Shrimp Trotolle

So I have gotten many requests to post the recipe of a dish I made for lunch a few days ago. I appreciate the support and requests, so here it is. It has taken me a very long time to write this recipe because I couldn't remember the name of the pasta shape. It is not your average shape that people just know. I couldn't even remember what store I bought it from so I searched google images and the databases of the store I shop at. I gave up yesterday, lol. But today, after searching more than 3000 items, I finally found the picture of the pasta shape, and the friggin name. :) I hope you enjoy this dish because there was some hard work behind the scenes to make it available to you, lol.

Let's start with the pasta name. It is called Trotolle (pictured below). It is in a spring like or coiled form and it very filling. I find that this type of pasta works well with soaking up sauces.

Ingredients
4 oz Trotolle pasta 
3 Tablespoons of Oil (Any oil like vegetable, canola, avocado- I used this one, corn, olive, etc)
1 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon of Onion Powder
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Teaspoons Pepper
1 Lemon Wedge
1/2 Large Onion (Diced)
8 oz Cremini Mushroms (Sliced) (These are baby portabello. You can find them at Walmart.) 
1 Orange Bell Pepper (Diced)
2 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
1/2 lb Shrimp (Peeled, tail off. . . or on, whichever you'd prefer. I have the tails
1 Tablespoon Chopped Parsley (If you don't have fresh parsley, you can used dried parsley flakes)


Directions
1.) In a medium sized bowl, add 1 Tablespoon of oil, the Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and 1 Teaspoon of the Salt and Pepper. Mix and add Shrimp to marinate. Set aside. 

2.) Cook pasta according to package directions. (Make sure your pasta is not too soft though. It needs to have just a bit of bite left in it. Al dente.)

3.) In a large skillet, on medium high heat, add 2 Tablespoons of oil and saute the diced onions for about 5 minutes.

4.) Add the mushrooms and the other Teaspoon of Salt and Pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes. 

5.) Add the bell peppers and cook for 3 more minutes.

6.) When the vegetable are all deliciously cooked and ready, add the heavy cream and turn the heat up to high. (Do NOT walk away from the stove. Keep stirring and when the sauce comes to a rapid boil, reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 4 minutes until it thickens a little.)

7.) Saute the shrimp on medium high heat until pink on both sides. Squeeze the lemon wedge over the shrimp. Shouldn't take more than 3 minutes. (Nothing like a hit of fresh lemon juice on seafood!!)

8.) Add cooked pasta to the sauce. Cook for 2 minutes.

9.) Add the shrimp and the parsley and stir. 

10.) Serve and enjoy :) Serves 2

Cheesecake? Yes, please.

So I'm back at it again and I feel great after having a wonderful conversation with my brother. It provided me the motivation necessary to persevere. Gotta love family :)

Today I want to share my recipe for Cheesecake. I absolutely love cheesecake and have gone through many test phases to create a recipe that works for me. The one that I have formulated does not include any added sugar. Notice I said no ADDED sugar. The ingredients that already have natural sugar content in them do the trick to make this dessert just right, so there is no need for the white sweet stuff today, lol.

Follow the instructions below and prepare for a party in your mouth!!

This recipe makes about 8-10 servings depending on the size and depth of your spring-form pan. (And how hungry you are, lol)


Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups- Ground Graham Crackers
1/2 teaspoon- Ground Cinnamon
1 stick- Butter, unsalted, melted (Microwave to melt. Takes about 20 seconds. Be sure to keep your eye on it though!!)

Filling:

1 pound- Cream Cheese, softened (Just leave it out on the counter for about 30 minutes before you start)
3- Eggs
1 cup- Honey (Yep, I said Honey. Surprise! Lol.)
1 pint- Sour Cream
1- Lemon, zested
1 tablespoon- Vanilla Extract (Imitation vanilla extract will work too. Tastes good to me!)



Directions 

1.) Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F, (Make sure you do this please!) and boil a large pot of water (You'll need it later. Just do it.)

2.) In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients for the crust.

3.) Spray your spring-form pan with non-stick spray and pour in the crust mixture. (You'll want to slap yourself if you don't use the non-stick spray. Trust me.)

4.) Mold the mixture to create a bottom crust in the pan while working the sides up to about 1 inch so you can have side crust. (Yummy!) Place this in a refrigerator until it's time to pour in the filling.

5.) In another bowl, use an electric mixer to mix the cream cheese on a low speed adding in the eggs, one at a time, until it is smooth. (If you don't have a mixer, feel free to use a wooden spoon and mix the hell out of that cream cheese. The end result is just the same.)

6.) Add the sour cream, honey, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

7.) Fill a large roasting pan with the boiling water about 1/2 inch deep.

