A Combination of Spice, Shrimp, & Graduation Celebrations!!

I've recently tried a few recipes, or concoctions that I have put together, and I thought I would share them!!  When I went back to the pictures I took, I realized that there were some similarities: we love shrimp and anything spicy in our house! 


Pictured below, this dish is called Spicy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet.  I found it on Pinterest and made it for family friend's of ours.  It's a fun mix of brown sugar, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper flakes! It's delicious!

This next dish was a fun concoction I tried from memory.  My best friend, Whitney, had introduced this dish to me a long time ago.  One night I had a craving for this!  It definitely includes shrimp, but it is not that spicy.  It consists of pesto sauce, red, yellow, and orange peppers, shrimp, & linguine pasta (you could also use angel hair pasta).

 

Start by sauteing the peppers, and making the pesto sauce.  I simply used a packet of pesto mix that just requires that you add olive oil and water.

Once the peppers are sauteed and the sauce is done add the shrimp and sauce to the peppers.  In the mean time, cook the pasta.

Let this cook for about 5 min on high, and then add the pasta.

MMMmmmmm, YUM!

Top with Parmesan cheese, and eat up! Thanks, Whitney!! ;)

I have one more dish to share with you.   It does not have shrimp in it, but it is spicy! This was another concoction that sounded good- Tilapia with corn & rice.

 I baked the Tilapia with cumin, black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and dried cilantro.  I also took a can of drained tomatoes with green chiles.

We had this with a side of rice mixed with a drained can of corn.  Yum!! 

This may not be another dish, but it is a delicious, spicy, appetizer!!  The Hubster and I are apart of an amazing church small group that meets weekly.  We have someone, or some couple, signed up for a sweet snack and a savory snack each week.  One week that I had signed up for savory, I knew that I wanted to try this recipe on Pinterest for a cream cheese, bacon, and jalapeno crescent roll delight!  Here are my pictures of the project... 

For more specifics, you'll need to go to the Pinterest link above.  I will say one thing here though... I tried using turkey bacon bites rather than cooking bacon first, but I will admit that you could not taste these pieces.  I wonder if the real bacon crumbles would have been more tasty? :)

In other news,

I GRADUATED WITH MY MASTERS!!!  WOO-HOO!!!

For that, my mom came to visit!

We had strawberry shortcake on the square... 

& delicious spicy cajun food at one of my favorite restaurants!

Mom was happy for spicy food, and I was glad she came to visit!

The Hubster & I also celebrated, and a fancy date!  

And we had the most amazing chocolate cake!

It's still pretty surreal that I'm done!  My new job will be starting sometime next week.  There's been a lot of changes & transitions this past month for us.  More than adjusting to graduating and accepting a new job, many people that we have come to really love and care about are moving on, starting a new chapter in the story God has for them, and we are staying here.

This is new for me... I am used to being the "one to leave" & go on to the "next thing" God has for me.  When I have surrendered my life over & over again, I meant it...  

"Lord, take my life & do with it what You will... Wherever that may be."  

Sometimes God asks you to step out, but sometimes He asks you to stay where He's planted you.  The Hubster & I KNOW that we are called to our church, & to our town right now.  We also KNOW that we can TRUST FATHER to take care of the people that we love as they step out into all that He has for them.  The Hubster has continually said we need to "LOVE people FIERCELY, but hang onto them LOOSELY."  God ultimately has a BETTER, the BEST, plan for them than we do.  

I'm grateful for all that Father has been doing in us this past month... I pray He continues to do His work in us & in our dear friends as we continue to say 'good-bye' for now to those we love.