Shrimp Mac and Cheese

Not too long ago my husband and I had lunch at a great seafood restaurant in town.  Overall our meal was delicious, but what impressed me the most was the lobster mac and cheese we had as an appetizer.  I love mac and cheese and lobster, but have never tried them together.  The dish was rich and creamy and every forkful had a chunk of lobster in it.  Definitely my new favorite.

It was so good that I attempted to recreate the dish at home.  But after pricing lobster in the market I decided to use shrimp; lobsters's less expensive cousin!

A flavorful and inexpensive alternative, adding shrimp really enhanced the dish.

My family enjoyed the dish just as much as I did.  A decadent one dish meal.  Perfect comfort food for all of the seafood lovers out there!
  

Ingredients
1 pound of fresh wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined once cooked I cut each shrimp in half 
8 oz fontina cheese, cubed (can be substituted here) 
8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded 
2 cups half and half 
1/2 C butter 
1/2 C white wine 
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced  
1/2 tsp nutmeg 
8 oz cooked macaroni (cook the pasta according to the box directions for al dente pasta) 
1 C panko breadcrumbs 
2 tbsp parsley, chopped 
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
4 tbsp salted butter (divided into 1 tbsp) 

Directions 
In a small sauce pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and saute the garlic and shallots until tender.  Set aside.  In a separate skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.  Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.  In a large pot on low heat, stir together eggs, 1/2 cup butter, half-and-half, the fontina cheese, the white cheddar cheese, parsley, white wine, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix well.  Allow sauce to come to a simmer.  Stir in shrimp and cooked macaroni.  Add the shallots and garlic.  Remove from heat and transfer to buttered 2-quart casserole.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in a bowl.  Add the panko breadcrumbs and mix with a fork until coated with butter.  Top the macaroni and cheese with the mixture.  Bake uncovered, 40 to 45 minutes or until heated through. 


Recipe adapted from: http://www.bhg.com

Banker's Lamp Makeover

Our weather has been crap lately.  Rain then rain; Followed by more rain!  Unfortunately, bad weather has discouraged me to complete most of my projects around the house.  To regain my lost motivation, I decided to start by giving this lamp a little makeover.  We've had it for years and the color was fine, but after painting my computer desk the color of the lamp needed to change as well.

I started by taping off the cord with painters tape, to avoid any spray paint from getting on the cord.

Next I took the lamp outside and gave it a few, quick coats of metallic spray paint.   The color is champagne mist by, Rust-oleum.  I love the color, it's brass without it being too brassy if that makes sense.  I've used it before here, with great results. 

Ah, much better!

Here it is on the freshly painted desk.  The color of the desk is rain forest by, Glidden in case you're interested.  Just a peek though! I'll show you more of the room later.  For now we'll just focus on the lamp. : )

So what do you think?  Are you digging the brass, or do you prefer the previous look?  I like it and my husband does too, so that's a win in my book! 

Want to Pay Less for Fuel?

**Giveaway is now closed.  Winner will be announced at a later date. Thank you all for entering.

Woo, summer is almost here! I have so much planned for my family and so many places to go. In June, my cousin is having a wedding and I am so excited! The wedding is quite a long drive from here and on top of that, my children will want to go everywhere. This Spring Break was so fun for them, but there are more roller rinks to skate at, more ice cream shops to go to and more festivals to attend on Summer Break! As fun as that may sound, gas prices are my biggest hassle. There has to be a way to pay less when buying gas! Just when I was losing hope and accepting the fact that gas will never be as cheap as I want, I found out about the Fuel Rewards Network™ program, or FRN™ program.

Say what?! Who knew you could get fuel rewards just by grocery shopping and buying clothes! The way the Fuel Rewards Network program works is that you buy everyday items, whether it be food, clothes, or household items, and redeem your fuel savings at any participating Shell gas station. How convenient is that! What makes the program so great is that you can combine different rewards offers together for some of the biggest savings you can ever see at the pump. If you ever see a woman wildly dancing at a gas station, it may or may not be me, ha!

Follow these easy steps to activate your FRN Card Go to fuelrewards.com and click “Sign Up” to activate your FRN Card. If you don’t already have an FRN Card you can request an FRN Card online during sign-up to be mailed to you. Select “Fuel Rewards Network” for your card. Enter your card number and PIN. Follow the steps to complete online enrollment. You can also activate your FRN Card by downloading the FRN Mobile App for iPhone or Android. The Fuel Rewards Network program is offered at Shell in addition to the existing grocer rewards programs with The Kroger Co. and Ahold. Consumers will redeem their Kroger Co. and Ahold rewards separately from Fuel Rewards savings issued through the Fuel Rewards Network program.

On average, members save about 31 cents per gallon by participating in the Fuel Rewards Network program (according to fuelrewards.com on 5/6/13). I wish I would have known about these fuel rewards sooner. I have driven many miles back and forth and spent too much on gas! I could have put that money towards a new purse, a new chair, a date with my husband! This program will make driving a lot easier as I travel on the road this summer, whether I'm driving at my own leisure or being my children's chauffeur, I will have more money in my pocket. Since you'll be saving tons of money by being a part of the Fuel Rewards Network program, how will you spend your summer?

How would you benefit from the Fuel Rewards Network program? Enter to win a $100 Shell Gift Card.

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post.
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion, including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry" and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/6/2013-6/2/2013.

