Sweet & Sour Pineapple Shrimp and Rice Bowls

I've been searching the Internet for recipe ideas that would be outside our normal everyday meals. I found a recipe on Kraft.com for Pineapple Shrimp Kabobs. Instead of making this a kabob meal, I made it a "stir fry" of sorts. It turned out to be a quick 30 minute meal with tons of flavor.

I made some changes to the recipe and in the end I was very pleased at how it turned out. My happiest moments came as my kids took their first bites and both surprisingly said "I really like this!" You had to be here while I was preparing the meal. My daughter kept insisting that she hated shrimp and that she wasn't going to eat dinner ...and, of course, she said that I was going to starve her on purpose. She ended up eating more shrimp than anyone else. My son admitted that he thought that he would hate but that he really liked it.

What more could I ask for?  :)

Sweet & Sour Pineapple Shrimp and Rice Bowls
adapted from Kraft.com

4 cups of cooked rice of your choice, kept warm
3/4 c. zesty Italian dressing
2 tbsp + 2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 - 4 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice
2 bags large size frozen shrimp, tails removed and thawed
3/4 can of unsweetened pineapple chunks
1/3 c. fresh basil, chopped

Prepare rice and keep it warm until ready to eat.

In a medium-sized frying pan, stir together Italian dressing, brown sugar, garlic, chili sauce and pineapple juice. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and starts to thicken just a bit.

Stir in shrimp. Cook for 5- 6 minutes.

Add pineapple and basil. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes.

To Serve:

Scoop rice into individual bowls.

Spoon the pineapple shrimp sauce over the rice.

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Tuesdays at the Table 

Tasty Tuesdays

Mexican Pasta Skillet + Low Carb Fish Taco Salad

I love it when our nightly dinner recipe turns out to be something that my family really likes, plus I'm able to make it low carb for me with just a few adjustments.

The original recipe for this Mexican Pasta Skillet comes from Betty Crocker. I left out the corn, used ground turkey instead of ground beef and added a low carb taco spice blend to my recipe makeover. I reserved 1/4 C. of the sauce mixture for my fish taco salad. Then I added cooked elbow macaroni to the remaining sauce for my family.

My recipe makeover looks like this:

Tami's Mexican Pasta Skillet

1 lb ground turkey
16 oz salsa - I used "hot"
16 oz tomato sauce
1 1/2 C. water
1 lb. cooked elbow macaroni
1/2 C. shredded mexi blend cheese
low carb taco seasoning blend* - recipe below

Brown turkey; drain off grease, if necessary. Return turkey to skillet.

Stir in low carb taco seasoning blend, salsa, tomato sauce and water.

Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cooked elbow macaroni and heat through.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the pasta. Cover with a lid to allow the cheese time to melt - 2 minutes.

Serve with warm bread and a side salad.

Low Carb Taco Seasoning

1 t. chili powder
3/4 t. paprika
3/4 t. cumin
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. salt
3/8 t. garlic powder
pinch cayenne

I doubled this amount for the recipe above.

I cannot take credit for creating this great spice blend. You can see the original recipe here.


Now for my low carb fish taco salad........

Last night we had Red Pepper & Parmesan Talapia. If you are fond of fish - and even if you are not - you should try this recipe. It's delicious. I also sprinkled a little cajun spice on the fish to give it a little "kick".

There was one piece of fish left over from last night so I decided to add it to my salad. Win-Win-Win! It's low carb...it's delicious....I used up the leftovers instead of throwing them out.

Tami's Low Carb Fish Taco Salad

1 - 1 1/2 C. Italian salad mixed greens
1 piece of leftover red pepper & parmesan talapia
1/3 piece of an English cucumber, roughly chopped
1/4 C. taco meat sauce from mexican pasta skillet recipe (above)
2 TBSP sour cream
2 TBSP shredded mexi blend cheese

Layer in order:

greens
cucumber
fish
taco meat sauce
sour cream
cheese

This new twist on salad will be added to my list of favorites! The recipe makes a big salad that could easily have been divided into 2 salads if you wanted to serve another vegetable with it. I couldn't finish the whole thing by myself.

Red Pepper & Parmesan Talapia - Low Carb, Too!

