Skinny Bangin Shrimp

One of my favorite places to dine when I'm on a date with Adam is Bonefish Grill.  I love that place!  And part of the reason I love that place is because of their famous appetizer, Bang Bang Shrimp.  They bring out a bowl with these wonderful breaded, sweet and spicy shrimp bedded on some lettuce and you just take some chopsticks and fight with your date over how many you get to eat.  They are so good!!  Luckily, this is a popular pin on pinterest and I decided to give it a try.  It's meant to be divided among four, as an appetizer, but I put it on a large bed of lettuce and made it the main meal.  It was so delicious.  Adam asked if we are still going to order the bang bang shrimp when we go to Bonefish now that we can make it ourselves.  The answer is yes, although their ceviche is a great alternative!

Bangin Good Shrimp

from skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

• 5 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha (to taste)

For the Shrimp:

• 1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined (weight after peeled)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 4 tbsp scallions, chopped

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, and sriracha.  Set aside.  Combine lettuce and cabbage and divide among four plates.  Set aside.  Coat shrimp with cornstarch, mixing well with your hands.  Heat a large skillet or wok on high heat.  When hot, add oil and once the oil is hot, add the shrimp to hot pan and cook tossing a few times until cooked through, about 3 minutes.  Remove from pan and combine with the sauce coating well.  Place shrimp on lettuce and top with scallions.  Enjoy!

It's been a rough couple of days here.  Emilie came down with some type of stomach virus and had many dirty diapers, which then gave her a horrible diaper rash.  We've spent most of the week here at the house, fighting that rash and trying to get house work done.  But I can't really get much done!  I put on Sesame Street in the living room and then snuck back to my bedroom to fold laundry and turned on Live! with Kelly and tried to watch the host chat with Martin Short, who is always hilarious.  But they found me!  Not only did they come find me, they brought 15 million toys in with them and destroyed my bedroom and bathroom within seconds.  They LOVE playing in my closet for some reason.  I'll be looking for a shoe and have to sort through toys, lego blocks, and a shampoo bottle to get to my shoes.  They love it back there.  They got so loud, I couldn't hear the tv. 

Elmo no longer holds a magic spell over my children.  It's a sad day.  (That's ok.  Dora does.)

It happened again the next day.  We were upstairs and they were playing in the playroom, ignoring me.  So I thought, I'll sneak into the nursery, strip the bedding, move the mattress, and try and adjust the crib to a higher setting for the new baby.  Nooooo.  They found me again.  Now the nursery is trashed.  I got the mattress sitting on one end, bedding on the floor, and books and toys everywhere.  Nap time is the only time that I can get a room picked up and looking good for more than an hour.  They are pretty good about cleaning up if I ask them to, but they can make a room look real bad, real fast. 

I love them though.  They crack me up.  Yesterday Aubrie grabbed Emilie and planted a kiss on her head and said, "I love you Emi.  You're my best friend."  Then later she was correcting her at the dinner table and telling her to use her spoon.  Emilie loves to ring Aubrie's buttons.  Her latest favorite is to go up to Aubrie while she is sitting in a chair and back into her lap and try and sit on her lap.  It drives her crazy.  She'll push her away and yell, "No EMI!  I'm not a chair!" and Emilie with just look at me and smile and back up to her again.  Amazing how little siblings are wired to drive older siblings crazy.  :)

I was NEVER like that.  I was always loving and respectful to my brother.  :)
Love to all!

Girls in their patriotic dresses

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7 years

My love and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary yesterday.  We actually got to celebrate on Saturday night and went out on a date.  But yesterday, the girls and I met Adam downtown for lunch at Puckett's Grocery and then Adam came home a little early from work and we hung out as a family.

the girls walking downtown together

I had to laugh, because on our way to our date, we were tired from working that day and I looked over to say something to Adam and there was bird pooh that dripped down the side of his window.  He never was one to clean out his car (or the outside) for a date.  His comeback was, "I don't need a bright shiny package to drive you around in...I AM the bright shining package."  I had to snicker, but it is true.  He never fails to make me laugh, meet our family's needs, and show us his love.  And it never comes in a fancy package.  It's perfect just the way it is. 