8.) Cover the bottom of the spring-form pan with aluminum foil and fold up the sides. Place in the roasting pan. (Yes! Put the pan, covered in foil, in the water.)

9.) Bake for about 40 minutes.

10.) Remove from oven and let the cheesecake sit for about 30 minutes before you handle it. After that, chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

11.) Cut, serve, enjoy.


I hope you love the recipe as much as I do. If you don't love it, tell me why. I'm always looking for ways to improve. Oh, and for an extra yummy tip you can add strawberries and whipped cream to top it off. :)

Below is a picture of a mini cheesecake cupcake I made. To make this, simply divide the above recipe in half and mold the crust into a cupcake pan. Bake the same way and time.

I'll have to get a camera and learn to take better pictures so I can show you food porn, lol. #Coming Soon.

Thanks for visiting. Come back really soon. 

It's MY Body Anyway

I have had an interesting journey in my lifetime with fitness and body image. In my younger years, I struggled with self esteem issues because I thought I was too big. I was the little sister that was bigger than the big sister. This is something that has haunted me and caused many sleepless nights sitting up wondering what was wrong with me and why I was that way. When I moved to Virginia is really when I started to notice that the people here are active and that maybe I can be too so that I'm not a victim of complacency, but a champion of my own destiny.

 During my pregnancy, it was always my goal to ensure I was not overeating just because I was "eating for two" and to this day I still believe that pregnancy cravings are a myth because I didn't have any, lol. Any who, I dropped all of the baby weight and then some. I looked great, and then the unthinkable and unimaginable happened, I became too small (in the opinion of others). Never before had I heard from friends and family members questioning whether or not I eat at all. Continuous comments on how skinny I am and that I could stand to gain a few pounds caused those same self esteem issue to arise again. I couldn't believe it! This made me angry and hate myself because my clothes started to look weird and replacing an entire wardrobe is expensive.

 It took me a while to realize that I shouldn't actually care about what others have to say when it comes to me and my body. It is hard to not care when it is the ones closest to you who have these opinions though, but overall if I want to be small, or if I want to be big, it is my choice, and my life and I will live it how I see fit. I did some deep thinking about what I wanted from myself and how I wanted to look to make myself happy. I have determined that information and have set out to make it happen. So let this be a word to the wise, Eff your opinion of me and how I look. . . with all due respect :). I'm strength training to get my long lost butt back, lol, and to pick up just a few pounds of muscle for me, myself, and I. #ThatIsAll

http://www.harveymackay.com/tag/swim-with-the-sharks-2/

Randomness

So I'm sitting here working on a final paper, well I was until I was distracted by loud neighbors. I'm thinking they have guests over because they are unusually loud today, or maybe the good weather has caused them to  think it's okay to be loud outside. . . Anywho I was thinking about the Sex and the Cit lifestlye, with them living in New York, I bet it's always loud filled with car horns honking, the sound of stop and go, mostly stop, traffic and car radios blasting. If I were in a high-rise condo these sounds would actually be soothing. The best soothing sounds for me include water and the constant spinning of a ceiling fan. Ahh the peacefulness it brings, lol. I'm hoping whatever are Trent and I decide to live in for our second house has a peaceful community with mature adults and well behaved children. I took my dad to see the house that we will probably buy. It was great hanging out with him for the time he was here. You never know how much you miss your family until you are truly away from them. Not like college away, but real life away. I never got homesick in college, but as an adult away from my familiar surroundings, it gets to be a bit much and I am sad about that a lot because I know Trent would never want to move anywhere near Memphis again. Oh the things we woman compromise on. Men, can't live with them, could probably live without them, but who wants to do that? lol.  In this next break from my paper that I definitely should be writing at the moment, I'm gonna repaint my nails pink again. #Fierce!!!

Sex and the City

I have gotten to a point in my life where I felt old and boring even though I am young and vibrant. Daily life has become mundane and even off days have become either routine or even more stressful with trying to catch up on what was not done on my work days. I am a mother to a 17 month old baby boy and fiance to a hard working man. All of our family is back home in Memphis, TN while we are the only ones in Virginia. Life is tough for me. It's truly the hard knock life. So how do you change that? I always wish that my life is like Sex and the City. The women are fabulous and they seem to have it all, great fashion, great friends, great job, great social life, great balance overall. This is what's missing from my life. The first thing I decided to do to be about that life, lol, is revamp my wardrobe.

I am lucky to have a fantastic older sister who lets me know about all the latest trends and cool places to shop so I ordered a few key items and will continue to do so every now and then until the wardrobe is completely just fab. A big thing for me is time management. I wake up early enough in the morning to throw myself together and get my son ready for daycare. So I have to either learn to wake up a bit earlier for morning fab routine or find some short cuts. Wrapping my hair at night and choosing my outfits all make he morning easier. Setting out makeup and predetermining the look I'm going for works wonders. The weather plays a huge part in my wardrobe, but I have to just go for my look no matter what.

