finally it’s friday

just to give you a little laugh for the day…

The other morning I was having trouble with my contacts.  I’ve only been doing this for the past 12+ years or so… you would think I would have it down.  After putting them in, both my eyes were really really blurry.  (usually I just try to let them be for a minute to see if they’ll correct themselves.) This morning was no different.  After a few minutes of my self-correction method, I realized my sight wasn’t getting any better, so I took the left one out to clean. 

Upon removal… I realize I had put both contacts in the same eye =) haha that will for sure make everything really blurry. Imagine my surprise when I could actually see again.

Hope yall have a fantastic weekend.

fireplace complete

Well, I wanted to update yall on the status of our “fireplace upgrade.”  We have now completed the heavy lifting portions of the fireplace renovation with the installation of our mantel. Eventually there will be one more major decoration (like a clock or a picture), but I didn’t want to have you hang in limbo for any longer.

 

a standing ovation

 

I tried my hand at making this lovely recipe last night.  It turned out wonderful and even my “less food adventurous” husband said it was good. 

Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Ginger-Orange Sauce

Do not be overwhelmed by the recipe list.  It appears more complicated than it turned out to be.  Feel free to pick and choose what pieces and parts to serve.  I have tried to put in some helpful hints.  While reducing the sauce, you can be peeling the shrimp. To round this meal out, I served it with steamed broccoli.

 

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 1  cup  orange juice
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh cilantro
• 2  tablespoons  reduced-fat mayonnaise (use less)
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger (or dash of ground)
• 1  teaspoon  fresh lime juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper

Couscous: (I did something similar with orzo instead because that’s what I had on hand) 

• 1  cup  uncooked couscous
• 1 1/2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2  cup  orange juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/3  cup  chopped green onions (didn’t have any)
• 2  tablespoons  sliced almonds, toasted
• 1  tablespoon  unsalted butter

Shrimp:

• 20  jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 3/4 pound)
• 1  large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/2  cup  panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1  teaspoon  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  tablespoon  canola oil (may need a little more depending on # of batches of shrimp)
• 2  cups  trimmed watercress (who honestly keeps these on hand?)

Preparation

To prepare sauce, bring 1 cup orange juice to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat; cool completely. Stir in 1 tablespoon cilantro and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper); set aside.

To prepare couscous, place couscous in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups broth, 1/2 cup orange juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork; add onions, almonds, and butter, stirring until butter melts. Keep warm.

To prepare shrimp, combine shrimp and egg white in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Combine the panko, 1 teaspoon cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and black pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add shrimp to the bag, and seal and shake to coat.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; arrange shrimp in a single layer in pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until done.

Place 3/4 cup couscous on each of 4 plates; top each with 1/2 cup watercress and 5 shrimp. Drizzle each with 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce.

 

Nutritional Information

Calories: 376 (25% from fat)

Fat: 10.6g (sat 2.7g,mono 4.1g,poly 2g)

Protein: 17.6g

Carbohydrate: 51.9g

Fiber: 3.9g

Cholesterol:  61mg

Iron: 2.1mg

Sodium: 763mg

Calcium: 84mg

check under the rug

This weekend has been amazing! We had two 60+ degree weather days and the chance to get out of the house.  More about our Saturday later in the week. 

Sunday was a bit hectic.  Mostly because on our way to Community Group at 6:00 p.m. we discovered Mike’s wedding ring was missing.  This usually isn’t “a big deal” because Mike is really good at retracing his steps from a day and can figure out exactly where he left something (which doesn’t happen often).  The slight problem came in when he started to think back over the day:

9:00 left house for church; 12:30 grabbed a quick lunch at Arby’s; 1:00 Mike began cutting wood with Fred and Mark; Katie ran some errands; 2:00 Katie back at house couponing and then leaves for grocery shopping; 3:30 Both make it to Frisbee game (in shorts and t-shirts I might add) with a full load of wood in the back of the truck; 5:00 leave Frisbee to go home to shower; unloaded all wood, Katie drives truck back around house; 6:00 leave house to go to community group ** discovered Mike’s wedding ring was missing**

Needless to say, he had been a few places and the likelihood of ring retrieval was minimal.  Mike did remember that he had his ring on until Frisbee and then took it off and put it on his key chain. So we scoured the car hoping that it had just dropped off the keychain and fell down in the seat.  After much searching with no finding, we decided to go back up to the fields we play frisbee on and look up there because that was the only place we could figure it went missing.  So, at 10:00 p.m., we grabbed flashlights and headed back to church for like the 5th time that day.  No ring. 

I thought at this point there was very little hope of ring recovery.  I did pray that we would find it because even the little things need to be prayed for.  To make a long story short… when I drove the truck around from unloading the wood, I got out of the truck with keys (and ring) and my hands full of other things too.  I then proceeded to the back yard to get a rug off the deck and put it back inside. In that process, the ring must have jumped off the keychain and landed under the rug, because when I went to lift up the rug after hours of searching, there it was!!! Who hides a ring under a rug??

I was almost in tears. Here we were searching high and low (and all over town) thinking Mike had dropped it somewhere in the woods or on the field and it was gone. And, nope, just silly me trying to only make one trip out of the truck (and then get more stuff in my hands) to take into the house.

Luke 15: 8-9 "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'

I’m thankful that it was found. 

Mike’s summation of the events that took place:  =) something was lost, then found to never really have been lost at all =)

updated pictures

Here is what the furnace looks like with its decorative panel! Mike was able to pick it up after work yesterday and install was a breeze. We hopefully will be able to find and install and mantel in the near future.

Have a very happy Friday!