Heaven on a plate.

Here is yet another installment of “get in man belleh”.  Today I have for you… shrimp tacos!

What I did was I took some frozen shrimp {let’s ignore the fact that I can access beautiful, delicious, amazing fresh shrimp}, defrosted, and then sautéed quickly in olive oil and my homemade taco seasoning (or just toss in some chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and lime juice).  Heat some corn tortillas in a frying pan {trust me}, top it with some shredded cabbage, whip up some mango salsa and shrimp taco sauce, and boom.  It’s a party in your mouth.

Here’s the important stuff:

Mango Salsa
Dice everything, toss it in a bowl, coat it with lime juice and let it sit for a hot minute.

• 1 ripe mango
• red onion
• red bell pepper
• avocado
• cilantro
• lime juice

Shrimp Taco Sauce
Stir everything in a bowl and plan to coat your tacos in delicious liquid fire.

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoons sriracha sauce {or more of you are feeling feisty}
• water as needed to thin out the sauce to your preference

This one takes a bit more time, unless you prep everything the beforehand.  Then you are talking 30 minutes tops.  Honestly, it’s the mango salsa that takes the longest with the dicing and whatnot.

Enjoy, my friends!

Come on. Drink the Kool-Aid.

I’m not telling you to join a cult where Nike’s are the required footwear, but rather I’m currently participating in the latest trend… the enneagram personality test.

A few Christmases ago, my sister made us all sit around and take the test.  We read through the descriptions and that is where it ended.  Flash forward a few years and I watched a friend chronicle her fight with the enneagram test.  She was getting different results – one number when she answered in relation to her husband, another number when taking it considering related to the general public, and then she had friends telling her “Oh you are definitely a (insert number here).”  Very confusing, right?  If you then consider that I have gotten two different numbers based on my mood for the day, it doesn’t seem to be an exact science.

Regardless of the oddities of taking the test and the lack of exact science {Because whose personality is exactly the same every day?  Not mine!  I like to keep my husband on his toes.} it is pretty close to center.  I am a dead ringer for a Type 2 {look it up}, but I often get Type 1 as well.  I asked my husband to take the test and he came up with a Type 5.  Guys, we are polar opposites and you know what?  It works!  I’m pretty sure Type 5 was the least likely match for me, so I turned to a great podcast (That Sounds Fun) that is going through all of the types and interviewing a man and a woman of each type.  The interviewees describe the why and how they do what they do and think.  This not only gave me validation and insight into my own personality “quirks”, but I am learning more about they why’s and how’s of how my husband works.  The hilarity is people energize me, and well, not so much for fives.  We are just going to call it Yin and Yang, because we are awesome together.

I really want to take time to think about the different personality types and match them to different areas of nursing, but let’s be real.  I barely have time for 20 minutes of exercise, I definitely don’t have time for that.  So if you are reading this and you have some time, feel free to jump on that.

If you are just dying to know your number(s), you can take the free test at My Enneagram Coach.  After all, everyone is doing it.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Chicken with yellow rice that is.  This recipe has become a family favorite and with a little prep work on the front end, it takes about 30 minutes start to finish.

You can find the original recipe here.

I don’t use chicken thighs with bones and skin because my little guy won’t get down with that.  I buy boneless/skinless chicken breasts (usually a pack of 6).  If I want to save myself some time the day-of, I will trim and freeze the chicken so all I have to do is defrost it in the fridge and then get to cooking.  The nice part is that once you get everything into the pan, you can go and find something else to do with yourself.  Microwave a bag of your favorite frozen veggies and just like magic, you have a super delicious dinner the family will love.

Try it out!  I don’t think you will be disappointed.

 

Snack-attack

I did so well the first semester of school with my food choices and intake.  I actually lost about 5 pounds and then break came and went and I gained everything back plus an extra 5 or so.  {Yay.}  My weight is not the point of this post, but it sort of applies.

I have found that the best way for me to continue to stay awake and pay attention is to snack.  I snack in class, I snack at lunch, I snack pretty much 24/7.  I’m sure you are sitting there thinking, “Well there’s your problem, Clark”, but hear me out.  My snacks are not pop-tarts, candy, or chips.  It’s mostly fruit and veggies {honest, engine}.  And this brings me to the point I was intending to make.  There are lots of snack options in the world and honestly, I don’t care if you prefer eating straight sugar cubes.  However, I have compiled a guideline for appropriate snack options for in-class munching.  They are as follows:

• Nothing with a super strong smell
  {Cracking open a pouch of tuna or a hard boiled egg will get you some seriously nasty looks because NO ONE wants to smell that.}
  
• Nothing with obnoxiously loud wrappers
  {We are all trying to concentrate and hearing you putter with your snack wrapper wins you no friends.}
  
• Nothing that requires disgusting mouth noises
  {Mouth noises are the bane of my existence, but sitting in class crunching on a bag of chips just might send anyone straight into a blind rage.  Don’t even get me started on bananas.}

Healthy options are fantastic and there are great fruits and veggies that follow these guidelines:

• blueberries
• strawberries
• grapes
• melon (this is borderline)
• apple slices
• mixed nuts (I LOVE chocolate dusted almonds)
• snap peas
• cheese slices
• KIND fruit bars/bites (these are my favorite)
• dried fruit (check for added sugar or make your own, you know, with all that free time)

There are other really delicious options {pretty much any and all candy, specifically sour fruity candy and chocolate}, but the added sugar is something that I am personally trying to avoid {unsuccessfully most days} and we have already discussed my issues with the big G {gluten}.

So there you have it.  I haven’t posted much by way of dinner ideas as of late because we are basically surviving off of frozen pizza and sandwiches.  Although, I did make dinner two nights in a row this week.  {That’s right.  I’m momming HARD up in here.}  

What are your favorite snack options?  Or do you have better ideas about how to stay alert in 8-hour classes?