Starting to feel like Bubba Gump

I mean really, I have so many shrimp recipes! This weekend I decided to flip through the rest of my recipes to decide what I would cook for the next few posts. Of course I realized that I had already cooked the ones that sounded the best, so now I am left with some questionable recipes, mostly which are shrimp. Don’t get me wrong, I do love shrimp, but I have a feeling Rusty and I will be eating shrimp 1-2 times per week for the next few months :/


The recipe I chose for this week was an unlikely winner. I am typically not much of a Cajun food eater. Realistically I just don’t like the spice of Cajun food. I unwillingly chose Paula’s Shrimp Gumbo recipe and gave it a whirl. Well, let me tell you, it was awesome!!!


I pulled my cast iron skillet for the first time in many months to make this delectable treat. Did you know that you are not supposed to wash cast iron with soap? In order to prevent rusting we actually just scrub and rinse the skillet really well and after drying, rub it with a little oil to keep it “seasoned.” For more info on cast iron care check out the Lodge Cast Iron Use and Care page.

What it takes to make some “Lick the Bowl Shrimp Gumbo:”

Start out by heating a little Garlic Gold in your skillet. Add you chopped onions and celery and sauté well.

Add in your seasonings, broth and okra and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Paula says 30 minutes but again, I don’t like to sit and wait very often.

After adding your shrimp, mix up your cornbread and dollop it out all over the top.

Using oven mitts, put your skillet in the oven, and voila!

A holy cow mixture of yummy gumbo goodness!


Obviously I really like the dish, but how about the nutrition facts? Well, because I used a typical Jiffy mix, my gumbo was not as light as I had hoped. Next time I make this I will probably try to make cornbread from scratch to help cut back on calories, fat and salt. Again, the calories don’t seem all that different even though I added more veggies and cut back the fat. Either way, I only had this for dinner, so 3 calories weren’t too bad (even though I ended dinner with a Pumpkin Cheesecake Bite).


The breakdown:

Lick the Bowl Shrimp Gumbo Casserole
Gumbo:
1 ½ cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
2 tbsp Garlic Gold
2 bay leaves
½ tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp Mrs. Dash lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp FNF seasoning (see recipe here)
2 cups 99% fat free chicken broth
2 cups diced tomatoes
16 oz package frozen okra, slightly thawed
2 cups shrimp, cleaned, peeled and deveined
Crust:
¼ cup Egg Beaters
1/3 cup skim milk
1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin mix

In a large cast iron skillet, heat oil and sauté onion and celery until softened. Add all seasonings, stock and okra. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine ingredients for corn muffins. Using a spoon, dollop mixture on top of gumbo, leaving center uncovered.

Carefully, put skillet in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until topping is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Another lasagna...

This lasagna was a bit of a combination of Paula's Shrimp and Scallop Lasagna and my adapted Turkey Spiral recipe. As y'all know I LOVE seafood. I love seafood so much that I took the majority of the shrimp recipes in our stack (partially because I love it and partially because Laura HATES it).

I will actually get to spend 5+ days with some of the freshest seafood in the country next week. My hubby and I have planned a fun couples getaway to San Francisco! We are so thrilled to go on a vacay, but I am also thrilled to get some of the freshest and tastiest crab, shrimp and fish on the West coast!!! Good thing I don't have to have my cholesterol checked because I would be in deep trouble after our shellfish fest :)

If you have been to San Fran, are there any restaurants you recommend?

You could say this lasagna is a little preview to some of the flavors I will be experiencing. Instead of letting this lasagna be all about the seafood, I had to add some veggies!

I started out with some fresh shrimp and scallops from Central Market. The guy behind the counter kind of skimped on my seafood, but I ended up with just under 1/2 a pound of each.

I also tried to find the whole wheat noodles that I used for my spirals. After looking high and low at all of the local grocery stores, I had to settle on normal noodles. I still did the nutrition info for wheat noodles, because they would be the ideal choice when making this dish.

