Shrimp a la Diabla -- I cooked an amazing meal last night!

Shrimp in red chile sauce

Last night as I waited for trick o treaters, I felt inspired to cook. Daniel was returning home after a 3 day job out of town and so I thought I would have something on the stove for him when he arrived.

I've eaten this dish many times in restaurants but could never quite nail the recipe. I think I came close last night.  Here is what I did.

Sauce Ingredients
3 Chile Guajillos
5 Chile de Japones
4 small roma tomates
3 cloves of garlic

Directions
Toast the Chile de Japones in a skillet until charred and set aside.  Take the Chile Guajillos and remove the seeds and stems.  Place the Guajillos chiles and tomatoes in a small pot with about 1.5 cups of water. Boil on high for about 5-6 minutes until soft.  Add the Guajillo and tomato mixture to your blender, adding the toasted chile de Japones (these are hot so if you don't care for heat, use two).  Add two cloves of garlic, salt and blend.  Set the sauce aside.

Ingredients
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1/2 white onion
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs. of olive oil or butter
2 lbs of clean, deveined shrimp. Be sure to remove the tails.

Slice your peppers and onions in thin strips.  Saute in oil or butter until soft.  Once the peppers half way cooked, add your shrimp and toss for a couple of minutes.  Add the chile sauce to your pan. Turn the heat down low. Cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes on low heat.  Do not cook too long because you don't want your shrimp to shrivel up.

Serve over a plate of white rice. Heat tortillas and enjoy.  I think this dish would be great with refried beans. I had a little left over from a previous meal and the sauce added extra flavor to the beans.

If you enjoy spicy food, then this recipe is for you.  Daniel loved the sauce.  I am not the most affectionate person but cooking this meal for him was my way of showing him I care.  He must get tired of eating fast food while working out of town.  Actions do speak louder than words, don't you think?

It feels nice to write about food again.  Here's to inspiration (imagine I have a glass of wine in my hand as I clink your glass).

Have a great weekend my friends and don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour on Sunday.

Best,
Paula

Kale, please!!

Hi friends, how's it going?  I had a few moments of "boo hoo hoo" but then I checked myself and decided enough!  I decided to pull out the Kale from Saturday's farmers market trip.

There were various types of Kale and I decided on this curly Kale since I've purchased this type at Trader Joes.  I chopped and removed the stems and then cleaned in my new salad spinner. I should have bought one of these years ago.

I added some olive oil to my pan.  Chopped 1/2 a white onion, two cloves of garlic and then crushed some toasted chile japones for some kick.

 Cooked onions, garlic and chili until tender.

 Added my kale.

 When Kale was nice and wilted, I added some diced tomatoes from a can. I always have a large can of diced tomatoes in my fridge.

I then cooked 1 cup of pasta. I used this type since it's what I had in my cup board.

I heated on some grilled chicken strips I bought at Sam's club and TADA!!!  Lunch and dinner was served.

I should have added more Kale to this recipe and of course, I needed some cheese but since I shouldn't be eating it at this time, I skipped it.

This dish was inspired by Giada from the Cooking Channel.  

Weight loss

The down side of all this is I cannot exercise.  Add to that my increase in carbs and well, I am gaining weight. The scale is staying at 176 lbs but I definitely see the extra weight in my pictures.

Damn, look at them guns?  My daughter bought me a wig yesterday.  I am so lucky to have such wonderful kids.  I know it's human nature to feel loss and sadness when you're going through it but it's important to remember all that you have.... Even this extra weight... I know it's temporary. It's just a matter of time I get back to my routine. I  return to work in January and I can't wait to focus on something other than C.

Routines are glorious, don't you think?