Chipotle Salmon Tacos

1 1/4 lbs salmon fillet (with skin)
1/4 tsp salt
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (seeded/chopped)
8 hard taco shells (or we fried mini tortillas)
1 can mexicali corn (or barbecued corn from the husk)
1 can black beans
1 box prepared spanish rice
1 bag mexican cheeses
1 cup medium-hot salsa (the chunky stuff)

1. Heat oven to 450*
2. Place Salmon, skin side down, in 11x7x2" baking dish. Season with salt and chipotle pepper (sauce and peppers).
3. Bake for about 18 minutes or until salmon is cooked (when it flakes easily with scraped with a fork). Heat the taco shells in the oven for the last three minutes of baking time to warm them.
4. Heat corn and beans (microwave or saucepan on oven). Flake the salmon to break it up.
5. Spread beans on warm taco shells. Layer Lettuce, Rice, Salmon with corn. Top with Cheese and Salsa.

Christmas Feast

I seriously haven't been cooking, but I wanted to share what I ate on Christmas day. I didn't do anything besides open oysters, and pop these snails into the oven... oh yea, and lay everyone down on a nice pretty tray!

This guy was my favorite! A nice Langoust (what is that in english?) kind of like lobster, but with a sweeter taste! With him on the tray are different kind of snails we eat cold, and really tasty shrimp.

This little guy is called Tourteau Crab. I didn't really like it. The legs and pinchers were good, but the stuff in his body was kind of gross. Sorry little guy!

Now this was the main course on Christmas Eve! I actually cooked this: Ostrich steak with baby sauteed potatoes and green beans. Ostrich is delicious!

Here was one of our appetizers on Christmas Eve: Lump eggs and Fois Gras! This was really really good. I think next time we will try to get real caviar, but these were already pretty tasty!

Oysters are always a staple when doing a classy dinner. Eric opened these because I have no idea how to do it, but these little beauties are from Normandy. We ate them with just a squeeze of lemon. Delicious!

All of this.. FOR 2!!

Turkey Lasagna (Crockpot)

Ingredients:
1lb Ground Turkey
1 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 15oz container of Ricotta Cheese
2 cups shredded Italian-blend Cheese
10 oz Spinach
12 Lasagna Noodles
1 jar (26oz) Chunky Pasta Sauce (find some with mushroom and green peppers or add it)
1/2 cup Water
Grated Parmasean Cheese

Directions:
1. In a skillet, Brown Turkey (5-7 minutes). Season with Oregano, salt and red pepper flakes. Remove from Heat.
2. In a medium size bowl, mix Ricotta cheese, Cheese blend and Spinach.
3. In a 5qt CrockPot, layer half of the noodles (some can overlap). Then Spoon half of the Turkey mixture. Pour half of the Pasta Sauce and half of the Water. Spread half of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering.
4. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 1/2hrs. Sprinkle parma cheese upon serving.

Roasted Tomatoes

Roasting tomatoes concentrates their natural flavors and gives them a buttery rick texture. You can toss your roasted tomatoes in pastas, use on pizza, or serve with chicken or beef.

Preheat oven to 400F. Slice and core tomatoes. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.



Drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle salt and pepper and sliced garlic. I also added basil... you can be creative :)



Bake 30 - 60 minutes until juices have evaporated. Store in plastic zip lock bags in your refrigerator or freezer for future use. You can also slow roast tomatoes for 3-4 hours.

Baked Apples

This is a yummie Fall Dessert! Enjoy! :)




Ingredients
Apples
Brown sugar
Butter
Cinnamon
Marshmallows (optional)

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.Scoop out the core from top of the apple, leaving a well. Do not cut all the way through. Stuff each apple with 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Place in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon. Optional: Stuff Marshmallow on top!



3.Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, until sugar begins to caramelize and apples are tender.

Mussels with Fries

I love mussels and fries! I don't know why more people don't do this at home because it's really easy and way cheaper than eating out at a restaurant. This is my MIL's recipe, but you can add a whole bunch of stuff if you want. It's just as good when it's simple. We eat these with our hands. It's one of the rare dishes that the French actually eat without a knife and fork. You eat the first one, and the empty shell of your first mussel serves as a grabber.

