Feta Stuffed Shrimp

Quick & easy lunch or dinner!

Here's what you'll need..

1 pound 13/15 fresh shrimp

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 tbsp roasted red peppers

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp minced garlic

1 egg yolk

3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel shrimp, but leave the tails on. Carefully slice the spine of each shrimp from head to tail, but no all the way thru, as if to butterfly them. Remove the vein if present & rinse the shrimp. Open each shrimp & flatten them on your surface. 

In a small bowl, combine all other ingredients, mixing well. Spoon 1 tbsp of mixture onto each shrimp. Add each shrimp to your baking dish. Bake until pink & firm. 

I used 13/15 shrimp, so they took about 16-18 minutes at 350. The larger the shrimp, the better these stuffed shrimp will be; smaller shrimp won't hold the stuffing as well.

These are sooo good!! I could eat them all!! This recipe was adapted from Paula Deen. Here are the changes I made to fit my needs. 

panko - seasoned bread crumbs

plain feta - garlic & herb feta

parsley - cilantro

7 tbsp butter - 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup white wine - no wine used

As long as shrimp is available, I will be making these. I love them just that much! Let me know if you try them! Thanks for reading!!

Dawn Richard Album Release: "GoldenHeart"

Are you as excited as I am for this album release?

From Bad Boy's all girl group "Danity Kane" to her new album, released today GoldenHeart. The world cannot continue to ignore Dawn Richard.

I love it when women build themselves up and make a believer out of everyone! This album is exactly that for Miss Richard.

“It’s a movement we are starting here,” says Richard.  “After all our hard work, we finally are expanding our art into stores.  We wanted to make Goldenhearts available to all [hearts] not just digitally.  The project is too amazing to be limited to one portal of access.  It’s time to get excited.  This is a big deal for us!”

I love it! I already have a favorite track...'86, a 1980's inspired track. It reminds me of Prince & Cyndi Lauper...you know, that era in music history **sigh** good times...

”We believe Dawn is the future of music. Her heart, style and artistry make her a force to be reckoned with and a dream partner,” says Nelson Jacobsen, president of Altavoz Distribution.

I couldn't have said it better my self! Congratulations Dawn! And Good Luck with the success of this new album!!

Homemade Banana Bread...No Nuts!!

I've been wanting some really moist banana bread for sooo long! Some of the recipes out there for it are all over the place...and come out so dry, bleh!

This is my mom's Marvelous Banana Cake recipe, adjusted and baked in a loaf pan. I asked her would it work and would she mind me posting it here...she was excited! I'm saving her some! Here's the recipe...

Ingredients

2 cups bananas mashed

1 cup butter softened

3 cups sugar

4 eggs beaten

1 cup buttermilk

4 cups flour sifted

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp butter flavored extract

1 cup chopped pecans

2 tsp baking soda

Instructions

In a mixer, cream butter & sugar. Add bananas, stir in eggs, then other ingredients. Pour into 2 greased & floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

For my banana bread, I left out the pecans & the butter flavored extract. I also cut all the ingredient sizes in half so that this would make only one loaf. I also adjusted the baking time to about 50 minutes, since I baked in a loaf pan. This is my mom's exact recipe& it makes a huge 3 layer banana cake! There's only me, don't need that much banana bread. If you want to actually make the cake, it also comes with a scratch made icing too! (see bottom of post for icing recipe).

I think it's the 4 eggs and the buttermilk that make this cake/bread so moist. And believe it or not, it's not very sweet, which is perfect! I will be doing this many many times! I've also sliced some really thick slices to save for making banana bread french toast! woohoo!!

Thanks for reading!!

Banana Nut Frosting

1/2 cup bananas mashed

1 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup butter softened

1 box powdered sugar (16 oz)

3 tbsp milk

1 cup flaked coconut

2/3 cups chopped pecans

5 drops yellow food coloring