In the past 7 years, we have...
bought a house, sold the house
bought a bigger house
Andrew gave us our oldest child, Petey (the dog)
had 2 beautiful daughters
have 1 more baby on the way
gone on vacations
watched our Belmont Bruins play in several NCAA tournaments
remained loyal Notre Dame football fans
tried to do many home projects
hired people to fix our home projects
bought our first new car

and I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch off, but the best part is that every year gets better and each year we rely on God to continue to guide our family.  I have enjoyed the last 7 years and I can't wait to see what is in store for the next 7!  I'll leave you with some wedding memories.




Some of my favorite pictures are of when the wedding was over.  We both look so much more relaxed and relieved!




Here is Adam dancing with Gigi.  Our dj had Adam do all kinds of things that are out of his comfort zone and he was a hoot!  Don't believe me?  Scroll down...



Look at everybody's faces!  All the women had to line up and he had to try to dance with everybody down the line by the end of the song.  The song was, "I'm too sexy."  It was funny because some women wouldn't let go and wanted to dance longer.  :)




Then all the guys had to stand around me and they had to sing "She lost that loving feeling."  For those of you who know Adam, you'll know he loves to sing.  He sings to all the songs on the radio and will say, "I sound JUST like them."  Right.  He sounds JUST like Lady Gaga and Cee Lo.  I love Uncle Kevin's face in the background getting an AMEN in!




Here's another after photo.  Don't we look happy?




Here are my girls, Sheila, Josie C., Josie H., and Amanda (Tia)




I love this picture of me holding on to Dad.  My flowers were so pretty.





Here are the boys.



The mamas and the papas.



And this is my favorite.  We are standing on the front steps at church that we still climb every Sunday, but now with 2 1/2 kids in tow. 

 Thanks again to all the family and friends who came to celebrate our wedding that day.  We had so many family members travel from so far away and it meant so much to us.  We're thankful for all our supportive friends who were part of the wedding and the friends who helped with the wedding.  We're so lucky to have such great friends. 

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Happy Memorial Day!


Happy Memorial Day everyone!  I would like to give a special shout out to Grandpa Huhnke and Grandpa Mark who both served our country as well as all the other men and women who have served and are currently serving our country.  My family is so thankful for your sacrifice and I cannot say enough about the wives, children, and husbands who also sacrifice while their loved one is away.  Thank you for making our country wonderful!

We were supposed to have Adam's parents in town for this weekend because it is Adam's dad's birthday.  (Happy Birthday!) but Lana got sick and they couldn't make the trip.  Luckily, Tia came through and brought over some cupcakes for the girls who couldn't quite understand why we weren't having a birthday party anymore.  Thanks Tia!  We've got to enjoy her a lot this weekend since she had the weekend off.  We all went swimming on Saturday and were joined by the Sundstrom family.  I played volleyball with Katie in college and she is due in 2 weeks.  We've been doing water aerobics together and she's ready for this little boy to get here!  Her husband, Sunny, brought over sausages, corn, and onions and grilled a fantastic lunch for us all.  It was a wonderful treat!

Sunday we were blessed with another visit from another great friend AND Tia got to join us again.  Our friend Josie came over to hang with the family and enjoy some BBQ chicken.  I had some chipotle mango bbq sauce leftover from the other day's Chipotle Mango BBQ Salad and so I threw it on some chicken and we enjoyed more corn on the cob.  Josie also helped us peel apples and we slapped together a pie real quick for dessert. 

The other day I tried out these corn cakes and they were a delicious treat.  Not hard to make.  I only made one adjustment to the salsa.  I smashed up the tomatoes a little more and added a whole lime instead of a half.  You'll have to try it and see what you would like to add.  They were fabulous!

