Shrimp and Spinach Salad

The girls are napping and I've been browsing Pinterest and getting ideas for dinner this week.  I get excited about food and have been enjoying myself at the dinner table lately.  Let's just say that there is a coffee-crusted beef tenderloin and sweet potato pancakes with peach butter on the menu for this week.  I've just got to get to the store! 

We got home yesterday afternoon after a weekend with Adam's family in Indiana.  We celebrated his mother's birthday.  It ended with a zero, so it was a big deal and we all had a good time hanging out. Grandpa and Grandma Huhnke came, too.  The girls got to swim at the hotel, show off their singing and dancing skills, and got spoiled by all.  We met at a halfway point in Columbus, Indiana.  It was only a four hour drive, but on the way back, the girls about had it.  Moral was low.  Adam was tired from driving, there was a stinky diaper and some whining coming from the backseat.  We pulled over and fixed the problems and switched drivers, but moral didn't seem to rise much.  Thankfully, Adam's seat gripping rendition of "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins got the whole car singing loudly.  We then popped in Disney's Greatest Hits (volume 1, of course) and let it rip.  The second crowd favorite was "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid.  Aubrie had the sha-la-la-las down and Emilie and I had the yeah-yeahs going.  Adam has every lyric memorized to every Disney song ever made.  And according to him, he sounds "just like them."

singing happy birthday

chatting up Gaga

playing bible dominoes with Granny

bedtime story with Tia

Special thanks to Aimee Drabyn for watching Petey while we were gone.  That's always a difficult task.  I actually had a flashback as I was giving Aimee directions on how to care for Petey.  One year Steve came to town to run in the Country Music Marathon and we had a volleyball tournament in Atlanta that weekend.  So Steve stayed at our house and watched Petey while he was in town for the marathon.  The morning of the marathon, he had to get up pretty early and he let Petey out, but Petey refused to come back in.  Steve spent a good ten minutes chasing his furry behind around our backyard trying to get Petey back in the house.  Then, after Steve ran a FULL MARATHON and got his tired legs back to our house, he walked in to find that Petey had chewed about a dozen dvd cases and destroyed about six dvds while he was gone.  Steve calmly picked up the mess, went upstairs and showered, then came back downstairs and got down on all fours and looked Petey in the eye.  They then had a wrestling match and both let us some aggression.  I had this flashback because this weekend was the marathon here in Nashville and we had a Drabyn watching Petey.  Lucky for Aimee, Petey is more mature and the dvds are locked up in a cabinet. 

Good friends.  Good memories. 

I made this shrimp and spinach salad several weeks ago and never shared it.  So I thought I would share it now.  It's definitely one of my favorites.  You can change up the dressing if you'd like.  If you do a bacon vinegarette, it would be just like Applebee's shrimp and spinach salad. 

Shrimp and Spinach Salad

from Bobby Flay

12 ounces large (21-24) shrimp, peeled, tail-on, and deveined

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 limes, juiced

1 teaspoons honey

1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated (I just sprinkle in ginger powder)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/8 cup canola oil, plus more for brushing

Prepare shrimp and set aside.  Make marinade and add shrimp to the marinade.  Toss and cover in a bowl and leave in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 

Place shrimp on skewers and salt and pepper them.  Brush with canola oil to prevent from sticking to the grill.  Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side.

For salad:

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

8 ounces baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts

Toss spinach with some of the vinegarette and mound on a plate.  Place shrimp around and spoon on more dressing and sprinkle with peanuts.  Enjoy!!

Oh!  And good news!  Adam found the key to the tahoe!  It was....

drumroll please...

in his pants pocket. 

Yes.  You would think he would have checked there.  Well, he did.  But he kept checking the wrong pants pocket.  He hung his pants up next to a pair the same color.  So on Friday before we left, and after I have logged two hours of my life searching on the kitchen floor and closet floor on my hands and knees as well as walking around the backyard crouched over...he said, "I bet I know where it is!" and walked straight to the other pair of pants and found it.  I LOVE HIM!  I'll now take bets on whether he goes and gets a copy made...

Love to all!

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