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:1 gallon fresh mussels

2 small or 1 large onion, chopped

2 tbsp butter or margarine

Directions:

1. Soak the mussels in some water and clean them well. If there is any greyish or green moss on the shells, scrape it off. This is the longest part.

2. Sautee the onions until just a bit golden in the butter in a large pot.

3. Add the clean mussels WITHOUT WATER , and cover the pot. Cook on medium to high for 10-15 minutes stirring once in a while. The mussels should all be open. If there are a few that are not, its because they are no good. Do not try to eat them. They do not need salting because they are already salt watered.

Serve with fries.

Some people add white wine or beer or cream to the mussels while they are cooking. All versions are excellent!

Mint Cucumber Cocktail

This is more of a Summer Cocktail. But you can still pull it off with 90* Palm Springs Fall weather. :)

2 cucumbers
Small ice cubes
1 cup fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)
4 ounces (1/2 cup) vodka
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) Cointreau

1.Cut 4 thin spears from 1 cucumber, and reserve for garnish. Peel remaining cucumbers, and quarter them lengthwise. Scrape out seeds with a spoon, and discard. Coarsely chop cucumbers, then puree in a food processor until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.

2.Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add mint, sugar, and lime juice, and shake. Add 3/4 cup cucumber juice, the vodka, and Cointreau, and shake. Strain into 4 glasses filled with ice. Garnish each cocktail with a cucumber spear.

Leek Pie

Hello everyone, I'm back! I haven't posted in a while because I seriously haven't been cooking, and when I do, I've been making things I've already posted, or heating up ready made dishes. I make this about once a week, and when there is company, they volunteer me to make this. I have been cooked for a bunch, but my MIL makes food that you need to spend at least 2 hours in the pressure cooker on, which is impossible for the working woman who does not own such a device.....So, when she contemplated the Leeks in the garden and then declared "tonight is Leek Pie," I jumped for joy and grabbed my camera!
Serves 4 as a main course, or 8 as an appetizer
Ingredients:
-1 pack of low sodium bacon, cut into little pieces with the big fat cut off
-1 pie crust in dough form
-4 Leeks (those things that look like giant green onions)
-Bechamel sauce
-3 egg yolks
-shredded swiss cheese
Directions:
1. Clean the leeks by cutting lengthwise and rinsing all the dirt out. Cook them by boiling them for a long time.. like 45 minutes... or stick them in the crock pot the night before so they're tender, then let drain until they are nice and dry, then cut in little bite size pieces with kitchen shears.
2. Cook the bacon in a pan and drain the grease.
3. Put your pie crust in your pie tin, and poke holes in it with your fork.
4. Place a layer of leeks, then bechamel, then bacon
... and then do another layer of each
5. Cover with shredded swiss cheese
6. In a bowl, whisk your 3 egg yolks and brush them onto your pie
7. Cook for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees in the oven

We served some home fries with this, but did not even eat them because it was so filling. Otherwise, serve with some salad as a side to make a complete meal!

Bechamel Sauce

Bechamel is one of the sauces I use to make my Lasagna, but it is also a very common sauce used for many different French dishes. This time, it is for my Leek Pie, but I will later on bust out another recipe where bechamel is used.

Makes about 2 cups of sauce.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 large Tbsp butter
2 cups milk
Salt/Pepper to taste
Directions:
1. In a sauce pan, melt the butter on medium heat and wisk in the flour.
2. Take off heat, and pour in the milk, a little bit at a time while wisking.
3. Once all the milk is in, put back on heat and wisk until it thickens a bit. It should not be watery, but it should not be as thick as mashed potatoes. It should be like a thick sauce. Watch it, though, because you don't want it to burn. Once it is at its desired thickness, take it off the heat. Some people add a dash of nutmeg.

I very unfortunately do not have a picture of this... sorry

Salmon with Pesto Sauce

PESTO SAUCE
(you can use store bought pesto sauce too... i have done both)
Ingredients:
Basil
Pine Nuts
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic, cloves
Parmesan Cheese
Mayonaise

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a food processor. Set Aside.

SALMON
Ingredients:
Salmon Fillets
1/4 cup olive oil
lemon juice
Italian Seasoning

1. Preheat Broiler. Rinse Salmon with Cold Water. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside.
2. For marinade, in a large zip lock bag, combine olive oil, lemon jiuce, and Italian seasoning. Add Salmon. Massage bag to coat fish.
3. Broil Fish about 4 minutes on each side or until fish is flakey. (make sure the fish is about 5 inches away from heat... i started an oil/foil fire once! no joke.)
4. Serve salmon with pesto sauce.

