Shrimp Fried Rice

This is great as a side dish, under stir-fry, or as a main dish.

Shrimp Fried Rice

2 cups cooked rice or Minute Rice
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2-3 green onions, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. butter
1 cup fresh salad shrimp
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup water

In large skillet, melt butter.  Add onion and saute until tender.  Add rice and saute.  Cook until mixture is slightly browned.  Stir in slightly beaten eggs.  Cook on low until eggs are done.  Stir frequently.  Add shrimp.  Mix water and soy sauce and stir into rice mixture.  Serve immediately.

Salmon Gravy Over Puffed Pastry

This is a recipe from my Grandma.  It was passed down for many generations  It was originally made by my Great-Great-Grandmother.  It is a pioneer recipe.  While it calls for smoked or kippered salmon, I often just use the canned variety.  I use one large can for this recipe.  Grandma always served it over English Muffins but it can also be served over toast or in this case, puffed pastry.  It is actually a breakfast recipe but can be served for any meal.  

Salmon Gravy

3 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. flour
1 can evaporated milk + 1 can water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2-1 tsp. dill weed
1 cup or more crumbled, smoked or kippered salmon (or canned salmon-remove all bones)

Melt butter in saucepan.  Whisk in flour.  Cook for one minute.  Add milk and water.  Whisk until smooth and bring to a boil stirring constantly.  Add dill weed, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in salmon.  Serve over toasted English Muffins or toast.  Or cut sheets of puffed pastry into squares and bake as directed.  Serve Salmon Gravy over hot puffed pastry.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette and Grilled Fish Tacos

I have never eaten Fish Tacos.  I know.  Crazy!  I love fish and I love tacos and I see this combo all the time but it never really sounded very good to me.  But I saw this recipe on Our Best Bites and for some reason it sounded really good so I decided to go for it.  The fish is marinated in a Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette before grilling.  (Not to be confused with the Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing.)  I served them with delicious Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing on top (also from Our Best Bites) and my Homemade Salsa.  They were so good!  Every one of my kids loved them, too.  The cabbage slaw was a great addition to them!  This vinaigrette has great flavor and can also be served on a salad, not just as a marinade.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

1/4 c. fresh lime juice (about 2-3 juicy limes)
1/4 c. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. Kosher or sea salt
2 tsp. sugar
1 c. canola oil
1/2 c. roughly chopped cilantro, stems removed

In the jar of your blender, combine lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and sugar. Blend until ingredients are completely combined. With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add cilantro and blend until the cilantro has broken down but still maintains some of its texture. Serve with greens, on any type of Mexican salad, or use as a marinade.

Grilled Fish Tacos

Mild white meat fish-cod, talapia, red snapper, mahimahi, etc.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Corn tortillas

Shredded cabbage (or cole slaw mix)

Pico de Gallo or Homemade Salsa

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing

Use a mild white meat fish like cod, tilapia, red snapper, mahimahi, etc.  Marinate in Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette for about 20 minutes (reserve some marinade to add to cooked fish later).  Lightly brush the grill with oil and cook fish for about 8-12 minutes over medium heat (depending on the thickness of the fish) or until very flaky.  (I just used my electric counter-top grill.)  Flake cooked fish and season with leftover marinade if desired (make sure you use the reserved marinade and not the marinade that the raw fish was in!)   Serve the flaked fish in corn tortillas. You'll need to slightly cook the corn tortillas so they don't overwhelm the flavor of the fish; you can brush them with olive oil and bake them in an oven set to 425 for about 5-10 minutes or cook them in a skillet with some olive oil until they start to brown but are still flexible.  Serve with cabbage (cole slaw mix), Pico de Gallo or homemade salsa, the amazing Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing and/or guacamole.

Grandma's Clam Chowder

This recipe is from my Grandma Mac.  It is super creamy and rich.  I always make it for our Christmas Eve dinner.  Very yummy for any special occasion though.

Clam Chowder
2 (6 oz. each) cans minced clams
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup finely diced celery
2 cups finely diced potatoes
1 carrot, grated
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup butter (I usually cut this down to about 4-6 Tbsp.)
1 quart half and half (I use 3 cups milk and 1 cup cream, half and half, or evaported milk)

Drain clams and pour clam liquid over vegetables in a sauce pan.  Add enough water to cover.  Simmer over medium heat until vegetables are tender.  In separate sauce pan, mix flour and melted butter.  Add half and half, salt, and sugar.  Cook until smooth.  Add to vegetable mixture with clams and heat together until warm.  Serves 8.

Shrimp in Peanut Sauce

I saw a recipe on Picky Palate today that I thought looked pretty good.  I happened to have a bag of frozen shrimp so I decided to make it.  I had to modify it because I didn't have some of the exact ingredients but I don't know if I'd make it any other way now that I've tasted it this way!  It was sooo yummy!  I served it over brown rice with fresh steamed broccoli on the side.  Delicious!  And very easy.  I WILL be making this again!  The sauce was so good!  I'm guessing this would be good with chicken tenders or chunks instead of shrimp if you're not a seafood fan.  If you try it that way let me know how it works!

