The ocean and I have a such a love/hate relationship.  Let me be more specific, the PACIFIC Ocean and I have such a love/hate relationship.  I remember when I first moved from a little town in Maryland out to sunny Southern California.  My impression of this side of the country had almost solely been based on Bayside High and Baywatch.  When I moved here, I wanted to drive a yellow convertible right up to lifeguard stand, give David Charvet (if you don’t know who that is, I’m sorry for your eyes) a boyfriend-worthy kiss and bound into the warm blue waters that lapped up onto this beautiful left coast.

However, my experience was a bit different.  I drove up in a black Mazda Protege (black, lowered, with illegally tinted windows and black rims that I had to buy from a “Your Job Is Your Credit” used car lot), ran across the grey sand into the dark blue water and went into immediate shock.  It was about 50 degrees and my entire lower body was wrapped in seaweed and my foot was bleeding from a rogue shell colony.

Since that day, I have been in the Pacific exactly 5 times in last 7 years.  And once was to save Gidget when she got caught in the current and I found out not all dogs can swim.

Moral of this story: Don’t believe everything you see that stars  David Hasselhoff.

But what, I DO love about the ocean?  Eating everything in it.  Sometimes I wish I was a shark, so I could just swim around with my mouth open and get free sushi for miles and miles. But, I’m not.  So, tonight we settled for the next best thing – this Roasted Lemon and Garlic Shrimp.  It was fantastic and reaffirms my love for the ocean… from afar.

It’s official, I’m the last one standing in this house.  Adam is one cough away from losing a lung, Rondo has something going on with his sweet little eyes and you know all about The Gidge’s recent brush with pancreatitis.  Gidget Watch 2013 Update: she’s home now, thank goodness!  Resting, eating chicken and rice only for the next month (I think that was her plan all along), and on the road to recovery.   The one silver lining in all this is that they had to shave her leg to give her an IV and now she looks like she either has a wooden peg leg or got attacked by a mini shark.  I feel badly laughing in a sick dog’s face, but I can’t help it.  I mean…

::wahahaha.  I’m a terrible mother/person. wahahahaha::

Last night, after running around picking up meds for everyone, I thought I’d make something light and fresh that might help everyone ingesting it feel lighter and fresher.  I was wrong, and we’ll be having soup tonight, because sick people like soup, not shrimp.  BUT, I’d otherwise recommend these Cilantro and Jalapeno Shrimp Cakes for a nice late summer dinner (or lunch) option, inspired by SkinnyTaste. I paired mine with some grilled corn and grilled zucchini spears (not pictured).  For Adam, I through together a little lemon, basil angel hair pasta as a base because he’s not a huge fan of corn.  Who doesn’t like sweet summer corn, grilled to perfection?  I’m suspect of his taste. Whatevs… more for me.

]]> http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/09/16/cilantro-and-jalapeno-shrimp-cakes-for-my-homies/feed/ 0 http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/08/06/take-it-up-the-nose/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=take-it-up-the-nose http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/08/06/take-it-up-the-nose/#comments Tue, 06 Aug 2013 01:18:16 +0000 http://lemonsandlunges.com/?p=23 I feel like our kitchen is a little like Epcot.  Some weeks it feels like every night we go to another country. And tonight we’re heading to Japan… or Thailand.  I’m a big fan of Skinny Taste and am always amazed by Gina’s ability to create healthy, delicious meals.  This is one of my favorites and it makes me feel like I had a cheat day with Thai take-out, without the guilt. Let me introduce you to my little friend – Clean Eating Garlic Shrimp with Coconut Milk and Cilantro.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (weight after peeled)
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• kosher salt (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 14 oz can light coconut milk (50% less fat)*
• 1/2 lime, squeezed

For Serving:

• white or brown rice

Directions:

In a medium pot, heat oil on low. Add red peppers and sauté until soft (about 4 minutes). Add scallion whites, 1/4 cup cilantro, red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, coconut milk and salt to taste, cover and simmer on low about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend together and to thicken the sauce.

Add shrimp and cook 5 minutes. Add lime juice.

To serve, divide equally among 4 bowls over rice and top with scallions and cilantro.

And let me let you in on a little secret.  I’m an idiot and what can and will go wrong… usually does for me.  To really up the ante, I added a couple crab rangoons that I baked up from a frozen food section package.  As Adam and I sat down to dive into this little trip to S.E. Asia, I grabbed a rangoon, bit in and immediately felt burning hot cream cheese IN MY NOSE.  Not only did the rangoon explode the moment I bit into it, but it exploded UPWARD and covered my whole upper lip, bottom of my nose and inside my nostrils.  I. mean. really? I’m so sexy, I totally understand why Adam loves me.

I’ll let ya know tomorrow how much skin is missing. Dodo Brain —> ME.