Shrimp Trio...er...Duo!

Inspired by a back episode of Top Chef, i decided to make a diet friendly shrimp trio. Unfortunately, the shrimp cocktail didn't make it into the photo. But do you really need a recipe for shrimp cocktail anyways? Yeah, i didn't think so. These are Weight Watchers recipes and i have to say, they were DELICIOUS and super light too!

Chile Caribbean Shrimp Skewers
First up shrimp skewers. These were really simple to prepare and cook. I made them on my stove top in a grill pan. I don't know if i used too much red pepper flakes or what, but when i put these suckers in my hot grill pan, i couldn't stop coughing. Thank goodness they were only in the pan for just a few short minutes. They were done in a flash and extremely flavorful.

Next up, a PHENOMENAL fried rice.
Thai rice with pineapple and shrimp
I'm not really a fried rice kind of girl, but how can you go wrong with pineapple and shrimp Thai fried rice? I AM a sucker for just about anything Thai. ;) This recipe did not disappoint, the flavors were light and fresh and made a perfect pairing to the spicy shrimp skewers. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I love love love this rice. Even if you aren't watching your figure, you should totally try this recipe out. :)

Melted Cheese

Thursday nite is STILL pizza nite around here and we FINALLY learned how to make the BEST cheese pizza. We still buy the dough from Mario the Baker BUT instead of shredded mozzarella cheese, we started to use sliced mozzarella cheese. WOW! That makes a gorgeous pizza!

Of course, we cook by trial and error, so the first time we made it that way, we burned the crap out of the cheese and the dough was still soggy. The second time around, we got a bit wiser and pre-baked the crust for about 5-7 minutes, then topped with sauce and the sliced cheese, then rebaked till golden. Yummy yum yum yum.



Sliced cheese is the way to go for a ooey gooey pizza pie! ;)

Turkey- LaSpadas Style

If you are a local, you may have heard of LaSpadas. A tiny sub shop that makes the world's best subs. Ok, the 'world's best' may be stretching it just a teeny tiny bit, but i'm telling you, these are life changing subs.

And i'm here to spill what makes these subs amazing. Of course it's the fresh cut meats, of course it's the soft hoagie bread and of course it's your choice of condiments BUT it's the way they TOP your handmade hoagie with extra meat that makes it a LASPADAS sub! Now i know you are sitting there reading this going, what? meat on top? weird! But don't knock it till you try it.

Here's our attempt at the homemade version.


And if we weren't so damned hungry we would have taken more photos, but the sub disappeared too fast for the flashbulb to catch it! ;)


Laspadas Original Hoagies
2645 S. University Drive
Davie, FL 33328
(954)476-1099
www.laspadashoagies.com

Double Potato Mash

Have i mentioned that i puffy heart Nigella Lawson? She's the only cooking television personality that i totally get geeked out over. She's FABULOUS! She's got a show on the Food Network called Nigella Feasts, its only on once a week (poo!) BUT it's totally worth setting your TIVO for, because the show is divine!

After watching her Comfort Foods episode, as soon as the credits were rolling i was in the kitchen peeling a sweet potato and a white potato. Hello?! BRILLIANT mixing the two.

Double Potato Mash

I did make a couple slight alterations to the recipe cause i didn't have mace and wasn't going to go out and buy some. :P

I boiled the sweet and white potato together, drained, then whipped them up using my hand mixer. I had never made mashed potatoes with olive oil before either, but it was a nice flavor. And i just grated just a teeny bit of Fontina cheese into the potatoes as i whipped them up.


These were phenomenal! I served with barbecued brisket and sweet yellow corn. There's a slight sweetness that comes from the sweet potato that is paired with the fruitiness of the evoo that lends itself to a gorgeous creamy potato mash that's not like your mama's mashed potatoes. ;)

This recipe i have made at least half a dozen times this summer, just making slight variations on the mix ins. This is a fabulous must try recipe from the lovely Nigella Lawson.

i want candy

So, my summer has been insane and in the middle of it all, i decided to jump back on the weight loss wagon and join Weight Watchers. This blog will be taking a turn to more healthy recipes i've been trying out, but please, i'm human and i also throw in a decadent recipe (or ten) into the mix. ;)

And what did i choose for my first 'diet' recipe? CANDY of course! lol.

Raspberry Chocolate Cups

This was fun to do, and it's a lot easier to make then you'd imagine. The photo below has the jam filled cup on the left and the finished raspberry cup on the right.



My hubby even thought these were pretty good, the only suggestion he threw out there was try a different jam next time. He's partial to grape jelly, but a grape chocolate cup to me is total gag, so i tried it with strawberry jam, and it's totally YUM! :)

There you have it, diet chocolate! AWESOME!