 

Summer Corn Cakes with Tomato and Avocado Salsa

from ezrapoundcake.com

Makes about 12 large cakes; serves 6 to 8

• 3 ears corn, shucked
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal (If you can only find cornmeal mix, skip the baking powder.)
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Canola oil, for frying
• Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a brown paper bag.
2. Cut the corn from the cobs into a large bowl, and scrape the stripped cobs with the back of the knife (or a spoon) to release the juices into the bowl.
3. Place 2 cups of the corn kernels into a food processor, and pulse several times, until the corn is slightly pureed but still chunky. Scrape into the bowl with the remaining corn kernels.
4. Add flour, cornmeal, onion, basil, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper to the corn. Stir to mix.
5. Add the eggs, buttermilk and butter, and stir just to combine. (Do not overmix.)
6. Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add just enough canola oil to barely cover the bottom, and heat until sizzling hot.
7. One heaping tablespoon at a time, scoop the batter into the skillet. Cooking in batches of 4 to 5 to avoid overcrowding, fry the cakes 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.
8. Drain on the lined baking sheet, and place in the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining corn cakes. Serve warm topped with a heap of Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa.

Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa

Makes about 2 cups

• 1 large tomato, cored and chopped
• 1 scallion, trimmed and minced
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

1. Place all of the ingredients (except the avocado) in a bowl, and stir to mix. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve, for up to 2 days.
2. Just before serving, add the avocado, and mix gently.

The girls and I have LOVED having Adam here all weekend.  It is always a treat to have him around for an extra day.  On the weekends, I always make breakfast for the fam.  I bought fresh strawberries with this muffin recipe below in mind.  They were SOOOO good.  And they were easy and bake quickly.  The crowd didn't have to wait too long before they were ready.  They have cinnamon and sugar on top.  Please try this recipe out.  You'll love it!  The only disclaimer is that you'll have to try to eat them or give them away within a day.  If you store them in a container in the fridge, they get too moist.  We didn't eat them all, so I just left them sitting out on the counter on a plate and they were still good the next day, but wouldn't have lasted any longer than that.  So try half a recipe if you don't have a crowd or take some into work.

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

from realmomkitchen.com

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture. Add vanilla. Gently stir in strawberries.

Spoon batter into muffin pans.

Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins.

Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes.

Adam said that on the first day of summer vacation, his family would go pick strawberries in Mishawaka.  They would pick about three bushels and give some to grandparents and eat the rest.  Adam loves strawberries.  I love summer.  Everybody has things that remind them of summer.  I can't wait to see what my girls' memories will be of summer, but I hope they can remember some good ones.  They've been ready to go and have some fun!

Emilie never fails to wear her glasses upside down.  I love summer dresses and taking the girls wherever the wind blows us...

This is one of my favorites.  I took it with my phone and sent it to Adam while he was at work and asked, "Do you think anybody got hurt in this photo?"  He called immediately to ask if everyone was ok.  I know it looks like Emilie is just standing there and about to get a heel to the head, but she was actually walking towards me and Aubrie just missed her AND landed on her feet.  Wild times.  We went to the mall to get some sun hats and play.

Here's Josie showing the girls how to go all out and get wet.  Sometimes I hate having a kiddie pool because no matter what, they are going to get in it every time you go outside.  Aubrie got in first and Josie got in to show them how to splash and coax Emilie in.  It worked.  :)

I hope everyone else had a good Memorial Day weekend.  We were going to go swimming after dinner tonight.  We even told Aubrie we were going to go, but then all of the sudden it started pouring at our house and ruined our plans.  There were tears and promises made for a swim day tomorrow.  Cross your fingers a random cloud doesn't show up at our house again!
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Tantrum Dining

I promise I have been busy in the kitchen.  I made this wonderful sweet potato pancakes a couple of weekends ago.  My only problem is that you have to make the batter the night before and it is quite detailed.  You have to make the peach butter, then the candied nuts, and you have to bake a sweet potato.  All is too lengthy just for some pancakes, but you have to try it once.  They are pretty delicious.  I'm going to go ahead and hang on to the recipe as one of my favorites but I am going to make it without the candied nuts and special butter.  They are pretty tasty by themselves.  Also, it makes a lot of batter, so you can use it two days in a row.  And to be honest, it was kind of nice to get out of bed and just pull a bowl of pancake batter out of the fridge and just start frying pancakes!  Give it a try!



 Sweet Potato Pancakes with Peach Butter
by ezrapoundcake.com
http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/15698

The recipe is way too long to put on here!