The other change, or truly addition, I made was adding "creamed spinach" to the mix. I simply melted 8 oz of fat free cream cheese and a bit of Garlic Gold in a sauce pan. Once melted, I added the drained and thawed spinach. I let it cook through before layering it in the lasagna.

Overall, it actually turned out pretty good. I might make a little bit more sauce and possibly do 3/4 pound shrimp and 1/2 pound scallops. Either way, it was definitely edible and quite a treat.

Here are the facts (if you count points, 1/8 is about 6)

Spinach, Shrimp and Scallop Lasagna

12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 tbsp Smart Balance Light
1 tbsp + 1 tsp Garlic Gold
1 ½ onions, chopped
2 tbsp flour
2 ½ cups fat free half and half
1 cup 2% Italian Blend of cheeses
8 oz fat free cream cheese
10 oz chopped spinach, thawed and drained
¼ tsp black pepper
½ pound sea scallops
½ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9 inch casserole dish with canola oil spray.
In a large pot of water, cook the noodles until just done, approximately 10 minutes. Let sit until ready to assemble lasagna.

In a large skillet, melt the Smart Balance and 1 tbsp oil, then sauté the onions until soft. Over medium heat, whisk in the flour and gradually add the half and half. Add ½ cheese and pepper. Simmer until thickened. Once sauce begins to thicken add scallops and cook for 3-4 minutes, then add shrimp and cook for an addition 1-2 minutes. Let sauce stand.

In a small saucepan, melt cream cheese and 1 tsp oil. Add spinach and cook until heated through.

To assemble the lasagna, lay 4 noodles on the bottom of the casserole dish. Spread the spinach mixture on top of the noodles. Spread about ½ of the shrimp and scallops across the spinach with about 1/3 f the cream sauce. Layer 4 more noodles. Spread the remaining shrimp and scallops as well as another 1/3 of the cream sauce. Layer the last 4 noodles on the top, spreading the remaining cream sauce. Sprinkle ½ cup of Italian cheese across the top.
Bake the lasagna for 20-25 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling. Enjoy!

Paula's Favo is Mayo!

Laura and I were laughing today about how much mayonnaise we have gone through over the past few weeks! With so many "salad" recipes we keep having to buy more and more jars. In fact I have a fettuccine recipe that Paula uses mayo as the cream base!

To say the least, Laura and I don't use mayo much outside of the occasional sandwich. Paula however loves to use it as the main ingredient. Simply changing the quantity and type of mayo you use can make a huge difference in the calorie and fat content. There are many options on the shelves and you have to sift through all of the bright colored labels to find which mayo is right for you. I typically go for lower calorie and lower fat as well as mayo instead of Miracle Whip. I prefer mayo simply for the taste.

On to the recipe...this weekend I made a version of Paula's Shrimp Salad in Mini Phyllo Cups. I was in a pretty big hurry and forgot to take the picture of all of the ingredients. Part of the way through I remembered and grabbed a few shots!

The shrimp...

The Phyllo Cups!

The mayo...and a cutting board :)

And the celery + green onion + seasoning mixture...

The overall flavor of the cups wasn't just incredible. I am not a huge fan of celery, and to me the celery flavor was just too strong. I would have preferred more shrimp and less celery and mayo. The recipe below is what I would do to fit my taste!

Oh, and sorry I didn't get a pic, I was in such a hurry to make my new Sunday sandwich recipe I forgot to take a final product picture...if it makes any difference, they look just like Paula's with less fat :)

I don't have the comparisons but I do know how many calories are in each baby cup. I don't have two dogs to get to, but I do have this calling my name :)

Each cup:

Calories: 56

Fat: 1.9g

Sodium: 85mg

Fiber: 0.1g

Shrimp Cups

24 Mini Phyllo Cups (find in your grocer's freezer!)

2 1/2 cups of shrimp, cooked, peeled and finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 tbsp minced green onion

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise

1/4 tsp salt substitute

1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients (except phyllo cups) together. Fill each cup with an even portion of shrimp salad and enjoy!

