Shrimp with Lime-Cilantro Dipping Sauce

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Prep: 10 min. Cook: 6 min.
Serves: 8
Cost per serving: $2.11

Shrimp:
32 medium to large shrimp (about 2lbs.) peeled & deveined
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 c. soy sauce
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. sugar

Directions:
Preheat broiler. Make sauce by combining soy sauce, cilantro, lime juice, oil, sugar & 1tbsp water in small bowl. Mix well until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Sauce an be prepared up to 2 days in advance and stored, covered, in the refrig. Make shrimp by rinsing cooked shrimp under cold water, drain & pat dry. Place them in a large bowl and add all the "shrimp" ingredients until coated well. Then thread shrimp onto skewers & place on flat cooking pan. Pour remaining sauce on top of shrimp. Cook shrimp about 3 minutes on each side until bright pink and firm (total 6 minutes). Serve over a bed of rice with dipping sauce.

Notes: YUM! We loved this dish. So easy to make also. Hint: I just bought the already cooked frozen shrimp from Walmart for like $5. Thawed them, rinsed & pat dried them. Worked perfectly. I didn't have a lemon to "zest" so I skipped that part. Served it over brown rice & the sauce was so yummy on the rice as well. Good healthy dish. Picked this up out of All You magazine.

Per Serving: 208 Cal, 11 g fat, 171 mg chol. , 0g fiber, 24g Pro., 3g Carb, 1,218 mg Sod.
HINT: You could use low sodium soy sauce to cut down on the sodium intake.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

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Ingredients:
1/2 lb. (aka 8 ounces) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
12 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cups raspberry jam, softened

Directions:
Cream butter & sugar in mixer until well combined. Add flour & oatmeal and mix gently to make a crumble dough. Pat 2/3 of dough into buttered 9x13 pan, set aside 1/3 dough for topping. Combine cream cheese & condensed milk in mixer & beat until smooth, this will be a fairly thick mixture. Drop cream cheese mixture onto crust & spread with back of metal spoon. Soften jam in microwave until pourable, and spread over cream cheese mixture. Crumble remaining dough onto top of raspberry preserves. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.

Notes: DELICIOUS! YUM! YUM! The only thing I changed up on this recipe was the coating of the pan. Instead of using butter, I just used cooking spray. Recipe taken from some magazine, but forgot which one.

Pink Pasta

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1 pkg. Bowtie Pasta (cooked and drained)
1 pint whipping cream
1 lb. Italian Sausage (or just use ground beef)
2 cans Italian style Tomatoes
½ lb. Fresh sliced Mushrooms

Sauté sausage and mushrooms. Add tomatoes and simmer 10 min. Add cream and simmer 10 more minutes. Pour over hot pasta and mix to coat all pasta.

Notes: I only use 1/2 a pint of whipping cream because we all know this cream is lethal! I have used penne pasta and can mushrooms in the past. They work pretty good if you are desperate, but the original recipe with fresh mushrooms are by far better! Recipe provided by my good friend, Maria.

Easiest Yummiest Turkey Chili Ever!

photo from http://www.yumsugar.com

I had a request for my chili recently, and I've been meaning to post it. Especially since we are now in the fall/winter seasons, this recipe will WARM you up! It's not spicy, so the kids love it. It's not heavy either, but full of flavor. I want to say it's pretty healthy too! Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 lb. of ground turkey
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 (8 oz) can of Italian diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 can of corn (half drained)
1 can of kidney beans (drained)
1 chopped onion (if I have time to chop it, but it's not necessary)

Directions:
Cook ground turkey with onions in skillet until pink is gone. Sprinkle in taco seasoning & mix well. Pour in Italian diced tomatos, corn, and beans. Add one can of water also. Mix well & simmer about 15 minutes. Serve with sour cream, cheese, or crackers if you wish.

Seared Salmon with Balsamic Sauce

Ingredients:
4 (4 ounce) salmon fillets
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 t. canola oil
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar ( or balsamic salad dressing)
4 1/2 t. lemon juice
4 t. brown sugar

Directions:
Sprinkle both sides of fillets with salt & pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, cook fish in oil over medium heat for 10- 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, turning once. Remove and keep warm. Combine the water, vinegar or dressing, lemon juice and brown sugar; pour into skillet. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to about 1/3 c. Serve over fish.

Nutritional: One serving (1 fillet w/ 2 tbsp. of sauce) equals 257 calories, 15 g of fat (3 saturated fat), 67 mg cholestrol, 366 mg sodium, 7 g carbs, 23 g protein.

NOTES: MY KIDS LOVE to eat fish cooked like this & with this sauce. I have cooked this meal with salmon, tilapia & mahi mahi. All turned out great! If you don't have any balsamic vinegar on hand, just substitute with your favorite balsamic dressing. Recipe found through allrecipes.com Enjoy!

Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Pasta

image from raisingchefs.com

Ingredients:
1 lb. shrimp (pre-cooked)
1/2 c. butter
2 t. parsley (fresh or dried)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 t. lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
12 oz. linguine noodles

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions and set aside. In large skillet, melt butter with parsley, garlic and lemon juice until heated through. Add shrimp and gently stir for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Add pasta and stir to coat. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese. Serves 6-8.

Notes:
This recipe is EASY & DELICIOUS! Seriously felt like I was eating from Macaroni Grill! I picked this recipe up out of The Crossroads Journal newspaper. It was a hit in our home! Some pointers, I used whole wheat pasta noodles to make it a bit healthier. Also I didn't have fresh Parmesan on hand, so I substituted fresh mozzarella. I also used about only half of the amount requested for the cheese. I did use dry parsley & it brought great flavor. The shrimp I used was pre-cooked w/ tails, just bought at Walmart in the frozen section. I thawed the shrimp, rinsed them & just threw them in as is. It was super easy & oh so good!

My Momma's Chess Cake

Mix Together:
1 yellow or lemon cake mix (not prepared)
1 egg
1 stick of butter

Pour and press into a 13'x9' cake pan.

Mix Secondly:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 box of powdered confectioner's sugar
2 eggs

Pour on top of above crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Thanks Momma! I topped this batch w/ some candy corn to make it look festive for Halloween!