Photo Friday & Dinner Oceanside

Happy Friday everyone wooo hoooo, it's gonna be a hot one today in the midwest. Right now it looks we are going to get a little summer thunderstorm. Any who my fresh friday recipe is Shrimp tacos with corn and black bean slaw.


Shrimp Tacos With Corn & Black Bean Slaw


So my husband and I decided to go down to the local shrimper and purchase some fresh shrimp of the day. I have to say there is nothing better than fresh seafood !!!! So we got out our little grill and grilled the shrimp with a little olive oil, white wine and the secret ingredient Old Bay Seasoning. You can't live in the south without this little ingredient. So we grilled our shrimp and I made a corn and black bean slaw. I just bought a bag of pre cut cabbage with shredded carrots added a little vinegar, a little greek yogurt, a titch of olive oil, fresh cilantro, garlic, fresh lime juice and a little crushed red pepper. Yum-o . I then toasted the tortillas and that was it so completely simple and so DELICIOUS!!!!
And for a little side dish I went down to the local farmers market and bought some vine ripe tomatoes and drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar , fresh basil. I sliced up some watermelon and there you have it one fabulous dinner ocean side. It was a beautiful evening on the ocean, oh and of course it would not be dinner without a little white wine. Just perfect. After we finished dinner we took a few beach pics and just sat and listened to the ocean. I was in pure bliss. I am a very simple girl at heart. Just give me the ocean, a little vino, warm ocean breezes and of course my husband AKA best friend !!! What more could a girl ask for ????


Me and my flops enjoying the view..............

I hope you have a super weekend.My friend and I are off to one of our favorite beachy towns, hope the rain holds off !


"A meal without wine is called breakfast"

Happy Friday!

Well happy friday everyone.... hope you had a great week! my fresh friday recipe is

Feta and Pea Salad


Super easy and so yummy
Blanch 2 cups shelled peas about 2-3 min

drain peas rinse in cold water.
Whisk together 2 Tbs olive oil, 1 tbs honey
2 tbs dijon mustard
1 tbs red wine vinegar

add peas,3 radishes thinly sliced
throw in some diced fennel if you like
and sprinkle with feta
yumo-o!!!


Oh and just a little happy photo of the day. I am getting really inspired to get out and start taking some photos, I think I will start posting a photo of the day or maybe a photo on fridays with my fresh friday recipe. I am saving for a new camera I can't wait to get it. Just have to finish a few projects and pay of my braces!!! I really love photography it get's you outdoors and in touch with all of natures natural elements. So I leave you with this happy little pot of poppies.
Hope you have an inspiring weekend....
S~

" In order to succeed we must believe we are capable of success"

Fresh Friday

Welcome Friday!!! so I thought I would share of few pics from a recent sister day I had. That's me enjoying a little vino at one of my favorite places The Stray Dog . This place is so fun in the summer, they have a really awesome rooftop deck that overlooks lake michigan. So my sister and I did some shopping at the outlet mall and then headed over to the Stray Dog for some pizza and wine.
And then over to another one of my favorite places Brewster's ... for some more vino!!! What more could a girl ask for in a day shopping, pizza and vino with your best friend!!! We had great sister time, I cherish every minute we get to spend together. Sisters "rock" You can always depend on your sister, she is the one person who knows exactly what I am always thinking, even sometimes before I do!!! There is a special connection sisters have, and there is no other bond like it. I can't say enough how much my sister means to me we have been through good times and bad, cried together, laughed together, talked about our hopes and dreams together and most importantly we spend a lot of time together. I think having a sister that is also your best friend is kind of a rare thing, some siblings don't even get along or talk to each other, so for that I am most grateful.
So now on to my fresh friday post. I am super excited to share this one it totally ROCKED MY WORLD
So here you have it PEA AND FETA SPREAD