REMIX!! Stef's Stuffed Tomato Salad

Here is Stef's Stuffed Tomato Salad!! It was a yummie summertime snack...and easy to make! ;)

Meatballs in Tomato Mint Sauce with Pine Nut CousCous

4 cups Bread Crumbs
1 cup Milk
1 Lb ground beef (or lamb or ground turkey)
1 egg
1/2 cup grated parmagiano-Reggiono
Salt
Black Pepper
1 pinches Ground All Spice
2 tsp Lemon Zest
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 small onion
3 tbls EVOO
1 28oz can crushed Italian Tomoatoes
2 cups chix stock
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup mint springs
2 tbls butter
1 1/2 cups cous cous
3/4 cups pine nuts

1. In a mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs, meat, egg, cheese, salt, pepper, allspice, lemon zest, and 1 garlic clove. Grate 2 tbls onion onto the meat. Use your hands to combine the mixture. Then roll into balls the size of walnuts. You should have about 20 balls.

2. Heat EVOO in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic and grate remaining onion into EVOO. Saute Garlic and Onion for a few minutes, then stir in the tomatoes and 1/2 cup of chx stock. When the sauce bubbles, add the meatballs and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Stir in the Parsley and mint and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

3. While the meatballs cook, bring the remaining 1 1/2 cups of stock and butter to a simmer in a saucepan. Add the couscous, turn off the heat, and cover. Let the couscous stand for 5 minutes. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for three minutes or until light golden. Add the pine nuts to the couscous and fluff with a fork.

Serve the meatballs and sauce on a bed of couscous.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Re-MIX!

Re-Re-REMIX! Here are Amber's Bacon Wrapped Shrimp.

It was oh so deliciouso.

Hoisin Chicken & Pepper Skewers

When Marc and I lived with Kellie aka KDub and Jimmy for a couple of months, I really liked how she would take random foods she had in the fridge that were about to go bad and make something delish with it! Now, I have been trying to do the same thing :). Since, I bought some Hoisin sauce for the lettuce wraps, I decided it would also be a good marinade for some chicken and we had a few yellow peppers left. So, in honor of Labor Day yesterday, Marc and I decided to BBQ something. I seriously love when we can make something that both of us put our efforts into, it always makes the end result better tasting. Marc enjoys BBQin', it's his goal to make his food juicy and I must say he's getting it down pretty well! Here is what you'll need:

INGREDIENTS - (makes enough for 2)

2 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts

2 tablespoons of Hoisin Sauce

1/2 of Lemon

3 to 5 yellow peppers - seeded and cubed (we had mini peppers, if using large I am sure 1 or 2 will do)

1 Tomato (make sure it's almost ripe, so it's more solid and doesn't fall apart on the skewer)

8 Skewers

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut chicken breasts into little cube cutlets or however you please. In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken and Hoisin Sauce, mix around until majority of the chicken cubes are covered. Squeeze lemon juice into bowl and stir.

2. While the chicken is marinating, soak bamboo skewers in water for one hour so they will not burn on the grill.

3. Preheat the barbecue to a high heat.

4. Cut Yellow Peppers and Tomato into cubes, leave aside until ready to skewer food.

5. Thread chicken onto skewers, and in between two chicken cubes add a cube of bell pepper, then add two more chicken cubes and a cube or two of tomatoes. (You can be creative with your threading.)

6. Drizzle remaining sauce over finished skewers for extra flava!

7. Grill skewers, turning once, over heat for 4 to 6 minutes; or until just browned and cooked through.

The end result was tasty!! For the next run I will def. marinade the meat longer, but an hour still gave the chicken a lot of flavor.

