The Duke and I have really been taking advantage of the grill lately. We love throwing zucchini, onions and peppers on and letting them get a good char. Want to know my favorite meat to grill? Smoked sausage! It’s delish.

Our friend brought us this smoked sausage that he picked up on a back country road between Birmingham, AL and Destin. No tellin’ where it came from, but this sausage was awesome!

We’ve had this meal twice in the last week…it’s just too good (and too easy!).

Have a great weekend! See you Monday.
The Duchess

I’ve been wanting to make Rachael Ray’s Salsa “Stoup” for a while now and finally got around to it the other day. As Rachael would say, it was Delish!

It really tastes like salsa, but piping hot. The onions, peppers and cilantro make this tomato soup for grown ups. I made some grilled poblano and zucchini quesadillas for dipping, and this meal was a home run.

For the quesadillas, I charred two poblano peppers and zucchini rounds on an indoor grill pan, then removed the skin and seeds and sliced the peppers. Sprinkle cheddar cheese, poblano slices and zucchini rounds on a whole wheat tortilla, then sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Broil the quesadilla for a few minutes, the fold over and slice into wedges.

If you love Mexican flavors as much as I do, then you’re totally going to dig this dinner!

Have a great weekend, friends The Duchess

Last week I wanted a fast, yet flavorful meal, and thus the Mediterranean Shrimp and Feta Tostada was born.

This dinner comes together in about 20 minutes…start to finish! I made a simple marinade for the shrimp using olive oil, red wine vinegar and other spices common in Mediterranean food. Be careful not to leave the shrimp in the marinade more than about 5 minutes. Otherwise, the acid in the vinegar will begin to “cook” the shrimp.

I was really happy with how this dish turned out. Don’t you love when a last-minute brain child is a rock star??

I keep forgetting to give an update of my aunt. Believe it or not, she is doing a million times better and is expected to make a full recovery! This is nothing short of a miracle, since she was basically out of it for two weeks. She has no recollection that I was up there in her hospital room, but that is ok. Her long-term memory is in tact.

Have a great week! P.S. Less than a month til my BIRTHDAY The Duchess

I’ve been drooling over a recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen for months now, and it certainly makes for the perfect light, summery dinner. Aggie’s Fish Oreganata combines light and flaky fish (we have tons of fresh grouper and snapper from the Gulf of Mexico right now) with panko crumbs, lemon zest and fresh herbs. Doesn’t that sound divine?

This is a fantastically flavorful meal that you can feel great about eating! The best part is, you probably already have all of these simple ingredients in your kitchen now.

This panko topping would also be great on top of shrimp…I’ve got to remember to try that one. Hope you all have a fabulous week! I’m stuck going to a 6-day training this week and next, but at least I don’t have to do it during the school year. The Duchess

I don’t know if any of you live near a body of water that gives you access to lots of fresh shrimp, but here in Northwest Florida, we’re lucky enough to have two sources of shrimp: the Gulf of Mexico and the Choctawhatchee Bay (hopefully this oil slick won’t ruin our profitable and delicious seafood industry forever).

My mom and I actually prefer bay shrimp to gulf shrimp. They’re meatier, juicier and just all around better. Gulf shrimp are what you’ll find in every restaurant around here (and their iodine-y taste is just fine for the tourists), but bay shrimp are where it’s at! That being said, my mom brought me 15 pounds of beautiful shrimp the other day. Incase you’re wondering, that’s A LOT of shrimp! Clearly the Duke and I are weren’t going to eat it all before it went bad, so I had to freeze it.

I don’t take the heads off of my shrimp before I freeze them, but some folks do. The Duke’s mom does, so to each his own.

Since I leave the heads on, I obviously can’t freeze them in zip top bags, or the barbs would poke through. Instead, I freeze them in quart-sized plastic containers.

Fill the containers nearly to the top with shrimp.

Then COVER the shrimp with water.

Remember to leave a bit of room at the top of the container, because the water will expand slightly when it freezes. You can store the shrimp in any size container you like, just be sure to mark the contents of the container on the outside, so you’ll know what you’re pulling out of the freezer.

Don’t forget to write the date! Believe it or not, shrimp will keep in the freezer for up to four months.

Shrimp are the perfect food to have on hand in the freezer. They defrost very quickly, and cook up in a matter of minutes. Once they’re defrosted you can peel them and take the heads off before cooking. I’m so happy that our freezer is loaded down with these tasty shellfish, because I plan on cooking them up all summer long.

I hope you found this amateur tutorial helpful. Let me know if there is any other information that I can assist you with. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll just make it up!

See you soon with another tasty treat. Have a fabulous week, friends. The Duchess

I was supposed to be blogging about a Tuscan Tuna Salad today, but I created these scrumptious little gems yesterday and just had to share.

