Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Chilled Avocado Soup with Chipotle Shrimp and Lime Cream


This soup is perfect for summer.  It was filling enough for a main course, but would also be great in smaller portions as a starter for a night of fajitas.  (And it's healthy!)  It has 3 separate components, but the whole thing comes together very quickly, and 2 of the components could be made ahead of time.  If the idea of a chilled soup doesn't scare you off, try this!

Chilled Avocado Soup with Chipotle Shrimp and Lime Cream
slightly adapted from Cooking Light


Lime Cream:

3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp grated lime zest
1/2 tsp ground pepper

-Combine all ingredients and chill.


Soup:

3 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
2 large avocados, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

-Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.  Chill.


Chipotle Shrimp:

3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 (7 oz) can chipotle peppers in adobo (you'll only use 1 pepper, plus 1 tsp sauce.)
1 can corn, drained, or 2 ears if using fresh
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (I skipped this.)
1 garlic glove, minced (I used powder.)
1-2 Tbsp lime juice

-Sprinkle shrimp with cumin, pepper, and salt.  (If using garlic powder instead of garlic, sprinkle it on the shrimp now.)
-Finely dice 1 chipotle pepper.  (If anyone sensitive to heat/spice will be eating this dish, remove the seeds from the pepper.)  Mix the pepper with 1 tsp adobo and the lime juice.
-Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray.  Cook the shrimp 2 minutes on one side, then turn them over and add the corn, onion, and garlic to the skillet.  Saute 2 minutes.
-Add chili/adobo/lime juice mixture to the skillet and saute another 2 minutes.

-To serve:  Ladle soup into bowl, top with a scoop of the shrimp/corn mixture, and a dollop of lime cream.







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Monday, March 26, 2012

Presenting: Mr. Miles

(When he pauses, he's listening to Gisèle singing in the background.)







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Monday, March 19, 2012

Quick PCOS Update

My 6 month check-up, complete with a battery of bloodwork & an ultrasound, was last week.  Overall, it went really well.

The doctor said that my bloodwork was the best he's seen all year!  My levels are all good, and he was especially impressed with my cholesterol.  In his words, my good cholesterol was "great," and my bad cholesterol was "really great"  The only thing wonky was my vitamin D, which was funny to me.  At my last appointment, it was VERY low, so I was put on a high dose vitamin D supplement (13 drops a day of a liquid) and told to stay on that until my next check-up.  (Levels should be between 30-100, optimally 50-80.  Mine was around 21.)  This time, my vitamin D was at 130.  Looks like the supplement is working!  I've been cut back to 6 drops a day, but will still need to take it.

The ultrasound was not all good, but not terrible.  I still have tons of cysts, which is typical for the "polycystic" condition I have.  The new thing this time is that I have one very enlarged cyst on my left ovary, which I've never had before.  I'll have another ultrasound in 2 months to see if that has changed and to see about taking care of it then, but it shouldn't be anything to worry about.

All in all, a good appointment.  The doctor and I are both happy with where I'm at with my treatment plan, so we'll keep things as-is for the most part!




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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

In a Funk

I've been in a funk lately.  In a general funk since the loss of my wedding ring, which has not turned up, and in a blogging funk for quite some time.  I haven't had time or opportunity to pull out my camera lately, so I have very few recent pictures of the kids, and the only recent pictures I do have are on my phone.  I don't feel like anything of note, really, has happened, and I haven't even made anything (cooked/baked) lately that I'm inspired enough to blog about.  So yep, I'm in a funk.

I painted my fingernails a beautiful lavender last night.  I rarely paint my fingernails since I'm not careful with them and end up chipping them so quickly, but I felt the need for Color.  So today they're bright, and reminding me that the clouds will pass soon enough.




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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Growing Up

You can already see in their faces what they'll look like as adults.  It's crazy.  

Taken with my phone at a recent birthday party. 
The tie & wand were props, though they're cute enough for everyday use, huh?





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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad

I lost my wedding & engagement ring (soldered together) yesterday.  We've spent hours looking, and it's nowhere to be found.  Prayers to ease my hurting heart, and especially, prayers for it to be found would be appreciated.  And thank you for the suggestions, but yes - we've looked there.  And there.  Yes, multiple times.




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Saturday, March 3, 2012

New Laptop!

I'm typing this from our new laptop!  I'm spending this evening reloading all of our software, photos, documents, etc. on it, so I should be able to resume posting in the next couple of days. 




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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Laptop Issues and Small Miracles

Our laptop died.  But it died on the very last day of our service plan!  AND - I had recently backed up our budget file, documents, music, and all photos.  PHEW!  Looks like we'll be without it for at least two more weeks; Ill keep you posted.




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