Honey-Garlic Skillet Shrimp

Tonight was a first in our kitchen. After Dan ate, he went to the store and bought ingredients for a SECOND ROUND of dinner. I didn't try to stop him, and I can't blame him, because these shrimp really were that good. And they are the easiest shrimp to make. Shrimp and 4 ingredients most people always have on hand. While I was making round 1, I wasn't sure how they would come out. I've made a few marinated shrimp recipes where they came out kind of bland. Not this one. They were full of flavor eve after being marinated for only 15-20 minutes and they are pre-frozen shrimp. And the shrimp was on sale! If you marinate these for even longer they would have an even more intense flavor. Next time around I want to try these with fresh shrimp and marinate them longer.

Seriously, this recipe was just bonus after bonus. Not to mention that I made a batch of brownies and Dan also brought home some ice cream, so round 2 even gets a brownie sundae dessert. Happy Monday!

Honey-Garlic Skillet Shrimp
from The Cooking Jar

1 lb. shrimp, de-veined and tails on
2 tbsp. soy sauce
4 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
canola oil for cooking

White rice for serving if you'd like. I suggest adding veggies to make it a really full meal.

1. Combine the soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic. Pour half into a large plastic bag with the shrimp and let marinate for 15-30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet, heat a small bit of oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the shrimp and cook on each side for a few minutes. Turn the heat down and let the sauce thicken up a bit as the shrimp continue to cook.
4. Serve the shrimp over rice and drizzle with remaining sauce.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

As everyone knows (well, everyone who reads my baking posts), I don't eat a lot of baked goods. I also never eat an entire bunch of bananas, which works out well for making breads and muffins. As good as plain banana bread is, I tend to like to make "flavored" banana breads. Well, yes, banana is a flavor, but you get my point...

My usually stocked pantry has been running out of some items lately, so I had assumed I'd be making a plain old banana bread. I was even running low on chocolate chips. However, I found this recipe, and had everything for it, which made me one happy baker. I made this earlier this week. I had a couple of slices for breakfast, and then brought the rest to work. Needless to say it was gone in under 5 minutes after I put it in the staff room. This recipe is a keeper.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
from Back for Seconds

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter + 2 tbsp. for the topping
1/2 cup canola oil
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 and 3/4 cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the peanut butter, oil, bananas, cocoa and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and milk and mix. Mix in the baking soda and flour until just combined.
3. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. (Mine took about 65 minutes...)
4. Let cool completely. Remove from loaf pan.
5. Once the bread is cool, heat the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and pour into a small plastic bag (like a Ziploc). Cut a corner of the bag to make it into a piping bag and drizzle the peanut butter over the bread.

Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta

I made something with peas in it that Dan ate!

Okay, well he ate a couple and pushed most of the others aside, but I'll take it a step towards converting him into a veggie lover! I made this recipe early last week, but haven't gotten around to posting it until now. Being back to work has me really learning to manage my time and juggle getting out of work at 5 (yeah, longer day now) and feeding, changing, loving Peyton while getting dinner made and prepping for work stuff. I've been into finding easier recipes and prepping stuff the night before if I can, which I did for this meal. It's very simple to make and came out really well. I love a good hearty (unhealthy) creamy cheesy pasta. This isn't cheesy, but the creaminess was perfect and it had more flavor than I expected. I thought we had mustard at home, but we didn't so I used some ground mustard. I just whisked into the cream. The recipe below includes the mustard as intended.

I have planned out our meals for the month, which grocery lists ready to go so I can shop on Sunday and not worry the rest of the week. I've been mixing in some new recipes like this one with some easy basic meals like chicken and veggies or steak and cheese. So far I've got a good system down. BUT, Peyton can't move around too much yet...we'll see how this goes when she's mobile...

Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta

1lb. pasta
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
3 cups chopped ham
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cup frozen peas

1. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, start your sauce. Sauté the onions in the butter until translucent. Add ham and continue cooking to heat through.
3. Add white wine and cook until liquid reduces slightly
4. Whisk together the cream and mustard and add to ham and onions.
5. Slowly add the Parmesan cheese, stirring.
6. Add peas and cook until they are warmed through.
7. Add sauce to pasta and serve.