Shrimp Boil Kabobs

Don't you hate it when you go to the grocery store while you are hungry?  It is seriously the worst thing ever...and I did it today.  Luckily, I went with a list in hand, but I still had to - sometimes forcibly - tell myself "nooo, it.is.not. on the list.." Sometimes I'm just no fun. I mean I went to Kroger and they have the best sugar cookies ever, but I was good, and didn't even drive my cart in the same vicinity as the cookies.  I didn't even look their way. <insert serious pouty face here>  ...I should have awarded myself with a cookie for my outstanding behavior..Why did I not think of this genius way of manipulating my efforts to eat better while I was at the store? Gotta love hindsight!  Anyway, so after getting home and putting everything away I had to decide what to prepare for dinner. Which reminded me that I have been wanting to share a recipe with you.  I really only share the good stuff, and this one is pretty darn good..if you ask me, which you didn't, but ok.  Funny how this is turning into a conversation with myself.  It's a regular occurrence.  Anyhow, I have seen this on Pinterest, and it is a Martha Stewart recipe..Martha never steers you wrong, right!?  In the last few years I have come to love seafood boils...I don't always necessarily love every type of seafood that you generally boil..Like I could totally do without crawfish - yuck, gross, ick, spit, gag!  But shrimp..uhh yes, please!  So, here is a quick, simple, fun, get your little ones in the kitchen to help you, kind of meal.  Easy to assemble, and your own little seafood "boil"...without the hassle of jet burners and all that jazz that comes with a boil because these little bobs are goin' on the grill...

Ingredients

1/2 pound small red potatoes

2 ears of corn - cut into thirds

1 pound Kielbasa  - cut into 1 inch rounds

1/2 pound large shrimp - peeled and deveined

1/2 stick butter - melted

4 teaspoons Tabasco

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

Directions

Over medium to high heat boil potatoes in salt water for about 12-15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Best to test with a fork.  Drain and rinse potatoes under cold water.

At Kroger you can usually pick up a one pound bag of baby reds.  I tend to boil all of them in case somewhere along the way I decide to double my recipe, or in case I need to you know.."taste test" them - it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it, and I'm not afraid to volunteer. The dogs like them too (peeled). They never go to waste.

Thread potatoes, corn, sausage and shrimp onto skewers, and then repeat..  This is the part where your kids can join in on the fun.  As long as they get the "don't stick the skewer in your eye" talk..or anyone's eye for that matter..and/or the "keep your skewer to yourself" talk.  These talks are important.

This should make four skewers

Heat your grill to medium - high and lightly oil the grates with some vegetable or olive oil.

In a small bowl combine the melted butter, Tabasco and Old Bay.  Wouldn't it be fantastic if everything could be seasoned with these three ingredients?!

Lay your bobs on the grill brushing them with the Old Bay mixture, turning occasionally until the shrimp is cooked thoroughly.  Should take about 8-10 minutes depending on your grill.

And that is it my friends...I mean how easy was that?  Seriously!  These are the bomb, and I hope you try them soon.  If you do, please come back and tell me what you thought of them!  

Enjoy,

Carrie

High Five for Friday

It's finally Friday and I am just now feeling fully recovered from last weekend.  Sheesh.  I think this weekend I will take it easy, get a few good runs in, maybe go see The Conjuring and let someone else cook and serve my dinner for a change.

Here are some highlights from my week..

I am always on the search for a new place to run.  I convinced Trey to go with me to the Greenway in Springfield.  The green is 6 miles round trip, flat, and absolutely gorgeous.  

My window boxes are looking pretty awesome!!

I love my little yard...

I spent last weekend at the lake house with the Millers.

I loved spending time with some far away friends...

I am digging my little striped bathing suit cover up from Kohls.

These boys wore me out Sunday.  Marcie and Dave asked if I would watch them for a little while while they went for a ride on the lake...I forgot how tiring it can be to have little ones...they don't get tired.  I have huge bruises on my legs from the numerous ninja kicks and cannon balls I did off the dock.  After a while the littlest one started calling me Mom.  I laughed, and was like "...I'm not your Mom, silly."  He said "You are my Mom...You are my Mom..Mom. Mom. Mom"  It was so funny.  It either meant that his Mom was gone for way too long, or that he thought I was really cool.  Either way his real Mom is the coolest, so I guess I'm the cool "Aunt" and should be totally flattered. 

We had a seafood boil...it was fabulous!!