Be sure to visit the Fuel Rewards Network program page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Beer and Bacon

Growing up I really disliked Brussels sprouts.  Maybe it was the way my parents fixed them, boiling them in a pot of salted water left much to be desired.  As I grew older I remember trying them again and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed them.  Over the years I have made them several different ways, but I enjoy them best roasted with beer and bacon.  Beer and bacon!  This may be the best thing to come out of my kitchen in a long time.

My husband and I like to cook with dark beers.  You can add extra flavor to your recipes by replacing all or most of the water required with beer.  We have used Guinness a lot in cooking.  Last week while grocery shopping we happened upon Yuengling and decided to give it a try.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's not as strong as Guinness, yet the flavor is very distinct.  Needless to say we haven't purchased Guinness since!

I love the convenience of roasting vegetables.  After very little prep work, I simply placed all the ingredients in a pan and while they're roasting I am free to do other things while dinner is in the oven.

Ingredients
2 lbs Brussels Sprouts 
6 oz bacon, chopped 
1 onion, peeled and sliced 
12 oz bottle beer, Yuengling
1/2 tsp salt 
1/4 tsp pepper 

Directions 
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Wash and peel off any loose or damaged leaves from the sprouts, then trim the root ends.  Add the Brussels sprouts to a large roasting pan and season with salt and pepper.  Add the sliced onion, then add the chopped bacon.  Pour the bottle of beer into the pan and cover with aluminum foil.  Place the covered pan in the oven and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, turning several times. Roast until the Brussels sprouts are tender and caramelized and the bacon is golden.

Updated Sofa with Pillows

When my mom passed away I received many of her personal items including her sofa.  I was moving out of the state with very little furniture of my own, so my dad gifted it to me because he knew how much my mom would have wanted me to have it.  

Living room decorated for the holidays, circa 1995

My baby shower, circa 1996

My mom with my daughter.  I'm sure she's singing, You are my sunshine. 

My mom and me! 

I was 16 when she purchased the sofa.  I can still remember the day she had it delivered from John Wanamaker's.  If you knew my mom you knew how much she loved her sofa.  My siblings and I rarely sat on it!  It was more of a show piece and my dad jokingly referred to it as the "Cadillac".

I was nervous about having a light colored sofa when my kids were little.  Then the dogs came along and my anxiety intensified a bit!  But I promised myself the sofa wouldn't be off limits to my family.  We sit on the sofa, my children lie on it and mess the perfectly poofed pillows and for the longest time my smallest dog would nap there.


It's a comfortable sofa in great condition.  I've had it professionally cleaned a few times, luckily the cushions are removable for easy clean up.  But as the years go by it needed a little updating.  I considered having it reupholstered in a new timeless fabric, but the more I thought about it I knew I could breathe new life into it with simple updates.

Adding new accent pillows really brightened the sofa for a fresh new look.  I made the gray pillows, but purchased the others. 

I added a cozy throw blanket.  I swapped out the accessories on the coffee table for a less cluttered look.  I also purchased a new rug.  The larger rug compliments the space.  I don't know what I was thinking using such a smaller rug before. ;)

More pillows on the bench.  I love the Greek key pattern.  I considered making my own, then I found these babies for a steal at Lowe's.

It's amazing how different the sofa looks in the room just by updating the pillows and few other accessories.  I'm so glad I decided not to have it reupholstered. 

Spring Break Bucket

This week my children are on spring break.  We have plans for a busy summer, so this week we decided to stay home and take it easy.

I know how easily my kids can become bored so I created a spring break bucket with a bunch of inexpensive activities written on each token.

I created the tokens with my craft punch and leftover scrapbook paper.

To save money for some the activities, I used coupons that I saved for fun things to do.  I also took advantage of the daily deals Groupon offers.

My goal was to encourage family time.  Some of the activities are; a picnic at the park, baking together, calling a loved one, taking treats to the pups at PAWS and doing something nice for one of our neighbors.

Each day my son or my daughter will pick from the bucket and whichever token they chose will be our fun activity for the day.

As I thought about this idea I thought it may be too childish for my 16 yr old, but she surprised me and really loved it.  In fact I overheard her telling her friend about it on the phone.  Later my children thanked and told me it was "cool"!  Me cool? Nah...!



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Kelly's Korner

Shrimp And Broccoli Alfredo

I love it when someone else is doing all the cooking!  My husband and daughter love to cook together.  My daughter enjoys chopping up all the vegetables for whatever meal he is planning.  My job is usually clean up.  It's fun for them and I don't mind cleaning up afterward.

Together, they made this dish for dinner one night and we all loved it.  It's quickly become one of my favorite meals.

Simple and tasty!  I hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients 
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine pasta 
2 tablespoons butter 
1 pound uncooked shrimp - peeled and deveined 
2 cups blanched fresh broccoli florets 
4 cloves garlic, minced 
1 cup half-and-half 
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese(not the powdered stuff)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 
salt and pepper to taste 

Directions 
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; then drain.  In a large skillet, saute shrimp, broccoli and garlic in butter until shrimp turn pink.  Pour in half and half and stir to combine ingredients.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese in one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly.  Once remaining Parmesan cheese is added, mix in parsley and salt. Stir frequently making sure it does not boil. Sauce may take a while to thicken.  Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to finish thickening as it stands.  Once sauce has thickened, serve over cooked fettuccine.  Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/ 

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