Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Honey Mustard Shrimp - for when you really don't want to cook

Wouldn't it be great if we could all just slow down and savor life?

It seems the older I get, the more this hectic life disappoints me.

We're all super busy and always on some sort of deadline ,whether it's getting to the grocery story before the game or getting the book to the editor, or just getting the laundry done.

Where is time to slow down and simply enjoy?
(We,, you could just go back and look at Mindy's post from yesterday. :) )

I'll save you the philosophical rants because ... well...I don't have the answer.

I've been trying to simplify my life, but so far I'm not really managing all that well.

I was thinking of all this as Monday morning dawned and once more I was rushing out the door into a day that wouldn't slow down until somewhere after 9PM.

I don't like the rushed feeling so I try to savor little moments when I can.

The gorgeous blue of an October sky.




The scent of woodsmoke when a neighbor used their fireplace for the first time.





The crunch of autumn leaves under booted feet.  I love autumn because I can wear boots again!






The sense of home when you come in and close the door behind you.






So what does all this have to do with Wednesdays and recipes?

Just that I was coming home tonight too tired to even contemplate going to the trouble of pulling together anything complicated. I had a meal planned, but once it came time to cook it.... let's just say cereal and milk held greater appeal. :)

Enough with the whining!

All this just means is I'm really happy when I find a super simple meal that tastes delicious. Here's one that I came up with off the top of my head when I was hungry but had no energy to cook.

I've been on this honey mustard kick (as you might recall from last week's post).

On the spur of the moment, I pulled some frozen shrimp from the freezer and defrosted them while I walked the dog. These are pre-cooked so I didn't really have to do much. I spooned out a dollop of honey mustard into the saucepan with enough water to dissolve it. (Note: it turns white!)
Then I broke the shrimp into bite sized pieces and mixed in with the mustard and stirred until warm.

I had no idea what I was going to serve it on but I suddenly remembered Missy's vegetable pasta so I pulled out some spaghetti and quickly boiled the water.

In only slightly more time than it took to cook the spaghetti, I had an amazingly delicious meal.









I love when out of the depths of dinner-planning despair comes a culinary success!

So what do you think? Are you over-stressed, running hither and you or have you found the secret to savoring life?


11 comments:

  1. That sounds really good, Mary! I'll have to get some precooked shrimp to keep on hand. One thing that helps for a quick pasta meal is keeping angel hair in the pantry. It's done really fast.

    I love the photos! We ate dinner outside on the deck last week when I was feeling like I really needed to slow down and enjoy the last of the warm weather.

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    1. Ahhh dinner on the deck sounds lovely. Slowing down sounds even lovelier. (is that a word?)lol

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    2. I always pick up a couple of bags when we're at COSTCO, Missy. My husband loves scampi, so I keep whatever shrimp is left from that just for nights like this one.

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  2. Gorgeous photos!

    And I love shrimp. This looks delicious.

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  3. Cate, your mind is so creative. No wonder that you are a writer. Go creative juices. This sounds yummy.

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  4. I might be laughing at the slowing down stuff. Just a little. My frenetic nature (darn her, anyway!!!!) is kind of CHUCKLING and patting you on the head, and then the wench will make fun of you, but not in public, darling. :)

    Shrimp and pasta is a quick go-to around here, too. And chicken and pasta, done in a garlic/butter pseudo scampi with no wine.

    This is a wonderful thing for those nights, and I do love the sound of leaves crunching underfoot unless... I'm alone... on a dark, dark street.... and the sound comes from behind me.

    In that case I'm perfectly capable of playing DING DONG DITCH to draw attention to my scaredy cat self!!!!!

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    1. Don't you just love the word frenetic!

      I love the word more than the reality though.

      Boots - leaves - afternoon sun. Nothing after dark. That's just plain spooky.

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  5. Well I've been forced to slow down so I guess I should start savoring the moments. :-) Right now I'm sitting on the daybed in my wee little study with the sun beaming in and I'm working on de-stressing because stress-free doesn't go hand-in-hand with slowing down.

    I'll skip on the shrimp but I have a crockpot stewing up a minestrone soup that will feed me for a week. Now that's stress-free meal planning.

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    1. Sounds delicious, Kav.

      I understand about the stress. Sometimes I think I'm most stressed when life is slower because my brain has more time to focus on the bad things. When all is a crazy rush, I don't have time to dwell on it.

      Hope the beaming sun brought you some peace of mind.

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