This was another great dish that my whole family really liked. All of the ingredients are low carb, too!

If you're not found of fish, I suggest giving this a try. It has a very mellow flavor and the Parmesan cheese adds a nice crunch around the edges.

Red Pepper & Parmesan Talapia
taken from the Taste of Home Busy
Family Recipes 2010 magazine

I doubled this recipe

¼ cup egg substitute
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon pepper
4 tilapia fillets (6 oz. each) - The fillets I used weren't 6 oz. each, they were smaller

Place egg substitute in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine the cheese, Italian seasoning, pepper flakes and pepper. Dip fillets in egg substitute, then cheese mixture.

Place in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. -- Do not skip this step or the cheese will stick to the pan. 

Bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Shown here with a side of sauteed squash w/ roasted red peppers. YUM!

Delish and only 1 carb per serving!

All Day Crockpot Macaroni & Cheese

My daughter LOVES mac 'n cheese. Since I've been cooking some dishes lately that have certainly not been here favorites, I decided to cook mac 'n cheese for her to make her really happy.

If you follow the directions to this recipe, you will end up with a delicious meal. Even my husband, who is VERY picky about mac 'n cheese, really liked it.

Here is what it looks like in the crock once it has finished cooking


One tip that I will add before you get started.... Make sure to undercook the macaroni before you add it to the crockpot, otherwise I believe that you would end up with mushy macaroni.

All Day Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz cooked and drained Pasta - Elbows are classic, but you can use anything.
4 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Can (12 oz) Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 C Milk - I used powdered skim milk that had been reconstituted into 11/2 C. of milk
2 Eggs
2 TBS Flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Spray crockpot with nonstick spray.

Mix everything together and pour into crockpot.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours**-Do not stir, it will cook and firm up.

I found this crockpot mac 'n cheese recipe on a blog called Frugal Upstate. I don't know the owner, Jen, personally but her blog is really nice.

**notes**

This recipe cooked for 5 hours and was completely done. I haven't tried leaving on longer but I don't think that I would leave it for more than 6 hours without being afraid that it would be overcooked.

I used regular cheddar cheese in this recipe. I'm using sharp cheddar next time for more flavor. I also add 1 tsp of red pepper to it. I don't think that it made a difference so I will leave it out next time.


I served this with broiled Talapia fillets and a side of green beans.


Broiled Citrus Talapia

6 - 8 Talapia fillets, thawed if frozen
Citrus Seasoning
butter flavored baking spray
lemon juice

Turn on broiler. Spray a baking sheet with butter flavored baking spray.

Rinse and pat dry the Talapia fillets and then lay them on the baking tray. Lightly spray the tops of the fillets with baking spray. Sprinkle liberally with citrus seasoning. Flip fish over and sprinkle again with the citrus seasoning. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Broil for 5 -8 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.

We like an extra sprinkle of lemon juice on our fish before eating it.


I'm happy to report that everyone in my family really enjoyed this meal.

Pretzel Breaded Fish

I tried a new twist on my usual fish recipe for tonight's dinner...I made pretzel breaded fish from "What's for Supper?".

I didn't mention the changes to my family because I wanted to see their reactions to it before telling them that the coating was made from pretzels. Everyone ate it without any complaints. My husband did end up telling me that he liked it but that he liked my other fish recipes better. I would say that it's a nice change when the menu gets boring.

INGREDIENTS:

Pretzels
Flour
black pepper
Creole seasoning
1 Egg
1/4 Cup milk
oil
Fish


How I made it:

I basically made it per the original directions but I added Creole seasoning to the flour.

Crush pretzels in a plastic bag with a mallet or food processor.

Dip the fish in some seasoned flour (I used some black pepper and Creole spices).

Then dip the fish in an egg/milk mixture (1 egg and 1/4 cup milk whisked together).

Then press the fish in the crushed pretzel mixture until well coated.

Pan fry the fish in a small amount of oil, approximately 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked.

I made a mustard-mayo sauce to go with it.

Mustard-Mayo Sauce

1/8 C. mayo
1/4 C. grainy brown mustard
5-6 shakes of Tabasco sauce

Stir until well blended.