Inner Light: 60 Minutes of Good Intentions

My family and I went to celebrate my brother today. His birthday was last week. On our way, I noticed just how much green I was seeing. The trees, a really cute peacoat, spinach wraps and everything I was wearing. When I got back home my diffuser light was also green. Okay, okay. Let me check this out. The first book I picked up was connected to chakras. The corresponding color to green is the heart chakra. A piece that really spoke to me had to do with getting back on track. By way of following the heart and wisdom connected to its power. It inspired me to be extremely intentional with the next 60 mins of my time. I had just so happened to also be reading food labels, and close by there was a recipe for which I knew we had all the ingredients.

I decided my next 60 minutes would be to set up for the recipe AND to let whatever else happen or flow, while in the kitchen.  The recipe calls for the farro to be soaked, so I already knew I’d have a full 58 minutes left to play. 🙂

*By the way, the recipe is for a type of grain called farro. A twist on the rice-based risotto. It’s the recipe on the back of the Bob’s Mill Brand. I love when I have all the ingredients on hand after I read a recipe that sounds good. 🙂 *

What happened in that hour? I’m so glad you asked!

Garlic got roasted. In two different fashions; 22 grams of the clove was kept whole with all of the peels removed. The other 11 grams kept one layer of the peel on. Each bulb was separate. The oven was set to 400 degrees Farenheight. I wrapped both types of garlic in some foil with the same amount of olive oil drizzled over and rubbed into the cloves. They went into the oven until I felt the need to take them out. The purpose of all of this is to test the flavors of the garlic when done. I want to know if there’s a difference in taste with the skin on or off.

Hey, if I gotta roast garlic anyway, I might as well make it fun and into an experiment, right? It’s half the reason I love cooking! 🙂

After that was done, I cut up some onions and washed the mushrooms off. I made more than enough because while all of this is happening, I was getting hungry. I ended up sauteeing a little mushroom, onion, and garlic over some butter noodle pasta. Add your favorite shredded cheese and BOOM: quick fast meal and a treat for prepping your food. I give thanks.

Check the clock, got 25 minutes left. As soon as the noodles are ready, the fragrance from the garlic popped out. The mushrooms sizzled loudly. The water was running. The kitchen was singing! Thus begins the happy dance of winding down, cleaning up and preparing to eat. With 5 minutes left before the 60 minutes is up I am back in my chair ready to eat some noodles and think about what to write in this blog. 🙂

I share this story to discuss just how powerful being intentional is. Having a decided heart can take you far, even within a short period of time. That 60 minutes may not sound like anything special to anybody else, but for me, it was everything I needed. That one hour solved a lot of those “I’ve been meaning to do that,” kind of expressions and feelings, in the two best ways I interpret things: food and words. I had fun and I also learned a lot. My kinda party!  🙂

And to be able to return to love is what the whole lesson was about. I’ll certainly take it! 🙂 May we all learn to continuously cherish and respect all of the minutes’ Life shares with us. Feel free to leave a little space in your heart for miracles to seep in. ❤

Be Well,

❤ The Smitten Chef ❤

Ah yes, I managed to take two pictures before my phone powered down. I’ll upload the final product later!

 

 

Tequila Lime Shrimp

Greetings Food Lovers!

We meet again, only this time to discuss hyperlinks! (It is in fact okay to be confused right now; I’ll explain in a moment.)

So last night, I went to the Usher concert. I love him. I fully believe I would have chosen a dance career but I was short one key ingredient: I can’t really dance. A cooked noodle is a good description of my signature move, which is fine by me because it feels good! Ahhhh but Usher is an entirely different story for he is an excellent dancer, artist and entertainer. He inspires me & keeps me happy in the kitchen.

I remembered seeing him at a concert in 2013. I remember blogging about it. I read it this morning and had to figure out a way to share my past excitement about him, without rewriting it. So I learned how to add a HYPERLINK on a current blog…That way, you can click on this HERE and it will take you to the story. 🙏

Now that that’s settled, the title Let it Marinate reminded me of this tequila lime shrimp I love making. It’s great on the grill, but it’s light enough in flavor to be served with grits. I cannot have shrimp without making a taste test size amount of grits. I’ve tried. It didn’t feel right. Here’s the recipe; if you want a kick of spice add a little bit of cayenne pepper to the marinade.

INGREDIENTS:

2 TBSP fresh lime juice
2 TBSP your favorite tequila
1/4 c. Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ancho chili powder (optional)
ground pepper to taste
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled & deveined.
Your choice of cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl except for the shrimp. Pour mixture into a large resealable plastic bag. Add cleaned shrimp to plastic bag; refrigerate 1-3 hours before cooking.

2. Drain shrimp & discard leftover marinade.

3. Sauté shrimp on medium high heat, about 3-4 mins per side, or until shrimp is pink and cooked throughout.
Do not overcrowd your pan with shrimp; work in batches.

4. Squeeze fresh lime juice over shrimp. Serve hot and enjoy!

* THESE ARE ALSO GREAT GRILLED *

Grab 6 wooden skewers and soak in water 30 minutes prior to grilling, as to not burn the skewers.

These are also fun appetizers: just use a toothpick and serve individually.

Let it Burn,

The Smitten Chef 💜