Spinach Sliders with Marinated Veggies. Oh Yeah. Seriously. This little sandwich packs a serious punch. I passed the marinated veggie counter at the grocery store the other day and just had to scoop up some of the mushrooms, olives and feta cheese. Note-these are all foods that the Duke wouldn’t touch with a 50-foot pole. That’s perfect…more for me!

Easy peasy, right?? Sometimes the smallest and easiest things in life can be the best. And don’t you ever forget that.

Make this for your next Ladies’ Lunch and you’ll thank me profusely. Have a great weekend, friends! The Duke and I are off to see Le Grand Cirque tomorrow night with my parents. It’s like a knock off Cirque du Soleil. Should be fun.

Tata!The Duchess

Since I had extra time on my hands this weekend, I made quite a few recipes for the blog. Figured I’d get ahead while I could, ya know? I’d been craving Chicken Parmesan for who knows how long, but I wanted to do a different spin on it. I ended up ditching the fattening bread crumbs and oil, and turned the whole dish inside out!

The result? A deliciously simple and light dish!

Start by butterflying your chicken breast and lightly browning on both sides…

Then spread each breast with a couple tablespoons of marinara sauce.

Add a slice of mozzarella

Lots of fresh basil…

Fold the breast over, secure with a toothpick and stick in the oven.

After baking for 25 minutes at 375, you’ve got a beautifully cooked chicken breast filled with familiar Chicken Parmesan flavors. YUM!

Ok, so that entire recipe called for FOUR ingredients…I think you can handle it.

I served myself half a chicken roll up and it made for the perfect dinner portion. And the best part is I now have leftovers for lunch today.

Have a great Tuesday. See you soon with a mouth-watering tuna salad…much different than what you’re used to!
The Duchess

Since this has been a crazy week from hell, dinner has been really simple (AKA cereal most nights). I had a spark of energy the other night, though, and decided to use up some chicken and other ingredients from the fridge. You know the Duke and I love Mexican food, so I threw together a Chicken Fajita Hoagie.

Talk about simple. This dinner came together in about 20 minutes. I’m talking start to finish here, folks. I did have a cooked chicken breast on hand, which simplified the situation. The crusty bread was a delicious departure from a tortilla for the fajita flavors.

I mixed 1/2 cup light sour cream with the juice of 1 lime, 1 tbsp. green salsa, a pinch of garlic salt and a handful of chopped cilantro for quick dipping sauce. The sauce was delicious! The Duke and I dipped a few too many tortilla chips in it.

Alright friends. Tomorrow is officially moving day. It’s strange that tonight is the last time I’ll be sleeping in this house. The Duke and I adore this house, but we’re excited to see what the future holds.

Have a great weekend! The Duchess

Anyhoo, I thought I’d share this super simple and delicious weeknight meal with you. I’ve been on a huge zucchini kick lately. I seriously can’t get enough. I decided to stuff one of the green veggies with a creamy Mexican stuffing of chicken, black beans, Rotel, and, of course, CHEESE!!!

I was really impressed with this dish. And, when you’ve got cooked chicken on hand, it all comes together really quick. You start by scooping out the flesh of the zucchini.

You could chop up the zucchini flesh and add it to the stuffing, but I didn’t. You could also add the leftover zucchini meat to a batch of scrumptious zucchini bread.

I had to stop myself from eating the stuffing before these little boats went into the oven. I mean, how can you not like sour cream, chicken and cumin??

Yum, yum, yum. I think even your picky, non-veggie eating kids will enjoy this dish.

I hope you have a great week! I’ll see you real soon with a recap of a bridal shower I catered over the weekend. It was tons of fun.
The Duchess

Oh, boy, do I ever have a fabulous soup recipe for you today! I know most people think of soup in the fall and winter when there’s a nip in the air, but the Duke LOVES soup. He could eat it every day. That being said, I like to play around with soups every now and then. This is one of our all-time favorites. It’s a chunky white bean and chicken soup that I found in Cooking Light over a year ago.

You know how much I love Mexican flavors, so I was all over this recipe from the first time I saw it. It’s thick, its spicy, it’s satisfying, and it couldn’t be any easier! This is the perfect way to use up any leftover chicken that you may have on hand. The soup calls for a whopping SIX ingredients. I think you can handle it!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this soup. I’ve even taken it to friends with newborns or when friends move. Who doesn’t love a hot meal delivered to their front door? Bake up a few corn muffins for the side and you’ll be cooking with gas.

You can also use a bit less broth than the recipe calls for and fill tortillas with the chicken mixture for a delicious spin on burritos.

Have a great week! I’m subbing today, tomorrow and Wednesday in Pre-K. Wish me luck with the little rascals. The Duchess