(Sigh)

I would like to know how the handful of recipes we've collected have managed to earn the title of "Top 100." Surely, our recipe modifications aren't what's making them...less than stellar. Or perhaps they're just more suited to a different palate. I've landed another fail with Paula's Artichoke Rice Salad with Shrimp :( Sad day.



I assembled all my ingredients together and got started. I didn't use the marinade from the artichoke hearts because the mixture was goopy enough without adding another 1/4 cup of liquid. I also added peas instead of bell peppers because I already had some on hand in the freezer. I didn't add the pimentos OR the curry because I really don't like either. And the recipe also called for shrimp so I figured I could only handle adding one ingredient I dislike instead of three!

See what I meant by goopy enough??

I tried to tell Rooty this recipe wasn't looking so hot, so she might as well move on to something better, but she just stayed in her spot, watching.


After a quick roast in the oven, I pulled out the completed casserole.

It looks pretty but I didn't care for it because:
1. There was shrimp in it. I took a bite and I still don't like shrimp (no surprise there).
2. All I could taste was the "chicken" flavoring of the rice and pasta mix, I couldn't even tell there were artichokes in there.
3. 6 hours later, my stomach hurts. I asked Cody if the dish made me sick and he said the onset of illness depends on the bacteria; it could be 6 to 48 hours. I don't think the dish is behind my upset stomach, but I won't feel better about if for another 42 hours.

I'm going to keep it in my fridge and save my rating until I can have a neutral, shrimp-loving party taste it to get a true opinion. Perhaps I will bring some to Kat (in 42 hours!).

Here's the stats:

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 6	Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 331	Calories: 231
Fat: 18 g	Fat: 9.4 g
Sodium: 854 mg	Sodium: 606 mg
Fiber: 1 g	Fiber: 01 g

And the recipe.

FNF Dish With a Whole Lot of Textures

1 (6.9 oz) package instant Rice and Pasta Mixture, chicken flavor
1 (6 oz) jar marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
1/2 c light mayo
1/2 c frozen green peas
3-4 green onions, chopped, white and green parts
pepper, to taste
1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the rice and pasta mixture, according to package directions, omitting the oil/butter.

Drain the artichoke hearts. To the artichoke hearts, add the peas, green onions and black pepper.

Cook the shrimp, being careful not to overcook. Once cooked, chop coarsely.

Combine the rice and pasta mix with the artichoke mixture and the shrimp. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Almost Gumbo Casserole

One this recipe was put together; it reminded me of a great shrimp gumbo…minus the juice. Cooks beware, this recipe is very time consuming and, well, pan consuming. At one point I think I had 3 pans on my stove and my food processor going!

What is a favorite recipe that takes almost every pan in the kitchen?

The original recipe called for canned cream of mushroom soup. I tried to cut some of the fat and sodium by using a sauteed mushroom and cauliflower puree. Since I changed things up a bit, as we usually do, this recipe had lots of ingredients! Here they are:

One thing I wish I would have done is chop up the shrimp before mixing it with the rice. The shrimp, whole, are just too big when you scoop out the casserole. I might also add a little low sodium vegetable broth to the mixture before baking. My casserole was a little too dry, but I did cook it in a bigger casserole dish, so it may have just too much surface are when it baked.

Up close and personal....

The sodium was changed quite a bit! This dish is still on a higher end of calories but paired with lower calorie vegtables, would be a great dinner!

Shrimp and Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
¾ cup wild rice
½ cup brown rice
14 oz medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbsp Smart Balance, Light
½ green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup cauliflower, cooked and pureed
1 cup mushrooms, sautéed and pureed
1 ½ cups 2% Cheddar
¼ tsp salt substitute
½ tsp black pepper
Canola oil spray

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cook the rice in 2 cups water until almost all of the water is absorbed. Set aside.