Another delicious thing I have made as of lately is a chocolate cheesecake.  This baby has three different layers of chocolate on top of Oreo cookie crust.  Then you top it off with a chocolate glaze.  It is delicious and rich.  It's taken us forever to eat it.  I'm not posting the recipe with a picture on here either because mine came out looking ugly.  Tasty, but ugly.  It's supposed to have three layers and a glossy glaze over the top.  I used a bigger pan, so my cheesecake was thin and didn't really show off the three different layers.  I recommend using the pan they tell you to (if you have it, if not do what I did, but don't expect to show it off).  Also, I recommend doubling the glaze recipe so you can make it pretty like their picture.

http://www.yumsugar.com/Chocolate-Cheesecake-Recipe-12944819

I really do enjoy cooking and baking.  I'm glad my dear sweet husband eats just about anything and enjoys that I like trying new things.  He'll tell me if something is a keeper or if we just ate a fun adventure never to be tried again.  :)  I wish I had the talent to come up with my own original recipes, but that is ok.  Some people can't even follow a recipe, so I'll still consider myself lucky.  And hungry.  :)

Speaking of hungry, I mentioned the other day that our dear sweet Emilie hasn't been cooperating at meal time.  Well, she's actually not cooperating much at all.  She's 19 months.  And for some reason, at about 18 months or so, each child is different, children start to test boundaries and have what they call tantrums.  I recall Aubrie going through the same thing.  There was one lunch time that I had her in timeout about 5 times.  She just wouldn't give up.  We stood our ground, she spent some time in timeout, and she learned that there are consequences and you can't get your way.  She'll still get one here or there, and when she does, it's still end-of-the-world-crying, but she's pretty familiar with consequences and it doesn't take much to snap her back to reality.

Emilie is a little different.  When you put her in timeout, she doesn't cry.  She just waits patiently for you to come get her.  She'll tell Aubrie "sowwy" if it was a hitting offense and she won't repeat the same offense.  She'll move on to a new one.  I've had her in timeout at a lot of public places lately.  It's not so bad because she doesn't cry.  I was horrified when I would have to timeout Aubrie in public.  She would cry as if someone were pinching her and people would just stare.  With Emilie, they do a double take and keep walking.  She just looks like a sweet child whose feet got tired so she peacefully sat down to rest.  She actually seems fascinated with it.  She'll come out of a timeout and go get one of her baby dolls and put THEM in timeout.  Then she'll bring the doll to us and say "baby timeout."  And we will ask, "was your baby in trouble?" and she'll smile and say "Yeah!" and go look for someone else to timeout. 

It's exhausting.  The biggest problem has been at the kitchen table.  Never at breakfast because the girl lives for breakfast.  It's lunch or dinner.  She used to be the best eater ever.  Now she decides she doesn't want something and she'll say, "don't want it!" and push her plate across the table.  We respond with, "That's fine, you don't have to eat it.  But you have to sit at the table until everyone is through."  Well, as you can guess, she can't sit until we are all done.  Because the ex-world's best eater is related to the current world's SLOWEST eater.  Aubrie will eat just about everything on her plate but it takes FOREVER!  (She likes to visit.)  Emilie loses her patience and will either,

A.  Scream the entire dinner
B.  Hang off the side of the chair, boneless (screaming)
C.  Or get put in timeout for screaming and putting her feet on the table

I've been giving her classics, too.  Chicken and Apple sausages with peas was an all time go-to meal for her.  Not this time.  She shoved that plate away from her and looked at me and said, "yoyurk???" (yogurt) 

She's gone without lunch one day and without dinner another day.  Hopefully this won't last long.  I can already see that she is getting a little better.  She's eaten what she wanted off her plate and shoved it away, but still sat at the table until Adam and I were done.  (We no longer make her wait for turtle eater).  Hopefully she'll come back around and be a good eater again.  It worked with Aubrie.  You can get her to try ANYTHING now.  I've taught her to try something and if she doesn't like it, quickly chase it with a drink of water.  She's pretty dramatic when she does it, but she tries everything.

I hope your meal times have been peaceful and full of rich conversations and hardy laughs.  :)
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