Excuse me, There's a party in my cake!

Funfetti is the bomb!

Seriously.

Need i say more?

Here Comes Trouble!

Trouble only cause this is so delicious that if there's leftovers, you'll be reheating this in the morning and then when it's all gone, you'll be counting the days till the next event where you can make Mom's Heavenly Brie again.

This recipe is to die for, people. TO DIE FOR. Trust me. Try it, then come back and tell me A. How much of it YOU ate, and B. How much weight you think you gained from eating the whole thing. ;)

Mom's Heavenly Brie

1 round piece of brie- skin removed, chopped roughly
2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls (i used reduced fat)
brown sugar
1/4 stick of butter

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a baking dish, take 1 can of crescent rolls and place on bottom of the dish and put the points of the dough up the side of the dish. take half of the brie and place on top of the dough, top with about a handful of brown sugar and then add a couple pats of butter. Fold the points of the dough in and over. Take the 2nd can of dough and do the exact same process all over again. Then pop into the oven till golden brown. I can't remember how long exactly, i want to say about 20-25 mintues. But you know, just keep peaking. ;) When it's golden and bubbly take it out and let it cool sliughtly before serving. Enjoy!

This dish is divine! Try it and let me know what you think! :)

Pan y Churrasco

My hubby man's the grill. And i love a man who can grill, cause it means he's cooking and i'm not! lol. And omg, lol, i can't believe he was cutting in the pan. What a nerd. I wonder if he scratched my pan. Yes readers, don't cut anything in a non-stick pan, cut on a cutting board. ;)


Here's a simple chimichurri recipe, but we used jarred sauce.

Chimichurri Sauce:
3 bunches curly parsley, finely chopped
6 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh garlic
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 cup white vinegar

We marinate skirt steaks for about an hour, in half a jar of chimichurri and then as the steaks are grilling (about 5 min per side), he bastes it with more, then serves with the remaining chimichurri. mmmmmmm....

Man, just looking at these photos is making my tummy grumble. Vegetarians, i have no idea how this doesn't make your mouth water. Yes, yes i know, different strokes. ;)

We serve it with slices of lightly toasted Cuban Bread.


This loaf of fresh Cuban bread from my Abeulo's favorite bakery. Here's a recipe for Pan Cubano. I never in a million years would even attempt to make it, cause well it's everywhere here. But if it's not readily available in your hood, you may want to give it a shot. Quick, easy and tasty! What else could you want for a party?! :)

Cheddar Artichoke Quiche Cups

Cheddar Artichoke Quiche Cups

This was my least favorite of the party foods. Maybe cause it sent me on a mission to Target about 2 hours before my party started cause i didn't have the mini muffin pan like i thought i had. But no, that wasn't the reason, the reason was cause it was so damned greasy! My hubby did take a couple nice photos of it (thanks, babe!), so enjoy the eye candy!



But if you are going to make it, please make some alterations to the recipe. Actually, when i read the recipe i thought it was written wrong, it calls for 4 cups of cheese, which to me was strange, cause the ratio of all the other ingredients sounded right, but then the cheese seemed like too much. But the clock was ticking and i just wanted to get them in the oven and get ready. So i made it as written and my guests politely ate a couple, but i had a TON of these left over.

They looked pretty, but these were pretty...eh.

Bacon and Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

So, we continue on the fattening party food express. I had mushrooms, so i decided to stuff them. Guess what, there's like 2 million stuffed mushroom recipes that include some sort of cream cheese varation on the stuffing. I've had about a million of them in my lifetime, so i was hoping to find something a little different. I finally found 1 recipe that didn't say cream cheese.

Bacon and Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

These were delicious! I didn't have crimini mushrooms, used button mushrooms, to save time, i used real bacon bits and also added a handful of breadcrumbs to soak up some of the impending grease from all that cheddar and bacon goodness. These flew right off the platter, i didn't even have the chance to taste them at the party.

But you know how that goes, every good chef tastes her food prior to serving, so i had one, ok more like 3, prior to serving. ;) There was some stuffing left over so i formed the stuffing in balls and baked them along with the mushrooms. The stuffing balls didn't look very good, so i just kept those in the kitchen and i ate them later. They didn't look very good, but they sure tasted GREAT!

Of course i forgot to take a photo before they went out, so in the middle of the party, i said oh crap, i need a photo and took one, not a very good one, but those last 4 mushrooms disappeared like as soon as the flash went off. lol.


If you like stuffed mushrooms but would like to change it up for your next party, i HIGHLY reccomend this recipe. :)