Shrimp with Roasted Red Pepper Cream

This was one of the meals we had for dinner this week.  My husband really likes it a lot and it is quick and easy to make- in addition to having less than 7 grams a fat per serving and around 40 grams of protein- we won't mention the sodium or cholestrol count!!

• pasta of your choice- I ended up using fettucine because I made the sauce a little thicker- thin spaghetti also works fine
• 6 oz of roasted red peppers- you can find these in a jar at the market
• 4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup juice from your roasted peppers or use chicken broth
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp red pepper and smoked paprika
• 1 lb. cooked and peeled shrimp
• basil for garnish is desired

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

Process peppers and next 4 ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Pour mixture into a large skillet.

Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until throughly heated- stir often.  Add shrimp and cook 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and serve over the pasta.  Garnish with basil if desired.

 I am linking up with Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday. 

Lauren's Container Garden

Seems like the gardening tasks are really taking hold of Lauren.  After transplanting the peppers and tomatoes yesterday, she started her own garden by herself.  She carefully dug up some of the "weeds" in our yard and replanted them-most had their roots intact. 

Afterward, she requested that we fertilize them as well.  You may notice a small red frog in the picture- it is her "strawberry poison dart frog".  According to her - the garden is it's new habitat.   I would say that her little "garden"  fits several categories regarding bloom's taxonomy.

Transplanting and Hardening Off Seedlings

Since we really wanted to grow some heirloom tomatoes and their plants are not readily available- we started some indoors on March the 1st.  Lauren and I started them in the compressed peat pellets and placed them under a growing dome.  It took seven days for most of them to germinate- aunt ruby's german green took almost 12 days to germinate.  We took them out of the dome and placed them under a grow light until their first true set of leaves developed and then transplanted them into larger pots and gave them half strength fertilizer.  Here is a picture of them as of today. 

We started hardening the off last week- hope to plant them out in the garden around the 15th- last frost date is april the 8th here in Arkansas.  The above tomato plants are Brandywine Red, Cherokee Purple and Jubilee.  Brandywine is commonly found in plant stores.  The yellow cherry tomatoes are already in the sunshine today along with the better boys.  My thoughts are to use use cages for some tomatoes and part staking to get an idea of which method I prefer.  Any comments from those with experience???  Thinking air circulation would be better for those staked although more work involved in trying them up as the grow. Very humid here in the summer.


Today we transplanted our pepper seedlings and the aunt ruby german green and box car willie tomatoes.  Kicking myself that I chose a mix color packet of bell pepper seedlings- I am in love with the red - the packet we planted had green, red, yellow, orange and purple.  Thinking I will grab a red bell at the store to make certain I have them- we are having shrimp and red bell pepper sauce for dinner tonight and at last Friday's pizza party- one of the guests brought red bell peppers- mine never made it to my pizza- are they ever good just plain raw!!  Still I do hope to have some purple come up as well- next year might have to buy in individual packets. 

Here you can see the impatiens that are in need of pricking out this week- if you are thinking I probably had some help sprinkling the seeds - you would be correct.  Hoping this will tolerate the eastern side of our home's front- although I have noticed the sun is still shining in that bed as late as 2 pm- crossing my fingers the trees filter enough sunlight for them to thrive.

Wish us luck and good weather.  Still have zinnia seeds (around 100) and basil and sage to deal with.   Will add that this project and ongoing gardening will play a big part in our homeschooling for this summer.  Just think of all those cool vocabulary words and brining  in math and science.  Don't worry- she will get a week off each month in May, June and July.

Dogwood Trees

Lauren and I spent some time today walking through our propery and tying ribbons around all the dogwoods.  We will be clearing some of the smaller trees and undergrowth on our six acres to allow more grass to grow and just basically clean it up- but we do not wish to remove the dogwoods.  As we were walking around- I was reminded of the legend of the dogwood click here to read about it.

Kitchen Countertop Fitz and Floyd Garden

Thanks to Marty at A Stroll through Life -  I am participating in Tabletop Tuesday.  We change the kitchen countertop accessories to reflect the season- previously- this corner was home to a few snowmen.  Since we moved last summer-we now have ample space and sunlight to garden- so it seemed fitting to use some gardening and spring items.

Here is the corner in its entirety- thanks goes to my husband for constructing the backsplash and adding the undercounter lighting.  You may click on the pics to enlarge them.  I am still  learning how to blog-excuse my inexperience.

The garden pottery pieces are Fitz and Floyd- puchased at Stein Mart in the mid 90's.  Recently saw some asparagus spears at TJ Maxx that would go nicely with this set.  The coke bottle is a vintage one and is included because my father works for Coco-Cola.  The plant is a janet craig dracenae and does fine in the low light location.  Candle and lentil seeds are a reminder to daily check our indoor seedlings.  Here are a few close ups.

Be sure to take some time and visit Marty's beautiful blog for inspiration.

It started with a can of corn

I am excited to particpate in Foodie Friday hosted by Michael Lee at Designs by Gollum.  Trying to find tasty and healthy recipes can be frustrating.    While flipping through several  cookbooks, I decided to combine a few to come up with a combination that both my husband and I would enjoy.  One of the items in my mix included corn- while strolling the aisles with my six year old "driving" the cart- I spotted for the first time Green Giant's Chipotle White Corn-into the cart it went.  We purchased the other ingredients and went home to start dinner.  Pleased to say it was a hit for both hubby and myself- six year old deemed it too spicy and not to her liking. 

Good for You Chipotle Bean Soup

* 1 teaspoon olive oil

* 1 large onion, chopped

* 3 cloves of garlic, minced

*2 cups of chicken stock

*2 cups corn kernels-your choice

*1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed

*1 cup of salsa-I like medium

*1 teaspoon of chipotle chile powder-McCormicks' avail most markets

*1 teaspoon of cumin, ground

*1 cup of chopped, cooked meat- chicken or pork work well-use leftovers!!

*1 teaspoon dried cilantro

*2 teaspoons lime juice

Heat the oil on medium heat in a soup pot.  Add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring frequently, until golden- around 10 minutes.

Add the broth, corn, beans, salsa, chile powder and cumin, bring to a boil- then reduce heat and cover- simmer 5 minutes.  Stir in your meat and add the remaining items and let the meat heat through.  You may wish to add more spice or lime juice to suit your taste. 

Like most soups- it is even better the next day.   Looking at the picture- I realize that yellow corn would add a much better color than the white corn. 

Role Playing-St Patrick

We started our lessons the usual way today- spelling and handwriting.  (Yes- she is still in her night clothes- we tend to get sidetracked having her get dressed first-learned the hard way.)  When she was working on today's lesson- I glanced back at the first lesson and saw a dramatic improvement in her handwriting- sweet progress!!!  After completing our reading and math lessons for today -  we role played various stories of St. Patrick - information from  http://www.dlkt-holidays.com/patrick/about.htm

Seems she prefers the story about Patrick driving out the snakes more than the story about him bringing Christianity to Ireland.  You can see the snakes in the box below.  She acted the snake stories out several times- getting more dramatic with each retelling.  She politely declined photos of herself doing so.

Thinking it will be a good idea to have our own St. Patrick's day parade this year- complete with marching band and handcrafted shamrocks representing the Holy Trinity.