Suggested Sides:
I cut up some Avocado for something fresh and cool, and made a Wild Grain Spanish Rice by Rice-a-Roni. Oh! and some bread is always nice too! :)

Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I've been seriously craving lettuce wraps, to be specific The Yard House's lettuce wraps...I just haven't had the funds to support my craving taste buds. So, I always get inspired to cook when my soon-to-be-in-laws are out of town and Marc and I have the house to ourselves. Marc just started back a school, so I really had the house all to myself one night last week and decided it would be a good night to try to make lettuce wraps. I knew I had thawed ground turkey, so on my way home from Dance Lessons, I googled "ASIAN LETTUCE WRAPS" on my wonderful IPhone and made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients! I happened to google this great recipe site, that I will def. continue to reference - http://www.allrecipes.com/. The specific recipe called for pork, which I substituted for Ground Turkey and it also sets you up to make white rice, I did a Sandra Lee - Semi-Homemade and bought the Uncle Ben's 90 sec. Ready Rice packs, which are AMAZING! OK, so here is what you'll need:

INGREDIENTS
4 cups water
2 cups uncooked white rice (or 1-2 Uncle Ben's Ready Rice, I like Original Long Grain)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
2 carrots, shredded
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (I picked up Hoisin - Garlic sauce - YUMMY!)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or GF alternative)
1 teaspoon sesame oil (I eliminated this ingredient)
1/4 teaspoon hot chile paste (I used Chile Sauce - worked just as good)
1 bunch of romaine lettuce leaves, separated (Cabbage would also work!)

HOW TO:1. In a saucepan (a wok works best) combine the water and rice. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, until water is absorbed. Set aside and keep warm. (If you end up using the Ready Rice packs, I waited about a 1 minute before I was ready to serve the lettuce wraps).

2.Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Cook the ground turkey, green onions, and garlic for 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly brown. Add the tofu, carrot, Hoisin, and soy sauce, stirring frequently until heated through. Remove from heat, and stir in the sesame oil and chile paste.

3. To serve: spoon a small amount of rice into each lettuce leaf, top with the stir-fry mixture, and drizzle with additional soy sauce or hoisin, if desired. I don't like rice in my lettuce wraps, so it was a side for my dish...but I did spoon the stir-fry mixture into the lettuce leaf. Also on the side I had a soy sauce and hoisin dipping dish.

The end result was sooo delish!!

FOOT NOTES:

Optional additional stir fry ingredients-
These may be used in place of or in addition to the tofu: chopped peanuts, peppers, shrimp, rice noodles, diced chicken, scrambled egg or bean sprouts.

This was very helpful to me, since i had NO idea what Hoisin sauce was! :)
Hoisin sauce, also called Peking sauce, is a thick, reddish-brown sauce that is sweet and spicy, and widely used in Chinese cooking. It's a mixture of soybeans, garlic, chile peppers and various spices. It can be found in the Asian or ethnic section at your local grocery store.

Parmesan Chicken

This recipe is great for an easy, delicious, quick meal. :)

Ingredients
6 Boneless Chix Breast
2 Tbls Melted Butter
1/2 cup Grated Parm Cheese
1/4 cup dry Bread Crumbs
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Parsely Flakes
1/4 tsp Paprika
Salt & Pepper
Lemon
Spaghetti Sauce

Serve with Spaghetti or Cous Cous

1. Heat oven to 400*. Spray Baking Pan with non stick cooking spray or cover with Foil.
2. Mix Parm Cheese, Bread Crumbs, Oregano, Parsley, Paprika, Salt and Pepper together in a bowl. Dip Chicken breasts into butter, coat with combined ingedients. Place in prepared pan.
2.Bake 20-25 minutes or until tender. Squeeze Fresh lemon. Top with Spaghetti Sauce and more parma cheese.

(...makes great leftovers!)

Maman's Spaghetti Sauce

This is my mother's recipe for homemade marinara sauce. I've been eating it all my life, as has Jess! I never get sick of it, and I love making tons of it so I have leftovers during the week. I prefer linguine over spaghetti, but do as you wish.
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 box linguine (500g)
1/2 lb ground beef (don't use anything fattier than 15%, I like to use 10%)
1 chopped onion

4 cloves chopped garlic

1 can tomato paste + 2-3 cans water

1 can mushroom stems/pieces, drained (or use fresh cut)

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp oregano (my mother calls this marijuana.. lol)

1 tbsp basil

1 tbsp parsley

Salt/Pepper to taste

Parmesan/Swiss to top
Directions:
1. In a large enough saucepan, cook your ground beef and garlic. Do not add any oil. The meat will give off enough juices to cook in.
2. Start boiling your water for the pasta
3. Once the meat is cooked, turn off the heat and scoop it out with a holy serving spoon to keep the juices in the pan. Put it aside for later.
4. Turn the heat back on and brown your onion a bit in the juices. Throw in your thyme, bay leaves, oregano, and basil and let brown.
5. Add mushrooms and stir for a few minutes.
6. Add the can of tomato paste, and 2 cans of water. Wear an apron, or just don't wear white! Stir until the paste disolves in the water, and put the heat on low.

