan.  Warm on middle-high heat.  Throw in cooked chicken to brown a bit.  Then toss in pasta and vegetables.  Sprinkle with a generous amount of Mrs. Dash.  Cook together for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Toss in shredded parmesean

Cook a little longer.  Probably around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve and enjoy. 

Garlic Shrimp and Vegetables

One of our favorite dinners.  So easy.  Don't be afraid of frozen shrimp. They are super easy to cook with! A note about frozen shrimp.  It usually says it is deveined, which it totally is.  That just means the the largest vein is taken out.  It also means that the inside vein, which is much smaller, is left in.  Some people choose to take that out, some people leave it.  I think it depends on the size of the shrimp.  Smaller shrimp are cheaper, so this recipe used the smaller shrimp, so I didn't devein it.  With really large shrimp, I do.  Either way, you can't really tell a difference, but I just thought you should know.

Second, many sources say to never thaw shrimp under cool water.  Thaw it in the fridge.  I agree, but I also must confess that if I am in a hurry, I thaw it under running cool water.  It has worked for me, but if experts say not to, you probably shouldn't.  And now to the recipe:


Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp, as many as you would like, but note that they do shrink when you cook them.
Olive Oil
Garlic

Pour about 3 Tbsp olive oil in a nice skillet on medium-high heat. (Olive oil isn't supposed to get too hot and shouldn't smoke.)
Let oil heat up a bit.
Put 1 Tbsp minced garlic in the oil (I use more, because I LOVE garlic)
Brown the garlic in the oil for about 2 minutes
Put thawed shrimp in oil.

Shrimp cooks rather fast.  When it turns pink on both sides, it should be done.  However, for this recipe, I keep it in a little bit longer.  The garlic, oil and shrimp all brown up just right and it turns out sooooo yummy.

Vegetables:
1 bag steamer vegetables
put in microwave and cook according to directions
(tough huh? :) )


Plate shrimp and vegetables together.  Soooo good, and low fat/calories.  Yummy!

Spaghetti Squash

Brent and I love Spaghetti squash.  I like it plain, with a little butter, salt and pepper.  But it is also very good with Spaghetti Sauce on top.

We bought one last week that was 99 cents a pound.  The total was 1.19 and it lasted 3-4 meals.  Very easy and very delicious.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Wash the squash, especially around the stems.

Stab the squash with a knife while making the 'Psycho' movie sounds.

Put in oven, right on the rack.

Set the timer for 1 hour.

Pull out the squash with oven mitts.

Let the squash cool a bit, or if you are brave, use your oven mitts while it is hot.

Cut the squash in half the long way.  Scoop out the seeds and the squash guts (the stuff in the middle that is usually a darker yellow/orange. )

Be careful not to throw away the part you eat!

Scoop out the sides and the squash should easily fall apart into noodle like strands.

Put a little butter, salt and pepper on it and YUMMMO!