Stir-Fried Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce

I present to you another great meal from Cooking Light. This dish brings 2 things together I love.....seafood and stir fry. This dish was easy to make and it cooks up very quickly. I decided to serve it with Lo Mein Noodles (found in Asian section of grocery store). It has a slightly sweet, slightly spicy flavor. Was it good? Let's just say we all went for second helpings. I will definitely save this recipe for my "keeper" list.

I did make one change to the recipe. It calls for Chile Paste with garlic and I couldn't find that ingredient in my grocery store so I used 1/2 tsp of Sriracha Sauce instead. This is a hot and spicy-sweet sauce found in the Asian section of your store. I may add a little more next time for more spice or you could also use a large pinch of red pepper flakes.

Click here for recipe

Look at that beautiful shrimp!

What a healthy meal: seafood, vegetables & fruit

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: I normally buy my shrimp with the shells on and just peel and devein them at home. But sometimes, when I want a quick dinner or I don't want to take the extra time to peel them, I have my husband (he works near our seafood market) buy them already peeled and deveined. This cost only about fifty cents more per pound. Minimal cost for the convenience. So, for a quicker and more convenient dinner, buy your shrimp already peeled and deveined.

Charred Corn Relish and Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club

I've been invited to a Supper Club where everyone brings a dish and we enjoy food, conversation & meeting new people. But, this is not your ordinary Supper Club. This is where 5 food bloggers (3 from America & 2 from Canada) come together for the first time for a Virtual Supper Club. The menu will be recipes all from Cooking Light Magazine. Cooking Light has generously agreed to partner with us on our Virtual Supper Club and we will be featured on the Cooking Light website! All 5 of us love Cooking Light recipes and what a fun way to share with all of you!

I am a subscriber to Cooking Light magazine and I look forward to getting my copy every month. Not only does it have a variety of healthful recipes, there are wonderful articles on exercise, nutrition, travel and meal menus, just to name a few items. Cooking healthy or "light" doesn't have to mean bland or boring. Cooking Light magazine and it's website, CookingLight.com allows me to give balance to our family meals and to our lives.

For our first supper gathering, we have decided to showcase recipes that celebrate two holidays; Canada Day and Independence Day. These are recipes that you could make for your holiday celebration.

For me, July 4th is: birth of our nation, patriotic, Declaration of Independence, red, white & blue, fireworks, celebrations, summer, barbecues, fun.

Canada Day, which is July 1st, is Canada's National Day. It is considered Canada's Birthday and similar to our July 4th it is celebrated with picnics, barbecues, parades & fireworks.

Before I present what dish I'm "bringing", I want to introduce you to the 4 other ladies in our Supper Club.

Aggie - lives in Central Florida and is also my sister-in-law. Her blog is Aggie's Kitchen and she is bringing a salad....Spinach Salad with Stone Fruits & Maple Spiced Pecans.

Shelby - lives in Northern New York and her blog is The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch. She is also bringing a salad....Curried Chicken Salad with Nectarines.

Val - lives in British Columbia, Canada. Her blog is More than Burnt Toast and she will be bringing the main dish....Maple Grilled Salmon.

Helene - lives in Vancouver Island, Canada. Her blog is La cuisine d'Helene. She is bringing the dessert....Cool Creamy Chocolate Dessert.

Jamie (me) - lives in the Panhandle of Florida. My blog is Mom's Cooking Club and I'm bringing the side dish....Charred Corn Relish (see link for recipe).

The Charred Corn Relish is a fantastic and flavorful side dish. The sweetness of the grilled corn paired with the spice and heat of the chipotle chile was a great match. This dish adds so many good ingredients for you from the corn to the red bell pepper to the grape tomatoes. It is low in calories (only 76 calories for half cup serving) and extremely low in fat. This is a great side dish to bring to a barbecue, family gathering or picnic. You can make it ahead of time and place it in the refrigerator since this is a cold corn relish.

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: try grilling your ears of corn this summer instead of boiling. I feel grilling your corn brings out more flavor of the corn. The slightly smoky flavor of the charred corn along with the sweetness of the corn is a great combination.

Enjoy more meals from our Virtual Supper Club next month as we have another "get-together" and eat great food from Cooking Light.

Happy Canada Day & 4th of July!

Blueberry Buckle - A Father's Day Dessert

I wanted to bake something for my husband for Father's Day and since he loves blueberries, I thought a blueberry dessert would be perfect. I have seen some wonderful blueberry recipes lately, like Family, Friends and Food - Blueberry Crumb Cake & For the Love of Cooking - Blueberry Crumb Bars. I decided to make Blueberry Buckle from the Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook (click on link for recipe). I wasn't sure what a Buckle was so I hopped on the internet for a little research. Basically it's a cake with berries in the batter, usually blueberries, and then topped with a streusel-like mixture. As I'm writing this post, I'm eating a piece. I had to sneak one for an accurate review. All I can saw is Wow! This cake is wonderful! The cake is light and very moist with bursts of blueberry popping in my mouth. The crunchy streusel is such a great contrast to the soft cake. I know my husband will love it! Happy Father's Day!

The cake batter

Gently fold the blueberries in with the batter.



The cake batter is thick so spread carefully in pan.