Shrimp, potatoes, corn, crabs, crawfish....

We took the boat out for a spin.  Enjoying the end of the day on the water.  The kids wanted to go tubing, so we got it in the water and pulled them for a while.  They had had enough, so we stopped...and got them pulled in and situated. My Mother in Law was next to go tubing, so she was on the tube with Trey. I got the thumbs up to go.. The boat wouldn't start.  Awesome.  For those of you that know Lake Barkley well...we were on the far side of goat island...Stranded.  Since I was the captain that day everyone looked to me like "ok, what now?"  First off I made sure no one panicked.  I was calm.  It was beautiful, we had a few coolers of beer, water, snacks for the kids and a few more hours of daylight.  Kinda the perfect place to be stranded, really.  We diagnosed the problem fairly quickly.  Long story short a battery cable was not grounded properly so it had not been charging itself.  We had a dead battery.  No big deal.  We discussed our options.  We went with option one first...Call someone to get the jet ski and find us, and jump us.  Giving directions to someone that has never been on this lake was odd...but I did it and in less than an hour we were found...we got jumped...we were good to go.  Thumbs up for a boat full of people enjoying being stranded and not panicking.  

This is me not panicking.
Seriously..I was as cool as a fan..

This is the amazing sky while we were waiting to be rescued...God is so good!

This week I am wearing Essie's Swept off my feet...on my feet.

Did I mention I was exhausted this week?  I got a massage.  I called to schedule an appointment, and she happened to have one at the end of the day.  I said "count me in!!"

It was ahhmazing, and so needed! 

Today my back feels like someone beat me with a stick, but it hurts so good!

After my hour massage I got in the car and turned on my phone.  Kyle had texted me telling me he felt sickly, and Trey had called at least 6 times and left many voicemails...I was like seriously... So, I ignored both of them and went to sit down and relax...at the frozen yogurt shop.  Normally, after a massage I would have gone straight home not wanting to be seen in public with massage oil all over my body and in my hair, but that day I couldn't care less.  I wasn't ready to surrender to being a Mom and a wife.  I wanted to indulge in some more me time.  I wanted to be just Carrie for a little bit longer.  So I did.  I sat in the yogurt shop, and I enjoyed my fresh fruit yogurt, checked emails, did some work stuff, and just enjoyed the last of the silence I would get for the day.

My little kitty cat has a new favorite spot.  

It's actually Brodie's spot..he sorta took it over.

This is Brodie wanting his spot...and patiently waiting for him to move.  Later I discovered that the cat was actually laying on Brodie's ball...So, Brodie was like "hey cat...you're in my spot..and laying on my ball..move it..please."

I love his little nose..

it's so kissable..

This is what all three of them do when Trey leaves...

They are the sweetest!!

That's it for my week.  How was yours?

xo

Carrie

Inch by Inch, Row by Row - Week 12

With my head hung down in shame I will admit that I only spent one day working in the garden this week, and a few seconds today picking off something for dinner.  I was exhausted from my busy weekend that I was just not motivated to do much in it once I got home from work.  Luckily, the evening I did spend in it just so happened to be the coolest day we have had in a while..It was beautiful!  I spent most of my time that day pulling weeds.  A ton of very tall weeds!! 

After pulling up the weeds and pulling out some dead plants everything looked so much neater, and it was easier to figure out what and where everything was.  Not having any lettuce or broccoli leaves a fairly open space to one side, and has given the vines more room to spread.  

The cucumber vines have completely taken over the bean trellis, which is fine with me.

It's funny that I only planted two cucumber plants and I have harvested over 20 all together, and there are still so many more beginning to grow.

My potatoes have started to break the ground..

This potato, which is unlike any that I have ever seen, was barely covered by any dirt and laying on the surface.  I pulled it up wanting to slice it open to see how they were doing...it was a little green on the inside, but it was for sure a healthy looking potato.  I took a picture of it after slicing it, but I must have deleted it.  They are looking great, and growing as they should...maybe not in the shape I expected them too, but nonetheless they are growing..and will be edible.

Beside the potatoes I checked out my onions.  It's amazing what you will find in your garden after pulling weeds...  The white onions are growing..some of them will probably be able to be harvested in a week or two.

The yellow onions are also doing amazingly well.

I am still overwhelmed by all of the tomatoes.  

It's so hard to believe this is the result of only four tomato plants.