Bring 2 cups of water to boil and cook shrimp for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Melt Smart Balance in saucepan and sauté the bell pepper and onion until soft.

In a large bowl, mix together the rice, shrimp, cauliflower, mushrooms, 1 cup cheese, salt substitute, pepper, and sautéed vegetables. Spray an 11 by 7-inch casserole dish with canola oil. Pour the shrimp mixture into dish and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

More Shrimp, Y'all

As Kat had mentioned before, I really don't like shrimp. I want to, just like I want to like beets, edamame and tofu, but I just don't like them. I think it's their rubbery texture. It doesn't matter if it's perfectly steamed or coated and fried, I just can't help but feel like I'm chewing on baby fingers. But I didn't think it was fair to make Kat cook all the shrimp recipes (because that would mean her house would be having shrimp until the end of this little experiment), so I ended up with a couple in my pile. Luckily, with Paula Deen's recipe for Potato Soup with Shrimp, I was able to make my portion shrimp-free.

I used skim milk and fat free half and half, opted for reduced fat cheese and a leaner turkey bacon. This recipe included a little bit more prep work. There was lots of chopping and pre-cooking. I worked diligently while my kitchen assistant looked on....

I cooked enough shrimp to add to my boyfriend's bowl and mixed it in at the end. Here's my serving, sans-shrimp and topped with turkey bacon and reduced fat cheddar cheese.

It was very tasty! Cody said his shrimp version was OK. But he has a very succinct rating scale: Good, Bad or OK. And in the 4 years we've been together, only and handful of recipes I've made for him have earned a "Good" rating (surely, it couldn't be my cooking!?!). So I'm taking that to mean this was something he'd eat again if I made it.

Here's the stats:

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 6	Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 669	Calories: 449
Fat: 31 g	Fat: 16 g
Sodium: 1875 mg	Sodium: 943 mg
Fiber: 4 g	Fiber: 2 g

Kat and I were talking today about the original serving sizes and we think they're way off. Her recipe says it serves 6. I cut the recipe down by 75%, so I should have ended up with only 1.5 servings but I ended up with 4 very reasonable servings. I left the servings the same in the table for the sake of comparison.

My ratings:

Taste: Seconds, Please!

Waist: (if you have limit your serving to 1 to 1 1/2 cups, instead of using the original serving size) Tighten Your Belt a Notch!

What foods do you wish you liked??

Shrimpy Potato Soup

1/4 c tub margarine
1 small onion
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 medium carrots, diced
8 medium Russet potatoes, cubed
4 c skim milk
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 c fat free half and half
1/4 tsp pepper
2 c water
1 lb shrimp
chopped turkey bacon
shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

In a large sauce pan, melt the margarine and saute the onion and carrots until both are slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the whole wheat flour and cook for 1 minutes. Add the potatoes, milk and bullion cubes. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are very soft and some of them have begun to turn to mush. Add the half and half and pepper.

In a small saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add the shrimp all at once and stir well. Cook 2-3 minutes or until they all turn pink. Remove from water and chop into big chunks.

Add the shrimp to the soup and stir well. Top each serving of soup with turkey bacon and cheese.

She Loves Shrimp, Y'all!

Second to butter, I think shrimp may be Paula’s favorite food! Out of all of the recipes that Laura printed off, at least one quarter to one half are shrimp recipes. Laura is not a huge fan of shrimp and I am not a huge fan of salmon, therefore we divided up the recipes accordingly. This means that my family will be having shrimp at least once a week! I am not completely opposed to shrimp; I would just say that I do not cook it at home very often.

Today’s seafood fare is a second Shrimp Sandwich. Instead of having pan fried whole shrimp like our revised Shrimp Sandwich a few weeks ago; this one has more of a tuna salad like texture.

One mistake I made with this sandwich was over pulsing in the food processor. I couldn’t tell if it was evenly chopped or not so I gave the shrimp a few extra spins. That was a very bad choice. I ended up with more of a shrimp paste than shrimp “crumbles.”

