Ok, maybe lazy isn't the most accurate word....it sure isn't the most flattering! So instead, let's go with busy. I am a busy cook. I like to eat. I love food. I even like to cook. But I also have a job that keeps me really busy, so don't have a ton of time to spend preparing meals. But I also don't like eating a lot of packaged or pre-prepared foods, because they are just so bad for you.

I don't have little kids to try to feed, but I do have an 18 year old nephew living with me. So the trick is to try to balance meals for me and for him. On my side, you've got an adult female who is trying to eat in a healthy way and lose weight. On Josh's side, you've got an 6', athletic teenage boy who could happily eat 4,000 calories a day and stay slim and athletic. Sometimes, he makes me crazy! And let me add that I love to try new things and be adventurous in my cooking, and Josh would be happy always eating the same 5-6 meals, every 5-6 days. So the happy medium is that I cook healthy meals, making them in ways that make Josh's teenage boy appetite happy, provide lots of veggies, and always have a batch of cookies in the cookie jar.

So anyway, to wrap this up. I know I have a lot of friends who find themselves to be in the same meal preparation situation as me. I've found and collected some really great, simple recipe's. And, since I like to play with things when I'm cooking, I've created some dishes of my own that are pretty darn tasty! Soooo....I figured I'd start a blog to share those recipe's with my friends. I'll only post recipe's that I've made and have passed approval from my family. If they're my own creation, I'll claim credit. If I lifted it from somewhere, I'll give credit to the culinary genius I stole from!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Shrimp stuffed twice baked potatoes

Ok, ok, I realize that these really don't look like that much, but I cannot BEGIN to tell you how amazing these are!  I watched Paula Deen make this one morning, and after I stopped drooling, I went out and got what ingredients I was mising! 


Ingredients
4 (6 to 8-ounce) russet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked all over with a fork
Vegetable oil, to coat potatoes
4 slices bacon
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
4 green onions, thinly sliced, white and light green parts; dark green parts chopped, for garnish
1 cup grated Cheddar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup sour cream
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Rub the potatoes with vegetable oil and put them on a baking sheet.  Bake the potatoes until tender, about 1 hour.

While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 7 minutes.  Transfer the slices to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, then crumble.  Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of bacon grease from the skillet.

Cut the shrimp into thirds.  Reheat the bacon grease over medium-high heat.  Add the shrimp, Cajun seasoning, and a pinch of salt.  Cook until the shrimp are opaque, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes.

When the potatoes are done, let them cool slightly (leave the oven on).  Slice off the top third of each potato and carefully scoop out the flesh into a bowl.  Scoop out the potato from the top third, and add that to the bowl, then discard the skin.  Leave about 1/4-inch border of potato inside the skin. Mash the potato flesh with 1 teaspoon salt, the green onion, cheese, butter, sour cream, mayonnaise, and black pepper.  Add the shrimp and bacon to the mixture.  Stuff the potato skins with the filling, mounding any extra on top.  Return the potatoes to the oven on the baking sheet and bake them until heated through, about 15 minutes.  Remove the potatoes from the oven, sprinkle with the reserved chopped green onions and serve.

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