7. Add the meat and parsley. If you think the sauce is too thick, add a little more water and stir in.

8. Taste and add salt and pepper how you like it.

9. Let simmer while you wait for your pasta to finish cooking....

Then serve piping hot with parmesan and shredded swiss on top! Yes, I use both because I can never decide!

Easy Granola

I found this recipe in Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn. I was looking for a quick morning snack since I don't want to spend a lot of time on breakfast for myself. I thought this was a nice change from my plain cheerios (boring.) and coffee. Probably even better on yogurt, or frozen yogurt. Yes, I am always thinking of dessert! The recipe makes for 24 servings but quartered it for a smaller batch. It is so easy to make and will last up to 4 weeks if you do decide to make the amount the recipe yields!

Ingredients

12 cups quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

4 cups "goodies" (nuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, trail mix, coconut, dried fruit)

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup honey

*I added a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar to the mixture

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 large baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a very large bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar if you and whatever "goodies" you are using. Mix well.

3. Combine oil and honey in a 2-cup glass measuring cup (or glass bowl). Microwave 2-3 minutes until hot. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Spread mixture over prepared baking sheets; bake until light to medium brown, 15-20 minutes. If you have a convection oven, bake all 3 pans at the same time. Otherwise it's best to bake each pan individually on the center rack of oven.

5. Let granola cool. It will break up somewhat as you transfer it to a storage container, but try to leave big chunks if you prefer.

Fudge Pie

I get more excited about desserts than making meals so I had to add this. I came across it from another blog and made it for my in-laws. It's so simple and yummy you can't not make it! If you don't have self-rising flour use the same amount of all purpose flour plus 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. baking soda.

1 stick melted butter

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1/4 C. cocoa

1/4 C. self-rising flour

1 C. sugar

1 ready to bake regular size pie shell {not deep dish}

Mix ingredients together in bowl with fork until well combined. Avoid using a mixer if possible, over beating the filling will cause the top to rise and crack after baking. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes. Cover edges with foil if they get too brown. Let sit for 10-15 or as long as you possibly can resist. Top with ice cream and enjoy!

Summer Stuffed Tomato Salad

I didn't make this but it is really good and presents really nicely! The eggs are fresh from the hens in the garden. The yolks are so yellow it looks like pollen! Delicious.
Ingredients:
-can of tuna
-can of mixed vegetables
-some tomatoes (1 per guest)
-some hardboiled eggs (1 per 2 guests)
-1 or 2 tbsp mayonaise
Directions:
1. Core the tomatoes
2. In a large salad bowl, mix the drained can of vegetables and tuna with the mayonaise (add whatever you want as well (pieces of ham, surimi, avocado.. play with it)
3. Spoon the mixture into your tomatoes. Put the rest of the mixture in your serving dish to make it look nice.
4. Cut the hardboiled eggs in 4 and arrange them nicely. With some of the yolk, sprinkle some on top.
Serve as an appetizer or a side dish to a nice bbq!

Indian Lentils REMIX!

This IS the REMIXX to Steph's Indian Lentils!! :)

It was very yummie and healthy! Everyone enjoyed them! I will use more mustard seeds next time bc Steph's were more Yellow.

Springtime Pasta

This Pasta is light and fresh.. perfect for Summertime (Or Springtime)! This one is from my "Family Circle" cookbook... (recipe collections for busy families). :)

Ingredients


1 lb Cavatappi or Corkscrew shape pasta
1 tbls EVOO
1 1/2 Chicken Breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Yellow Pepper, cut into thin strips
1 bunch (1 lb) of fresh Asparagus cut into two inch pieces
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
1 Packages spreadable Herb Cheese
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Pepper

Directions
1. Bring Large pot of water to boil. Add Pasta, return to boil. Cook for 6 minutes

2. Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium heat. Add oil. Add Chicken. Cook for 6 minutes. During last minute, add yellow pepper to skillet. Then, remove from heat.

