Shrimp Fra Diavolo

We finally tried this out tonight - my roommate from college provided me this recipe in the recipe book the girls made for me for my wedding shower.  So delicious and easy!

1 lb large shrimp (avoid farmed, imported shrimp)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried crushed red pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1-2 medium diced tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
3 cloves chopped garlic
Handful of fresh basil and parsley

Toss shrimp with salt and red pepper.
Heat olive oil in skillet and add shrimp; cook for about 2 minutes, remove from pan.

Add onions to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes until browned.  Add tomatoes w/juices, wine, garlic and herbs (I put the garlic and herbs in the food processor and then added them).  Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the shrimp back in and serve with your favorite pasta - we used whole wheat spaghetti.

Grilled Ribs with Dry Rub

Another allrecipes.com find - I followed this one exactly and it was really good, despite the meat being slightly charred!  Oops.

3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Rub on ribs

Wrap the ribs up securely in foil -

Grill at medium/low heat for approximately an hour and a half.  We had our heat too high, hence the charring...but will definitely make this rub again and keep the heat lower :)

Jerk Chicken Dry Rub

We loved this!  I was doubtful with the Cinnamon in it but it came out so delicious.  Adapted from this allrecipes.com recipe.

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Chicken (whole or breasts)

Rub on chicken

Grill and enjoy!

House History!

The man who grew up in our home stopped by 2 weeks ago, told us some interesting history, enjoyed checking out all the work we have done, and told us that he had a few pictures from his mother of the house.  In the mail a few days later, we received them!

The house in 1938:

Another from 1938 - with 3 front doors:

1938:  The well that she is pumping from is still out there and still works!

The family in 1954.  The man who came to our house is the baby!  The longer chicken coop in the background is still out there (the other buildings have been removed) and the 2 apple trees in the picture are now HUGE.

1954:  There was a screened-in porch on the front, and a storm took down the tree that took down the porch.  The ladder in the background is still in the barn, and the front door pictured is the same one we still have!

1954 family photo.  The fenceline location is now home to huge evergreens.

We were so appreciative of the former owner for sharing these with us - I'm still working on thinking of a nice way to display these in our house!

Garden Update

The garden is doing well - still only herbs harvested so far.  Soon!

So for now we are still relying on the farmer's market -

This week we got:  redleaf and buttercrunch lettuces, pickling cukes and an asian cucumber, dill for pickling, red scallions, sweet onions, sugar snap peas and snow peas, zucchini & squash, buffalo burgers, a buffalo flank steak, and lamb chops!

Lots of Chicken!

We found a great local farm last week in perfect timing - they were processing their chickens on Tuesday.  So Chris headed to Tomenchock Farms after work and picked up 10!  The Tomenchocks pasture raise heritage breed birds with no hormones or antibiotics and only feed non-GMO corn!  We bought 4 wholes and the rest as halves for easier cutting.

 

So now we are happy to be very stocked up on great local natural chicken! 

We grilled one of the halves - with just some salt and pepper and garlic and it was delicious!!

 

Garden - beginning of June

The garden is growing well - I also planted a few new plants this weekend to fill in some open spots we had where a few plants failed.

Bathroom Reno. Ctd.

This weekend we ripped out the shower - we are committed!

We met with the mason and we have more mortar removal to do and are going to test a few methods to clean the plaster dust off of the stones.  But we are getting there!  Just have to get the tub out now...

We are really starting to be able to envision the final product now - the stones are looking great and it is going to be a really nice sized bathroom.

Our shower for the meantime:

Lily

...loves the summer

Chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and gorgonzola

The gorgonzola was a bit strong for Chris so I would probably use different cheese next time, but a good recipe regardless.  The gorgonzola gets a much stronger taste when it's baked and hot so you don't have to be too generous.

Ingredients:

1 pkg chicken breasts

spinach

gorgonzola

flour

salt and pepper

Slice chx breasts in half lengthwise so they are thin sliced.

Layer spinach and gorgonzola, roll up the chicken, and secure with toothpicks.

Flour the chicken breasts and preheat skillet to medium/high with vegetable oil.

Sauté chicken until well cooked on each side, turning to brown.  Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 350 deg. F.

 

Once all sides are browned, place chicken in oven to finish cooking until cooked through, approximately 10 minutes.

More Larabar-type bars*

These are such a great, quick grab-and-go snack.  I made them for the first time in May.

This time I made the PB&J bars again and also a batch of cranberry/almond/coconut bars that were so good!

1/4 cup+ dates, pitted
1/4 cup+ dried cherries
1/8 cup almonds
1/8 cup toasted coconut

Mix in food processor, form into bars, and refrigerate until serving.