I thought I was pulling a giant weed out from in between the corn stalks, and it was actually a tomato branch.

My cherry tomatoes are so pretty.

I have not read a whole lot about when to harvest beets.  They are fairly big above the surface, so I decided to pull one up to see how it was doing.

A little small yet...I think??

but still so pretty.  My wheels immediately started turning about numerous art projects I could do with them.  They are so colorful, and such a beautiful color.

I found even more cantaloupes this week..

This is the biggest of all..

I am anxious to find out just how these turn out.

Hopefully juicy and sweet..

The watermelons are all over the place from one end of the garden to the other.

I only have one oblong shaped melon. 

Most of the corn is ready...

Trey and I went out today and pulled off three ears of corn for dinner.

It was juicy, and delicious.

I have one little red jalapeno...

and so many green ones...

Lots of green bells...I wish you could smell them!!

Here are a few things that were harvested this week... 

I have a giant bowl of cucumbers in my kitchen, and one perfect little bell pepper..

and the corn is in my belly.  :-)

If you've never experienced the joy of accomplishing 
more than you can imagine, plant a garden. - Robert Brault


Thanks for stopping by..

xo

Carrie

One in a Melon - Weeks 10 & 11

It's official.  I'm a gardening nerd.  I have spent the last 45 minutes googling fruit and vegetable jokes and puns.  Literally laughing out loud to some of them, and most of them, I'm sure, I am the only person that has ever laughed at them. I am terrible with jokes.  If I hear one that is worth repeating I can never remember it.  I always have to write them down.  The only one joke I do remember is one that my Dad told me when I was little.  It was about penguins though, not fruits and vegetables.   I actually never got what the joke meant until I was an adult..Duh.  I remember thinking..oh hey I get it now..umm after like 20 years of telling it.  I still tell it...I actually told it to Catharina recently while we were working out.  Not sure if she got it or not, but I thought it was funny.

Getting back on track...the garden is massive.  It is full of yummy goodness, and I feel frantic wondering what to do first..as far as canning and whatnot.  

Anyone need some tomatoes?  I'm your girl!

I am still so amazed...

The fruit vines have completely taken over, and have grown quite a ways into the grass

See that cute little white dog in the corner photo bombing my garden?

He's mine!  <3

I finally have little baby cantaloupes!!  I almost fell over when I first discovered this.  Like I got all excited, and of course began over zealously talking to myself and lost my balance.  

It happens I guess...much too often to little ol' me...At least my neighbors were not spying on me this time and opening the door to yell something so not funny while laughing at me..

I seriously lost count of how many cantaloupes I have..

Have I mentioned before that out of everything I planted I am THE most excited about this?!

It makes my mouth water!

Check this out...

This loupe was hiding under a bunch of vines...

It must be advanced for its age...the leader of the pack...

Ahhh corn..it is so pretty.  I love corn fields, I don't know why, I just do.  Something so peaceful about it. This week I found a new greenway to run on and I ran past several fields of corn. 

 It was perfect.

How much did the pirate pay for the corn?

A buccaneer

(hahaha)

You're laughing right?

With me, or at me?? :-D

Why didn't anyone laugh at the gardeners jokes?

Because they were too corny

This is probably a true story.

and I'm okay with that..

Something ate all of my broccoli.  

It's completely dunzo.

I love some bell peppers, don't you?

Sweet banana peppers

Found this guy...or gal with their brood on one of my pepper plants.  

I was surprised to see that I still have cucumbers blooming..

I may get to make some dill pickles after all.

They grow so fast that sometimes they grow too fast, and don't get picked in time, so I have to toss them.  These three were too big, so we threw them in the woods.

I have so many red tomatoes.

There were three tomatoes...

Father tomato

Mother tomato

Son tomato...

All of them were about to be squished, so they ran for their lives.  

The Father and the Mother were running fast, but the son was lagging behind...

So, the Father tomato told his son to ketchup...

Why did the people dance to the vegetable band?

Because it had a good beet.

Ok, ok, I'll stop with the jokes...for now..No promises though.

I have a few green beans, but maybe five, and it's not looking like I will have many more after I pick these.

Can you believe how big the watermelon is compared to a week ago!!??

I have a ton of them..

I even found one all the way on the other end of the garden near the tomatoes.

This is my harvest from this week...
I am seriously loving this, and ready to read up on some good canning recipes!!

Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes...
you can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt!

Thanks for hanging out in the garden with me!

xo

Carrie