3. Once pasta has cooked for 6 minutes, add asparagus. Cook for 2 minutes longer. Scoop out 1/4 cup of the water, set aside. Then, drain the pasta.

4. In a Large Bowl, toss together the hot pasta and asparagus, chicken and yellow pepper, tomatoes, herb cheese, reserved 1/4 cup pasta water, salt and pepper... until well blended and cheese is melted.

5. ENJOY!!


Nutritional
Makes 8 servings
Per Serving:
395 Calories, 10g total fat, 74mg cholesterol, 248mg sodium, 47g carbohydrate, 3g Fiber, 30g protein

Tips
To reshape your Pasta recipes:
1. When using tomato sauces, use brands with 50 - 80 calories per 1/2 cup serving.
2. Bulk your bowl with high fiber vegetables, such as cauliflower and broccoli. (It will help you stay full longer and will cut calories)
3. Use non-stick skillets to cook, as they can meet your needs by using half the original amount of oil.

Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Chipotle BBQ Sauce

I have been meaning to make this for awhile, but never really had the time. Today the electricity went out at work, or all of Rancho Mirage for that matter...so after a dip in the pool and some good "Breaking Dawn" reading, I was in the mood to cook a good meal and it was AMAZING! Now, I am not really one for spicy foods, but I am learning to like them, considering Marc LOVES all things spicy. This receipe is courtesy Guy Fieri aka The Food Guy, so making it on the BBQ will bring this meal to it's full potential of yummy! Here it goes:

INGREDIENTS

20 Strips of Bacon (about 12 ounces)
20 Medium-Large shrimp, shelled and deveined (about 1 pound) - I just used Costco's Bag of Shirmp, no tails

1/2 cup of BBQ sauce

1/4 cup of olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice - I used fresh lemons, I just love the smell of them

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

3 tablespoons chopped chipotles in adobo sauce

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Bamboo Skewers

DIRECTIONS

1. Soak 5 to 8 Bamboo skewers in water for about 20 minutes to keep them from burning on the grill or under the broiler.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet until halfway done, about 4 minutes. Drain and cool on paper towels. Wrap a piece of bacon around the middle of each shrimp; skewer with bamboo through the point where the bacon ends meets up to keep them from unraveling. Thread 3 to 5 shrimp on each bamboo skewer. (Since I used the Costco shirmp they were kind of small, so I wrapped about 3 shirmp into one piece of bacon..and continued with rest of steps).

3. Puree the barbecue sauce, oil, lemon juice, mustard, chipotles, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and fresh ground pepper in a blender. Set aside half of the sauce for dipping. CAUTION: the sauce is very spicy, so to tone it down a bit, I added more BBQ sauce.

4. Preheat the grill, grill pan or broiler. Grill or broil (on a foil-lined backing sheet, if broiling) for 5 minutes, basting with the sauce once they begin to turn pink. Flip, baste again and grill or broil until just cooked through (about 4 more minutes). Serve with extra sauce.

WAAALAA!

SIDES

I thought this meal would be really good with Corn-on-the-Cob...so I buttered up some cobs, sprinkled a little Lawry's Salt on them, wrapped them up in foil, made some fork wounds and threw them on the grill for about 20-25mins.

Red, White and Blue Dessert

I know this is a little late - considering 4th of July was...oh...almost a month ago! BUT, it is still July and you can make this desert anytime and make a different design on the top. I happened to make it for our Annual 4th of July party we had at our friends house, and it ended up being a hit!!




INGREDIENTS

2 Packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
2 quarts strawberries, halved, divided
2 quarts blueberries, divided

HOW TO MAKE

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and extracts until fluffy. Fold in whipped cream (which means pour in slowly). Place a third of the mixture in a 4-qt bowl. Reserve 20 Strawberry halves and about a 1/2 of blueberries for top.
Layer half of the remaining strawberries and blueberries over cream mixture. Top with another third of the cream mixture and the remaining berries. Spread the remaining cream mixture on top. Use the reserved strawberries and blueberries to make a "insert here" on top. Makes about: 18 Servings

Nutrition Facts
One serving: 1 cup
Calories: 168
Fat: 10g
Saturated Fat: 6g
Cholestrol: 32mg
Sodium: 44mg
Carbs: 20g
Fiber: 3g
Protien: 2g