Thursday, October 27, 2011

Coconut Shrimp

Coconut Shrimp

Oh my gosh. I don’t even like shrimp, and I ate so many of these my stomach hurt. SO YUMMY.




Ingredients:

- 1 egg
- ½ cup flour
- 2/3 cup beer (my neighbor got a kick out of me asking to borrow some beer)
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups coconut
- 24 shrimp
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 cups oil (I used olive oil)

1. In medium bowl combine egg, ½ cup flour, beer & baking soda.

2. Place ¼ cup flour and coconut in two separate bowls

3. Hold shrimp by the tail and dredge in flour. Shake off excess. Then dip in egg/beer mixture and allow to drip. Next roll in coconut and place on baking sheet lined with wax paper. (I used tinfoil) Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes. * don’t skip this step, that’s how the coconut stays on the shrimp when added to oil.

4. Fry shrimp in batches & dry on paper towels. I did like 6 at a time and used tongs to get them in and out of the oil. Also something I did was use a strainer spoon to get the coconut that was staying in the pan and starting to burn. After each batch I’d scoop it out.

I served it with a mustard mixture, I kind of just threw stuff together that was in my fridge, but it was really yummy with it.

Dipping Sauce:

Mix equal parts mustard and miracle whip. Then add like a tablespoon of apricot pineapple jelly.

Yep told ya it was random.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

turkey lasagna

Tonight I was really craving lasagna, but I wanted something healthy. So I found this recipe for a lighter take on lasagna. It is different than what I was expecting, but still very yummy. It isn't as saucy and gooey as a typical lasagna, but it is also a little healthier than a typical lasagna. Serve it with some french bread and a salad, yummy!

Turkey Lasagna 
(serves 8)
(slightly adapted from HERE)


Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey breast
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • (26-ounce) bottle fat-free Italian pasta sauce (my joke of a grocery store didn't have ANY fat-free. oh well)
  • 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 2 cups 1% low-fat cottage cheese
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • uncooked lasagna noodles

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Cook the turkey in a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add water and pasta sauce; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
  • Combine 2 cups mozzarella, cottage cheese, and next 3 ingredients (cottage cheese through pepper) in a bowl.
  • Spread 1 cup turkey mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles over turkey mixture; top with 1 1/2 cups turkey mixture. Spread half of cheese mixture over turkey mixture. Repeat layers, ending with the remaining turkey mixture.
  • Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Let lasagna stand 10 minutes before serving.

Monday, October 17, 2011

coconut crusted chicken tenders

I found this recipe on pinterest a couple weeks ago and I have made it twice since! It is so yummy and so easy!!




Coconut Crusted Chicken Tenders
(serves 4)

  • 1 lb chicken tenderloins or chicken breasts, sliced into long, 1″ thick strips
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
Preheat oven to 400°F. Create an assembly line for easy coating of each tenderloin: Place all chicken strips on one plate. Next to that, place flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Lightly whisk eggs in another wide, shallow bowl. Combine panko, coconut, salt, and pepper in a fourth and final wide, shallow bowl. Now, take one chicken strip and toss it in the flour, shaking off the excess. Then, dredge the floured strip in the egg bath. Next, gently toss the chicken strip in the panko/coconut mixture, pressing to coat on each side. Place the coated strip on a plate or cookie sheet until you have finished coating all of the chicken.
Next, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat on your stove top. Add one tablespoon oil, swirling to coat. Add half of the chicken strips in a single layer, leaving space between each one. Cook for about 3 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Remove the chicken to a foil lined baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Add the remaining one tablespoon oil to the pan and then the second half of the chicken strips and cook for 3 minutes per side. Remove that second batch and place on the baking sheet. Set it in the oven for 10 minutes, so that the chicken tenders can cook through.
I made some honey mustard to dip them in, and it was perfect! For the honey mustard just mix equal parts mustard and mayo or miracle whip and however much honey you want, depending on how sweet you want it.

Enjoy!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Teriyaki Stir Fry

I am so sad I didn't take a picture of this dinner. It was so pretty!

It was really easy and SO yum. Probably one of my favorite dinners lately, and I didn't even use a recipe!

My inspiration was these pineapple teriyaki meatballs we got at costco a few weeks ago. The first package we ate with umm nothing because I was lazy and all I had to do was pop them in the oven for a few minutes. But last night I decided they would be good with veggies. So here is the stir fry "recipe" I used. 

1 Japanese eggplant (the long skinny kind)
1 medium carrot
1 small-medium head of broccoli
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/4 purple onion
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
teriyaki sauce
cooked rice

Chop up all your veggies into bite size pieces. Heat some oil in a large skillet then add the onions. After the onions have started to cook, add veggies in order of cooking time, you don't want anything over done! Once the vegetable are pretty much done, add however much teriyaki sauce you prefer. Stir around and make sure it coats all the veggies. 

Thats it! Super easy and way better than dumping the frozen ones in a pan (which is what I usually do). Serve the vegetables over rice! I cooked up some of the yummy costco meatballs and put them on top of everything. It was really really good. 

You can add whatever meat or other vegetables you are feelin!