Monday, September 29, 2008

A really fast shrimp dinner and a funfilled weekend of skating!

Every once in a while your whole schedule and routine gets thrown off kilter right? Well mine gets thrown off so often now I have no routine. Last week it was T.'s Dad and the ongoing medical saga that has become our lives and a skating competition. I just could not cook anything new and was so uninspired that I would have made my family eat hot dogs for dinner if I thought I could have gotten away with. That is all going to change this week. I am back on track!!!

She's lucky number 7!!!

As for the skating competition...my youngest daughter rocks!!! She did 2 events and placed 1st for both of them. What an accomplishment for her.

A short video of her doing her program. She still looks so tiny out there on that huge slab of ice!!!



Friday night I had practice at the rink so we decided that it wouldn't be too terribly late when I got home and I could just whip together a quick pasta dinner. I knew I had some frozen shrimp in the freezer and some whole wheat linguine (no additives just plain old whole wheat durum flour!!!). The frozen shrimp are so easy to work with. Just make sure that before you freeze them they are cleaned and peeled. I leave the tails on but that is just personal preference.

Once again there is no recipe. On nights like that I am way too busy to follow one anyway. Here is a list of ingredients and near measures!


Pasta with Shrimp and Butter Sauce

About a 1lb to 1-1/2lb shrimp
6 cloves of garlic chopped
1 stick of butter to cook the shrimp
1 package of your favorite pasta, cooked

Spice mix for shrimp:

garlic powder
onion powder
smoked paprika
white pepper
salt
black pepper
thyme
pinch of cayenne

1 more stick of butter to finish the butter sauce
about 2 Tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

Mix all the spices together. Go lighter on the stronger spices like cayenne and smoked paprika and heavier on the lighter ones like garlic powder.

Toss the shrimp in the spices and melt 1 stick of butter in a pan. Cook the garlic in the butter then add the spiced shrimp and cook until no longer translucent. Once they are cooked add the second stick of butter and the parsley and melt to make a nice butter sauce.

This is about enough for 4 adults.

Update on T's Dad: He is no longer in ICU but he is still not out of the woods yet. He has MRSA Staph infection (methicillin resistant staph). It is no longer in his lungs (still everywhere else) but it is in his eye and is causing the retina to harden. They are going to have to do surgery on him immediately to clean out the retina. Any surgery is dangerous but even worse to open up a person with a Staph infection! Keep those prayers and well wishes coming and thanks so much for all the support you all have given me and my family!

As Always...

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

12 comments:

Dharm said...

The best recipes are those that dont follow any recipe. I would almost 'kill' you for some of that pasta...!!!

Núria said...

How cute she is doing that little jump!!! Ahhh kids are ALL in life... but some bites of your pasta would make me feel even better :D

Peter M said...

Congrats to the "no fear girlies" and bravo to mommy for juggling life with much grace.

I know what this dish tastes like..nice & smoky from that smoked paprika.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

My heart goes out to you and your family in your medical crisis. That will all go well and life will be back to normal routine of skating, swimming and etc.......

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Wow Dharm death threats and all just for pasta. It was that good though!!!

Hey Nuria- Aren't they incredible. I didn't video the whole thing because I always feel like I miss "the moment" if I do. The pasta was delicious!

Hey Peter-You sure are a nice guy...thank you for saying that. I needed it! Also were we with you when we bought the paprika? We can't get it here so I bought it when I was there!

Thanks so much Val. The week was crazy. I would so love a normal routine!!! I never thought I would ever say that?????

Brittany said...

That shrimp looks amazing...your shrimp always looks to die for!

Elle said...

Great looking dish, adorable daughter! And good wishes going out to T's dad.

Thistlemoon said...

You God little one!!!! I am so excited for her! That is quite an accomplishment! :)

That shrimp pasta looks like a great way to celebrate the winnings!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your daughter placing first! Skating is a lot of work, both for the athlete and her family.

After all that, I'm so impressed that you were able to throw this together. It looks delightful!

Darius T. Williams said...

I'm totally enjoying this pasta dish. I make tons of pasta - and these flavor combos are great!

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

Melissa said...

Your daughter looks adorable. You must be really proud of her!

Wonderful pasta dish, definitely no recipe needed. Perfect for the kinds of nights you've been having. I saw your update above, and have nothing but warm wishes in my heart for all of you. Hang in there...

Danni said...

A 5 second video..that's all we get?!! She looks wonderful out there - you must be so proud. She looks like she's loving it.

Sending your FIL lots of quick-healing, healthy, back-on-his-feet-soon wishes from Oregon.