Yum! Look at that crumb (buckle) topping.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Blueberries are in season now and they are less expensive to buy. Now is the time to stock up on this wonderful fruit. Check out this method on how to freeze blueberries.

Honey-Teriyaki Chicken

Simple, simple, simple....but so much flavor! I knew when making the sauce for this chicken it was going to be good. It smelled great. The chicken turned out so moist and we loved the honey-teriyaki flavor. The recipe called for 8 chicken thighs. I used 4 thighs and a package of drumsticks. I happened to have a box of Rice-a-Roni Chicken Teriyaki rice in my pantry(perfect match). Along with some green beans and my family had a well balanced and delicious meal.

Honey-Teriyaki Chicken

Recipe by Everyday Food Magazine May 2009

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds total)

Directions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a large bowl, mix honey, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat. Transfer chicken and sauce to baking sheet.

Bake chicken, skin side up, basting occasionally with pan juices, until well browned and cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve chicken drizzled with pan juices.

A great all-around family meal

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Fresh ginger gives such a bold flavor to this dish. I usually find large pieces in my produce section, so I break off a reasonable size piece which keeps it more affordable since it's priced by the pound. Ginger can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three weeks if left unpeeled or stored unpeeled in the freezer for up to six months.

Barbecue Sloppy Joes

I'm back from a mini-vacation to see some family. I got to spend some days with my sister, Maxine and her family and my brother, Larry and his family. Larry is married to Aggie from the blog Aggie's Kitchen. Check out the Beer Can Chicken we made. It was delicious and fun to make! Now, on to my recipe of Sloppy Joes. I grew up eating that famous "sloppy joe in a can" and that's how I made it at home. But, in the last couple of years, as my cooking has expanded, I've made sloppy joes from scratch. It is still very easy to make and very flavorful. Here is a version I tried when I saw it on Down Home with the Neelys on Food Network. It has more of a barbecue flavor and it was very tasty.

Spenser's Sloppy Joes

Recipe by The Neelys from Food Network

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
4 hamburger buns, split
Barbecue sauce, for topping

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet with straight sides. Add the bell peppers and garlic. Saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the ground beef to the vegetables. Stir and cook about 8 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink and fully cooked.

Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire, and hot sauce into the skillet. Stir. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve on hamburger bun with extra sauce

The husband and I like to eat it open-faced.

The girls like to eat it like a sandwich.

Enjoy!


Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Step away from the can and try homemade Sloppy Joes. It only takes a few extra minutes to prepare but the flavor is so much better than the "canned" way.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Hurry! Quick! Go to the store right now and buy the ingredients for these cookies. Then, get in your kitchen and make them.....right away! These cookies were unbelievably good. I couldn't keep my husband's hand out of the cookie jar...literally! I am so happy I found this recipe on the blogs For the Love of Cooking and The Crepes of Wrath. My pictures don't do them justice so check out these 2 other blogs for some wonderful photos. These were one of the best cookies I've ever made. So, what are you waiting for.....get baking!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Recipe from For the Love of Cooking & The Crepes of Wrath

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (chopped, if needed) macadamia nuts
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl then set aside. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla with a mixer until creamy.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just mixed. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips by hand. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased or lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 4-5 minutes (so cookies can set) before moving to a rack.

The dough is chock full of white chocolate chips and nuts.




I lined my baking sheet with parchment paper and they turned out great.

Enjoy! I know you will!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of macadamia nuts. I used about a cup but I kept most of them whole. I only chopped some of the nuts. This made it very chunky so for me 1 cup was plenty. Also, I used about 1 1/4 cups of white chocolate chips instead of the 2 cups listed in the recipe. I liked this proportion of nuts, white chocolate chips and cookie dough. But, use the amounts you like. You won't be disappointed either way.




Another school year has ended. Congratulations to my daughters for doing such a great job in their first year of Middle School. 6th grade went by way too fast. Let's all have a fun summer! Now, let's go girls....we have some more baking to do!!!

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine

Quick, simple to make and delicious. Now that's my recipe for a weeknight dinner. I loved the red pepper and mushrooms in this dish. Along with the shrimp, sauce and seasonings. It all tasted so good together. I made some broccoli to go with it (can't ever have too many vegetables) but it really is a full meal by itself.

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine

Recipe from Cooking Light

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients
1 cup water
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
6 ounces uncooked linguine (I used half a pound)
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper, cut into (1/4-inch-thick) slices
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (see note at bottom regarding making your own blend)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation
Combine 1 cup water and broth in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Break pasta in half; add to pan. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 8 minutes. Add shrimp to pan. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes or until shrimp are done; drain.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and pepper to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until moisture evaporates. Add flour, seasoning, and salt to pan; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in half-and-half; cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add pasta mixture and parsley to pan; toss.

Making the sauce is simple and it only takes a few minutes



Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: For the Cajun seasoning, I used a blend I found on Prudence Pennywise's site. I keep it in a container and it's great on grilled chicken breasts, oven fries or anytime you want to spice up a dish. Here is the recipe for your own Cajun spice blend: combine 4 teaspoons each salt and paprika, 3 teaspoons each garlic powder, onion powder and pepper, and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons each cayenne, thyme and oregano.