The High Five Shrimp Pasta

It was this recipe that inspired the blog!  A dinner chat with my husband exposed that I have a tendency to fry many things.  I do this out of love.  I like to feed my man what I know he loves.  After a long day of work, I think he deserves his favorite flavors.  But with an early loss of a long time friends, we knew it was time to make some changes that go beyond eating less and moving more.  It was time to fine tune our meals, making them healthier without skimping on the flavor and staying within our means. 

The name High Five Shrimp Pasta comes from the fact that my husband stopped inhaling his dinner to slap me a high five at the dinner table.  That's a game changer moment!

This recipe makes about 4 servings.  In our home, we consider our personal fist to be the serving size (I will go into that at a later time).  Because it is packed with veggies, there isn't really any reason to add a side dish to this main course.  It takes care of all of the necessary food groups, is low in fat, not fried and you can even increase the veggie count and lower the sodium if desired.  Its a very versatile dish.  And this was also approved by my 2 year old, he ate spinach without batting an eye although the shrimp was picked over.

1/2 package of whole wheat Angel Hair pasta - cook per package while you work on the sauce.

10-15 raw shrimp - shelled and veins pulled, rinse with water
2-4 cloves of garlic - adjust to your liking
1 whole lemon, juice only
1/4 cup of chicken broth or chicken bouillon
1 small zucchini, cut into thin round slices
1 shallot or 1/4 cup red onion chopped thin
1 cup of Raw Spinach, leave whole or chop into smaller pieces

Cook the pasta per the instructions on the package, this can be done while you cook the shrimp.  Spritz olive oil onto a fry pan.  Toss in shallots or red onions and cook for 30 seconds.  Toss in shrimp, zucchini, spinach and garlic, cook for 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink (do not over cook).  Place shrimp mixture in a bowl and set aside.  Add broth and lemon juice into the same fry pan and simmer to a boil, add a basil leaf (dried or fresh).  Be sure to scrape the bottom of the fry pan as you cook the broth and lemon juice to catch all of those garlicky and oniony leftovers that stuck to the pan.  Turn off heat, toss the shrimp mix back into the pan and toss the pasta in with it.  Using tons, mix the goodness evenly to coat the pasta and evenly distribute the veggies and shrimp.

Optional Add ins:

*Capers - I haven't tried this yet but I will eventually. 
*Orange or red bell peppers - the orange and red are a bit on the sweeter side, green is much more spicier and has a more salad topper flavor to it.
*Mushrooms

Alisha's Agenda

Hello World!  I'm a mother of two with a full time job.  I'm broke as hell and desperately working towards better health.  All I have known is processed foods.  I recall my dad once joked that if it didn't have over 26 preservatives, he wouldn't eat it.  Iceburg lettuce was the only lettuce I knew other than spinach, which was frozen and came in a block.  Although I do LOVE a lot of the food my mother cooked, it doesn't bode well with my personal health and how I want to feed my family.  So like most parents I know, we want to feed our families well, we have little money and even less time to devote to something that must be done daily, feeding the ones we love.  Over the years I have dabbled in the Culinary Arts and I think I may be on to something.  Recipes are all over my house, plastered on the walls of my tiny kitchen, crammed into the drawers of the hutch and there are a few in my purse although I'm not sure why.  I never follow the instructions and I often substitute one thing for another because I go off what is in my pantry and fridge...like I said, I'm broke.  When you live paycheck to paycheck, you don't always have the option to purchase all that is needed to complete a recipe.  I've experimented so much that it is now time to do a brain dump of the recipes I have learned and the tips and tricks needed to make healthy cooking fun and easy.  So let's get this culinary blog started and see where we end up!