I didn’t have lettuce or tomatoes handy so this final picture is lacking the color of fresh veggies.

Overall, the flavor was pretty delicious and made for a great sandwich on the road. This sandwich was good dose of protein and fiber but not too heavy for our trip to the pool. I would definitely recommend this very easy sandwich, just be careful with the shrimp!


Here is the breakdown:


Shrimp Salad Whole Wheat Sandwich
1 pound cooked and de-veined shrimp
3 hard boiled egg whites, chopped
1 hard boiled egg yolk, chopped
2 celery stalks, finely minced
½ cup light mayonnaise
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp salt substitute
¼ tsp black pepper
8 slices, toasted, Nature’s Own Double Fiber Bread
Lettuce and tomato slices

Put the cold cooked shrimp in a food processor. Pulse until just finely chopped (Do not over process!). In a medium bowl, mix together shrimp, eggs, celery, mayo and seasonings. Divide the shrimp mixture between 4 sandwiches. Top shrimp mixture with slices of tomato and lettuce. Enjoy!

Shrimp and Oyster Po’Boy...Po’Pita...Sandwich

I absolutely love fried shrimp and oysters. I have fond memories of having “date night” with my dad and going to this little restaurant shaped like a boat, sharing baskets of these yummy artery blockers. I couldn’t resist trying to make the Shrimp and Oyster Po’Boy a little bit healthier.

I thought that a healthier option might 69 the hoagie and replace it with a high fiber pita. Unfortunately, it seems like no one makes pitas anymore, at least in my neighborhood. After visits to 3 different grocery stores I found tons of new high fiber wraps or sandwich thins but no pitas. So instead I am forced to make this Po’Boy just a plain old sandwich. I also decided, for budget reasons, to do away with the oysters. Fried oysters are wonderful, but at $1 each I decided to forgo the expensive clams and stick with just shrimp.

The process of making this sandwich was really quite easy. The tartar sauce was a mixture of light mayo, chopped green onions and chopped bread and butter pickles. I tried to find the salt free dill pickles, but again the selections were limited.

Pan frying the shrimp was not a as bad as I thought it might be. Once each batch was finished I let them drain on a paper towel covered plate. The only complaint I have is that some of the delicious breading stuck to the pan. Any good suggestions on how to avoid that?

On the plate the sandwich looked pretty good. I added some baked sweet potato fries as well as sliced radishes and a green onion for flare. Not only did the sandwich look good but the sandwich tasted awesome! I did not miss the deep fried shrimp at all. The only issue I had with the sandwich is that I needed a fork. Because the sandwich thins are so thin the sandwich kept falling apart. A pita would be a perfect solution, as it would act more like a shrimp cup, holding all of the ingredients in.

So here are the nutritional stats for a single sandwich:


Here is the modified recipe:

Shrimp Sandwich
1 tbsp Canola Oil
2 tbsp Whole Wheat Flour
2 tbsp White Flour
1 tsp FNF Seasoning (see recipe below)
2 tbsp Egg Substitute
6 Large Shrimp, peeled
1 Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin
1 ½ tbsp Tartar Sauce (see recipe below)
½ cup Shredded Lettuce
2 - ¼” Slices Tomato
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder

Foodies Not Fatties (FNF) Seasoning:
4 tbsp Garlic Powder
4 tbsp Black Pepper

Tartar Sauce:
6 tbsp Light Mayonnaise
½ cup Chopped Green Onion
½ cup Chopped Low Sodium Dill Pickle
¼ t FNF Seasoning

Place shrimp in a small bowl with the egg substitute. Stir until all shrimp are coated. Dredge shrimp in flour and seasoning mixture.
Heat oil in pan. Place shrimp in pan and flip once, cooking until done.
Spread tartar sauce evenly on sandwich thin. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Stack lettuce, tomato and shrimp on sandwich. Enjoy!