I have been craving shrimp for a long time. I never get it because my boyfriend has been traumatized by a documentary he once saw about farmed shrimp and now he can't look at ANY shrimp again... greaaaat. I have tried explaining to him that wild shrimp are different. Farmed shrimp go through awful conditions where they basically live in filth as they are being harvested. Wild shrimp come from the ocean. Either way, I can't win. So yesterday while he was out playing golf, I decided to make myself a lovely shrimp lunch and pop open a bottle of white wine. Its the friggin weekend! I got inspired to make this by a menu item at Bonefish Grill. The Saucy Shrimp at Bonefish is SOOO good but has tons of butter and sodium in it. I wanted to lighten this up and add some veggies to it to make it a more balanced meal. What I got was such a refreshing lunch and cool glass of white wine that made me think of Summer and sun and tank tops and flip flops. When I came to, I looked outside at the rainy cold and sang "maybe I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one". I know you're with me! 

Happy 2014 fellow foodies!!! I made this spicy and delicious pot of seafood on New Years Eve and it was the perfect, light way to end the year. I apologize for not posting this recipe sooner, I ended up becoming very sick after the celebrations and am finally feeling TONS better today :) What a way to start the year, right?!  I apologize also that you cannot see everything in the pot, I also had some crab legs in there but they were way at the bottom. You can substitute any shell fish you like for this! I just love mussels, clams, crab and shrimp. If you want to snazz it up, add lobster tails! Just a warning, this recipe is spicy! Keep a lookout for some "resolution recipes" AKA  healthy recipes for all of you foodies trying to be healthy as a 2014 promise to yourselves! I will help you with that without sacrificing flavor xoxo

Saturday was a great day, we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out a couple and then we hit up the Fresh Market for some groceries. It was such a gorgeous Fall day, it really put me in the mood for some comfort food, almost instantly, Italian food came to mind. Cheese, meat, pasta. Done done done. Wine? Duh. 

Theres nothing that compares to some good takeout Chinese food when you're in the mood. The scary thing is that you have no idea what the restaurants put in the food, MSG, oils, calories through the roof, YIKES! So I did a little research and put together this quick and light sweet and sour chicken that really satisfied my Chinese takeout craving, minus all the bad stuff. 

I love anything that can be left to cook in a pot for hours. I love the smells that fill the house from slow cooking this way. Just smelling it is such a comfort. Takes me back to the days I lived at home and being cooked for by mommy or grandma. This is a good meal that tastes like its been cooked all day but really it'll take you about a little over an hour. I have experimented with several different kinds of stuffed peppers, but this one takes the gold! I did pair my peppers with large couscous in pesto, with sweet peas and shaved parmesan... Perfection! 

This is the product of me not having gone grocery shopping! It is sometimes a fun challenge to take random ingredients in your kitchen and turn them into a savory dinner surprise. I did have a little time, however, to stop at Publix and quickly pick up some Patagonian scallops, which are on sale for $6.99 per lb! This gives you about 100-150 scallops for only $6.99! Yea, I had to. And of course, most importantly, they are wild NOT farm raised.