Shrimp in Peanut Sauce

1 pound frozen cooked shrimp, deveined (I would highly recommend getting shrimp without tails or else removing them before you cook this dish)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
1/3 cup natural peanut butter (the unsweetened kind)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. honey (add more if you want it a little sweeter)
1/4 tsp. pepper
4-6 Tbsp. water (I ended up adding 6 because as it simmered it got thicker and I wanted more sauce to go on the rice)
1 1/2 cups brown rice
3 cups water

Place brown rice in a saucepan with 3 cups of water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cover with lid for 45 min.

In large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat.  When hot, sauté garlic.  Add frozen shrimp.  Stir and heat for a couple minutes and then add sesame seed oil, peanut butter, lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Cook for a couple minutes.  Add water.  Simmer on low stirring occasionally until desired thickness.  Serve over brown rice.

Tuna Veggie Burgers and Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce

I whipped these up for dinner and they were so good. Very moist with all of the vegetables in them. Sometimes that seems to be the problem with tuna burgers-they get very dry. Not these! My boys like them with ketchup but I like them plain or with my Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce. Serve alone or on a bun with all the fixin's.

Tuna Veggie Burgers

2 cans tuna, drained
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup dry oats
3 Tbsp. ground flax seeds, optional (I store my flax seeds in the freezer and grind just what I need at the time in a little spice/coffee grinder. You can also buy ground flax seed packaged.)
1 egg
1 zucchini, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 tsp. Mrs. Dash Onion and Herb (or favorite seasoning)
1/2 tsp. dry dill
salt and pepper to taste

Mix well and drop onto preheated skillet greased with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. I often use my electric skillet. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the tuna mixture, drop onto hot skillet, and slightly spread/flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness. 1/4 cup scoop makes 8 burgers. Cook on med-low heat (or 325 degrees on the electric skillet) for about 5-7 minutes on each side. I usually put the lid on while it's cooking on the first side and then uncover for the second side. Serve warm.

Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. dill
1/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb, optional
1/2-1 tsp. lemon juice

Mix well and slather on top of burgers!

Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce

This is the sauce I use a lot when cooking or eating fish. I like to use it to top tuna burgers and I also often use it when I bake salmon or other fish. I mix up a batch to put on top of the salmon as it bakes and then some more to put on top when serving. I like to put the Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning in it to give it a little more garlic (and because you know I just can hardly cook without my Mrs. Dash!) but it is optional.

Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. dill
1/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb, optional
1/2-1 tsp. lemon juice

Mix well!

Crab Pasta Salad

I made this recipe up for one of our 4th of July festivities. It was really good! I think I'd like to throw a diced cucumber in there next time. I don't like my salads very "saucy" but if you do you may want to increase the mayo and ranch amounts to 1/2 cup each (or more).

Crab Pasta Salad

1 package small-size pasta, cook as directed
8-12 oz. imitation crab meat, flaked
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/3 cup low fat mayo
1/3 cup low fat ranch
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
salt and pepper to taste
baby spinach or salad greens
cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook pasta as directed. Rinse with cold water and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine mayo and ranch dressing until well mixed. Add thawed peas, onion, and salt and pepper. Mix gently with pasta. Add flaked crab meat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Serve on a bed of spinach or salad with cherry tomatoes on top.

Tuna Rolls

This is my variation on a Chicken Roll recipe that my Mom used to make a lot. While we still love the chicken rolls, it is nice to have a bit of a variety. These are just as easy but with a different flavor. You use biscuits instead of crescent rolls for one thing. The last time I made them I had leftover Chive & Onion cream cheese that I mixed with the regular cream cheese and it was very good. I also like to make my tuna rolls a little smaller by using just one biscuit instead of two per roll. Of course you could also use your own biscuit recipe instead of the refrigerated biscuits, too. Watch out! They go fast!

Tuna Rolls


6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cans tuna, drained
1 cup frozen peas or peas/carrots
1/2 tsp. dill seasoning
1/8 tsp. dehydrated minced garlic (or one small clove, minced)
salt and pepper to taste
2 packages refrigerated biscuits (I use the small packages that have 10 biscuits/can so 20 total. I usually have about 4 leftover that I just cook without the filling.)


Mix softened cream cheese with tuna, peas, and seasonings. Separate biscuits. If using small biscuits, you may want to put two together and roll out into 8 or so equal portions. (Again, I usually just make mine small with only one biscuit.) Spoon equal portions of tuna mixture onto each rolled out biscuit portion and roll up and pinch seams together. Tuck ends under and place seam-side down on baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 min. or until golden. Butter outside of biscuit when hot out of the oven for a softer crust, if desired.