One large aspect of the Sex and the City Life that is not complete or even near it is that set group of friends. My friends, family, and even associates are all in other states so this will take some time. Trent and I plan on buying a new house either in Cali or northern Virginia and from there I will hope to be further along in my MBA program and closer to a job in my career field that might lead to great friends with common interests.

This life is not easy to come by. But I plan on continuing to strive for it because happiness is still along the way. Anywho, got some spring cleaning to do and doctor's appointment for baby on this off day of mine. Setting myself up for success. I love clean house, healthy happy baby, and a happy man :)

More sessions to come. . .

Simply Ahkeeia

So I decided to change the name of this blog from Ahkeeia's Food Blog, to simply Ahkeeia's Blog. Reason? I have still not gotten into the much needed habit of writing down all of my recipes when I cook and I have other things I want to talk about that extend beyond food, like style, fashion, politics, entertainment, babies, relationships, etc. Pretty much everything in life. I hope that you all join in on the conversations and feel free to create new topics of discussion.  :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

So I wanted to start the soup posts with one that is very popular with most crowds. Chicken Tortilla soup is a great mix between Mexican flavors with American influences. Here's how I did it:

Serves: 4

So there are 3 parts to this recipe.

Part 1: Cook the chicken
1 lb     Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 T  Olive oil
1 T     Garlic powder
1 T     Fajita seasoning
1/2 T  Seasoning salt
The juice of half a lemon
The juice of half a lime

Season the chicken with the spices and squeeze the citrus juice and olive oil over the top. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, move on to part 2.

Part 2: Start the soup
1 T       Olive Oil
1          Medium onion, chopped
1          Medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 T       Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 tsp    Black pepper
2 tsp    Crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups  Chicken stock (Divided)
2 cans  Fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 T       Cumin
1 tsp     Seasoning salt
1 T       Fajita seasoning
1/2 can Sweet whole kernel corn
1/2 can Black beans

Heat a large pot to medium high heat. When heated, add the olive oil, onion, bell pepper, black pepper and jalapeno peppers and cook until soft. About 10 minutes.

Add 1 cup of chicken stock and both cans of diced tomatoes. Add the remaining seasonings. Stir and cook for 20 minutes.

When the chicken has finished baking, shred with 2 forks and set aside.

After the pot has been cooking for the additional 20 minutes, the mixture should have thickened. Add the rest of the chicken stock, chicken, corn, and black beans and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.

Part 3: Make the Tortilla Strips
2      Small round flour tortillas
2 T   Olive Oil
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Sea salt

Heat a medium skillet with the olive oil.

Cut the tortillas into thin strips.

When the pan is heated, add the tortilla strips (a few at a time) and fry, turning once. About 20 seconds per side, until golden.

Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with paprika and salt.



Serve the tortilla strips on top of the soup and enjoy :)

New Year. New You.

So every year we all think up a great resolution that will improve our lives and get up closer to an ultimate goal. Most of us look into being more physically fit but fail to realize that we need to ensure we are eating the right amount of calories to reach that goal. The majority of us hate counting calories, myself included, but having a general idea is a great way to start your path to a new you if you desire a better body image. You can get that general idea by taking maybe 15 minutes out of your spare time to do an online assessment of where you are, where you want to be, and how much or little you need to eat to get there. From there try to watch what you eat as best you can and cook more so you can control the calories that we hate to count. It does get easier though especially once you generally know how many calories are in certain key foods you always eat.

I challenge everyone to stick to their goals this year longer than you stuck to your last year's goal. My goal is to become a person who loves to workout and another goal is to keep up with this blog. The ironic thing is, working out has thus far proven to be the easier of my two goals. I am working on gathering some creativity that I have lost over time to make this blog an exciting and interesting read for all.

This week, and for the remainder of January, I will focus on my cookbook and blog. More specifically, I am trying to go section by section picking and choosing recipes and then testing them out to finalize them.

So far in my "Soup, Stews, and the Like" Section of my future cookbook I have:

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Classic Chicken Noodle
Chili
Cheesy Potato
Beef Stew
Gumbo
Clam Chowder
Veggie Soup
Miso Soup
French Onion Soup
Mushroom Soup
Spicy Thai Soup
Lobster Bisque
She Crab Soup

I will probably be adding to and taking from this recipe title list as I determine the direction I want to go as far as food point of view. I think I will try to experiment with chicken and soup this week since I just bought chicken breasts. I will post the results.  :)

Happy Eating and don't forget to try and stick to your goals this year no matter how hard. We can do it!!