Linguine with Shrimp and Vegetables

Here's the plate with the Linguine and Green Bean Salad

This was DELICOUS!  I used frozen shrimp, let them thaw, and then cooked.  Easy and yummy! 

Make sure you let the sauce reduce all the way- I didn't , and it was a bit "liquidy," but still delicious. 

We will be making this one again!

Green Bean and Walnut Salad

I made this with the Linguini with shrimp and veggies- wasn't the best combination, but separate they both tasted delicious! 

I steamed fresh green beans in my steamer and then tossed with the dressing.  Make exactly what she says, cause it goes a long way and is a very strong, but yummy, flavor. 

I think we will make these for a holiday party- a great healthy substitute for creamy green beans.

Grilled Zucchini Rollups with Herbs and Cheese

I made these for our wine club appetizer last Saturday evening and they were a huge hit!  Very healthy and easy to make.  I grilled the zucchini slices on my grill pan inside and they did great.  Don't forget to season them with salt and pepper- it needs it. 

If the goat cheese is a bit strong for you, or you want to only use half a container of it, mix it with fat free cream cheese and it tastes the same! 

Blueberry Blast Smoothie

One of Brayden's favorite snacks or breakfast foods are smoothies- I usually use a bag of frozen mixed frozen fruit, milk, a sweet n low, and voila!  You have a great smoothie.

I can't wait to try all of hers and learned that the honey sweetens just as well as the sweet n low.

I added one cup of crushed ice because I used fresh blueberries and wanted some crunch.

I also added one banana just because we love them and they were turning brown :)

Very yummy!

Pumpkin Pie Flan ~ page 297

This was a very yummy dessert! It tasted just like the middle of a pumpkin pie. Before I made these little flans I looked up Ellie's recipe online to read a few reviews. The only trouble people had was with the caramel topping. The recipe just says to stir 1/3 c of white sugar in a pan till it melts. Sounded easy enough, but most people said it hardened and didn't soften enough to drip over the top, so several recommended making double the sauce, so I melted down 2/3 cup and sure enough when I turned the flans out, half of the sauce came out perfectly, and the other half had hardened in the ramekin, but since I had doubled the sauce it was fine.

The sugar looked really weird as it melted...got crystal-y and chunky before it completely melted, but as you can see below, finally got all pretty and carmel like. She calls for 8 - 4oz ramekins, I just had 7 oz ramekins, so I used 4 of them, they were perfect.

After I turned them out I popped out the hardened caramel and used it to decorate the flans like a fancy restaurant would! I would make these again, I have 2 more in the fridge to eat later, I'm curious to see how they are after being chilled. They were great warm.

Oh, maybe I am blind, but I couldn't find the oven temp on the recipe, I had to look it up online! It is 350 degrees --Carissa

Sesame-Teriyaki Chicken Thighs p. 209 and Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs p. 212 as well as Sugar Snap Peas with Miso Sauce p.247

I had lots of chicken thighs in my freezer so was looking for recipes to use them up - with hurricane season upon us, you never want too much stuff in your freezer!!

Made the teriyaki sauce from p. 197 which was really easy as was the chicken recipe. We all liked this chicken and I would make it again.

The sugar snap peas with miso sauce were really good and I will make these again and again. The most difficult part is finding the white miso paste - don't carry at my local Krogers so I headed off to my local asian market - H Mart on Blalock. Of course they had about 15 different varieties of miso paste and since I don't really read Japanese I just picked one! I think it was $4.95 for the smallest package and it is a lot of miso paste! Need to find more recipes that call for this but it definitely had a great taste with the snap peas - don't think you should skip this ingredient!


The maple-mustard chicken was super easy but not a repeat recipe. Didn't like the maple taste with the chicken and my kids did not like the looks of the grainy mustard! I served with sweet potato fries and edamame radish salad.



My daughter and her bestie wanted to be photographed for the blog! For some reason they feel they are famous when their picture appears on this blog - how could I say no?

Blueberry Blast Smoothie ~ page 41

This was pretty simple, only 4 ingredients. I didn't use all fat free like she calls for. My milk was 2% and my yogurt was low-fat. The only addition I made was to add a few ice cubes to make it more milkshake like. My 5 year old and 2 year old LOVED it!

I will definitely make this again. --Carissa