Creamy Spinach and Shrimp Dip

This weekend I decided to whip up a batch of my husband's famous spinach dip. I was first introduced to this recipe when we started dating and I have been hooked every since. It really is my favorite dip. We have made it for baby-showers, house gatherings, and other social events and it is always a hit. You can eat this dip warm or at room temperature but I prefer to have it warm because it just tastes better. We tweaked the recipe a bit a few years ago by adding shrimp but for those who aren't big meat/shellfish eaters you can omit the shrimp. This meal literally takes less than 20 minutes, especially if you purchase your shrimp from Publix and they will season and steam them for free. Yay! I love Publix. If you choose to have the shrimp steamed this meal will take you no time. I promise you, you will NOT regret eating every bite of this dip!

Beef Stroganoff Made Simple

Hi guys! It's been a minute since I wrote a blog post. I have been insanely busy. My photo sessions are picking up and so far I have been booked for the past couple of weekends. Exciting times! Yay! Besides doing photography stuff, I still am a mom and wife which means I still have to cook, clean, and tend to my family's needs. Well thankfully this last week the hubby gave me a break and we ate out for lunch or for dinner a few days. Although this was more convenient, I must say, I missed my home cooked meals. When you are accustomed to eating meals cooked in your own kitchen and with fresh ingredients, food from a restaurant just doesn't measure up. So, yesterday I decided to cook some beef stroganoff from scratch. This recipe is so simple guys and it tastes delicious. I didn't have beef stock so I had to make my own cream sauce from a recipe I use quite often. The hubby and I enjoyed it but our toddler took one look at it and said, "I don't want it." Really? She really doesn't like white sauces so I probably should have used a little marinara sauce for her portion. Oh well I hope you guys give this recipe a try.

Ingredients

12 oz bag of wide egg noodles 

1lb of ground beef
Mushrooms
Onions
Sourcream

SEASONINGS TO TASTE
Garlic powder
Kosher salt
Pepper
Nutmeg

Directions

Start a pot of water to boil for noodles. Saute/sweat onions and mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil until semi-soft. Boil egg noodles until a little undercooked, drain, and leave in the pot. They will cook later in the pot when you add your cream sauce and sour cream.  Remove from pan and place to side. Throw ground beef in pan, add seasonings, and cook until browned. Remove meat and place in your pot with the pasta along with onions and mushrooms. Keep pot on low heat setting on stove.
At this point some people add beef stock and then flour to create a beef cream sauce. I didn't have beef stock so I threw white wine in the pan, let that reduce, then added heavy whipping cream, a splash of parmesan cheese to thicken, 1/2 tablespoon of nutmeg (or more if you desire), and let simmer until creamy. Taste to be sure flavor is good before adding to pot of noodles. Add cream sauce to your pot of noodles and veggies. Add two to three heaping tablespoons of sour cream (more or less to your liking), stir, and cook on low to medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until ingredients are heated through, turn off heat, grab your plate, fork, and chow down!

Pan-seared Brussels Sprouts & Weekend Shenanigans

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. As for me, my weekend was pretty busy and kinda hectic. Our toddler was sick with what I had a few weeks ago but her symptoms were worse than mine. We had to take her to the doctor and they placed her on an antibiotic which kinda broke my heart. This is the first time she has EVER been sick. She is almost four years old and has never had to go to the pediatrician because she was sick. She has had a stuffy nose one or two times but this time our baby was truly sick. She woke up one morning and said, “I don’t feel good mommy” and my heart literally ached. I tried everything I could to not pass my cold onto her but with the hubby working, it seemed unavoidable. So we spent the weekend cuddling, watching Frozen and Rio, and snuggling. Since taking the antibiotic she feels so much better. The congestion is much better and she told us she is feeling better. Don’t you just hate it when your babies are ill? They look so helpless and miserable and it really breaks my heart. I am really glad she is feeling better and playing around the house like her old normal self. 

Besides taking care of my babies, I managed to prep for a few photography sessions I have this week. I am so excited and I can’t wait to share a few images with you guys on here. I am still learning and growing as a photographer but the more I practice, the better and sharper my images will be. I have a newborn session and I think that is the one I am the most excited about because newborn photography is the area I am most interested.

After prepping for my sessions, I started our Sunday dinner. On the menu we had: brussels sprouts, three cheese macaroni, and fried chicken. I think this menu is as southern as it gets. I have vowed to watch our fried food intake but Sundays are usually a cheat day where we eat what we want so let the wing frying begin! 

I pulled out my bag of brussels sprouts I purchased for $1.99 at Aldi, cut up some bacon, and tossed it all in the skillet. The smell of bacon makes my mouth water. I added some salt, pinch of sugar, garlic powder, and a few splashes on water once the brussels sprouts were half way done. I place a lid on the skillet to let them steam a bit and turned off the heat and added a tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese. They still had a little crunch to them and they had so much flavor. I placed them on a plate along side my three cheese macaroni and fried wings and dinner was served. The hubby loves southern meals like these so he was all smiles! :

Pan-seared Brussels Sprouts 

Items needed
1 bag of fresh brussels sprouts already washed 
1 strip of bacon or 1 slice of prosciutto chopped into pieces (you can cook bacon beforehand and add after brussels sprouts are done or you can cook with brussels sprouts) 
Salt to taste
Garlic powder
Pinch of sugar
Tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese


Directions

Trim ends off of brussels sprouts. Cut in half lengthwise through the stem end. Cut up bacon or prosciutto and toss in pan to start cooking on medium high heat. Once bacon starts sizzling and cooking add brussels sprouts, salt, garlic powder, and sugar to pan. Turn down heat and cook on medium heat. Stirring occasionally to ensure all sides of brussels sprouts are cooked and bacon doesn't burn. After about 3 to 4 minutes once bacon fat has rendered and both sides of brussels sprouts are browned (light to medium in color) add 1/4 cup of water and place lid on (ajar) to steam for another 4 minutes or until tender yet still crunchy. Water should pretty much have evaporated at this point. Remove lid and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!