This was so stinking easy and so so yummy
all you do is bring a pot of water to boil and add 2 cups of peas and blanch for about 3 min then toss in the blender and add 1 cup of feta, pinch of roasted garlic, 1 tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in case you are wondering :-) 2 tbs mint leaves and some salt and pepper to taste, pulse everything until slightly chunky, serve on your favorite toasted bread. This recipe called for ricotta but I am not a fan so I switched it up and used feta , I love feta and it worked great! This was so incredibly easy and so so yummy! I think it is my new favorite spring bruschetta. I had this with a really yummy shrimp mango salad with lemon grass chille vinaigrette. I will be posting that next fresh friday recipe. I hope you give this one a try , if you love peas you will love this spread! Hope you have a fun and creative weekend, I think I will make a new spring beachy inspired wreath!
S~

"Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself" Zen Proverb

Getting Crafty

So you have to forgive me I missed my fresh friday post yesterday... busy week. Anyway I know we are all tired of soups and winter comfort food but I made this awesome Coconut curry sweet potato soup and let me say it ROCKED!!! We had a similar soup in Saugatuck at his awesome place called the Wild Dog Bar and Grill so I thought to myself how can I duplicate this soup. So here is my take on the coconut curry sweet potato soup.

Coconut Curry Sweet Potato Soup

I used 1 large sweet potato
1/2 cup of coconut milk
2-3 cups vegetable broth the sweet potato is thick so you may have to tweak the broth to get the consistency you like your soup to be
curry powder to taste
1/2 tbs roasted garlic
1/2 tbs or so of ginger in the jar

Cook sweet potato in the microwave, usually a large sweet potato takes about 10 min or so to cook
after the potato is cooked scoop out all the sweet goodness into a blender add all the above ingredients and blend until desired thickness

That is it! So I think this will be the last soup recipe I post until next fall. I just had to get one more in because it was soooo yummy.
Enjoy~
I am already thinking about some fresh spring yummies!
Hope you have a Happy weekend. The birds are telling me spring is here now we just need to talk mother nature into it :-)
S~





So seeing that spring has been rapidly approaching and winter has been so brutal I have been inspired to get crafty. So here is my latest little project.... I bought a canvas painted it aqua blue then found some letters on the computer. I then printed the letters out and traced them on the canvas. Next I found these cute little sparkly sequins at my local fabric store and used clear glue to adhere them to the canvas. That's it ! so simple and I think it turned out super cute. Now the blue jars above I found at an antique shop at one of my favorite beach towns Saugatuck Michigan. They are old mason jars and they are a really pretty blue, I never knew mason jars came in blue. So while in Saugatuck for the weekend we went down to the beach to take some photos and I collected a bunch of beach rocks and drift wood. I simply placed them in the mason jars and voila a super cute and inexpensive way to display your beach finds.

Fresh Friday

Wooo Hooo it's Friday and the sun was shining all day! Wow maybe there is hope for spring to come just yet. The birds have been warming up there vocal chords the last few days, they will have a lot to sing about once spring announces it's arrival. Now I don't know about you but I have spring fever so bad, I need to do a little retail therapy shopping. These next few weeks I will be feverishly making to do lists of spring projects. Spring is such an exciting time of year, it's such a re birth of our planet. Flowers start to poke their sleepy little heads up and the birds start to practice their spring serenade. The buds on the trees start to swell, I get so excited just thinking about it. Now you all know how I feel about winter in the midwest , it almost kills me emotionally. So today I am celebrating the anticipation of spring and I am Happy Today. So with that I leave you with a fresh and tasty fresh Friday recipe....

Pasta With Shrimp And Fresh Herbs

I used I box of low carb pasta, or if you like you can use whole wheat pasta

Make pasta according to directions.
Meanwhile saute shrimp with white wine, garlic pinch crushed red pepper,and olive oil

In a seperate pan measure 1/2 cup of oil and infuse 5 cloves of garlic and a pinch of red pepper about 3 minutes, careful not to overcook the garlic it will burn. Remove garlic cloves and discard, keep infused oil to add to pasta.

Once pasta is finished drain and add shrimp and fresh herbs.
Chop fresh basil, parsley and mint toss all ingredients together including infused oil, top with fresh grated parmesan. This dish pairs really well with nice glass of riesling.

Oh and for desert a little dark chocolate

Enjoy~