It was not too long ago where I was driving past a McDonald’s and noticed the sign that Shamrock shakes were there. That just brought back memories of getting that shake around this time of year, in late February and March. The creamy, minty flavor is just hard to beat. Every Sunday when my kids go to Sunday school, they beg, yes beg, for McDonald’s. I typically decline their request, but do give in from time to time, and as I declined their request this week, I was going to offer them something that would I knew would remind them of McDonald’s and make them extremely happy. This is where the shamrock shake came into action.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
2 cups of 1% milk
6 cups of vanilla ice cream
1 tsp peppermint extract, use more if you want more peppermint flavor
1 1/2 tsp green food coloring
Whipped cream, to your liking
Doesn’t get any easier than that, right?
Add the milk to a blender, then add in your ice cream, peppermint extract, and green food coloring. Blend until smooth.
Pour into your serving glass and top with whipped cream. Serve with a straw, and suck away.
My kids loved these shamrock shakes, and they were pretty much identical to those of McDonald’s. So skip the drive through next time and make your own. Your kids will thank you for it. Hope you enjoy.
OK, so I am a father of three, and I am the cook of the family. Just a little more information you need to know about me, if you are not already aware. When it comes to dinner time, it becomes a challenge, and one that I am always ready for, due to time constraints, and well, three hungry kids. Not everything I make is always agreed upon with all of the kids, but there are a few that my kids get really excited about. There is always pizza creations, pasta dishes, one of their favorite salads that has croutons, mozzarella cheese, romaine, and grilled chicken, and well, there is this Vietnamese caramelized chicken that they really, really love.
The great thing about this Vietnamese caramelized chicken is that you can serve it with so many things. One of our favorites is using it for lettuce wraps, or simply served over some jasmine rice. I normally use two pounds of chicken, and well, the kids devour it.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup light brown sugar
6 tbsp fish sauce (I like Red Boat)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced
3 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled, minced
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
3 tbsp cooking oil
Cooked jasmine rice, optional
Start by marinating your chicken with two tablespoons of the fish sauce, cracked black pepper, and 1/4 cup of the light brown sugar. Marinate overnight if you can, otherwise, a couple of hours.
Next add the garlic, ginger, remaining brown sugar and fish sauce to a small mixing bowl, and give a nice mix. Cover and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook the chicken.
Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Add in the oil, then place the chicken, getting all in one layer, and cook for about 7 minutes, leaving it undisturbed. During this time, add half of the garlic and ginger mixture, layering it on top of the chicken.
After seven minutes, gently clip to caramelize the other side, layering the remaining garlic and ginger mix on top. Cook for about six minutes, then stir, cooking until all of the chicken is caramelized.
Plate and serve.
The result is an awesome, and well seasoned chicken that is loaded with that great garlic and ginger flavor. You can make this with boneless chicken thighs if you want. I’ve also make it with pork shoulder, and the result is the same, great caramelized, sweet, and spicy chicken.
2 lbs boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup light brown sugar
6 tbsp fish sauce (I like Red Boat)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced
3 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled, minced
½ tsp cracked black pepper
3 tbsp cooking oil
Cooked jasmine rice, optional
Instructions
Start by marinating your chicken with two tablespoons of the fish sauce, cracked black pepper, and ¼ cup of the light brown sugar. Marinate overnight if you can, otherwise, a couple of hours.
Next add the garlic, ginger, remaining brown sugar and fish sauce to a small mixing bowl, and give a nice mix. Cover and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook the chicken.
Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Add in the oil, then place the chicken, getting all in one layer, and cook for about 7 minutes, leaving it undisturbed. During this time, add half of the garlic and ginger mixture, layering it on top of the chicken.
After seven minutes, gently clip to caramelize the other side, layering the remaining garlic and ginger mix on top. Cook for about six minutes, then stir, cooking until all of the chicken is caramelized.
Plate and serve.
The result is an awesome, and well seasoned chicken that is loaded with that great garlic and ginger flavor. You can make this with boneless chicken thighs if you want. I’ve also make it with pork shoulder, and the result is the same, great caramelized, sweet, and spicy chicken.
This past weekend was one of those special days for many people. Yes, it was Valentine’s day, and it was that time of year when it seemed as though every male was in a panic mode around 5:00 p.m. on that Friday, hustling to purchase a card, and a bunch of red roses. It’s sad to say the least. I say that only for the fact that the thought only occurs once a year for many people. I often joke with my wife that she gets Valentine’s day, every day, as I am the one cooking, and cleaning up the dishes, every. Single. Day. Plus I’m funny, at least in my book.
Kidding aside, I’m game when it comes to that special day, and as we both my wife and I agreed that we were not going to do much, I decided to add a special touch to the evening, not just for my wife, but also for my kids.
I decided to buy some chocolates for my wife, as well as purchase a handful of purple iris’s, and well, make a crab and shrimp boil for the family. Crab clusters, along with shrimp, corn, and potatoes, were the center piece of the dinner table, and it is always a great time watching the kids dig in. With that said, I had made plenty of clarified garlic butter for dipping, and I had plenty left over. That’s when it sparked an idea, only to reuse the butter and poach some shrimp in it to be used in a shrimp scampi pizza. Yes, a shrimp scampi pizza that was to die for.
Set your oven rack, closet to the top of the oven, and preheat your oven, and pizza stone (if you have one) to 500 degrees. Let the oven preheat until you prepare all of the remaining items.
To a small pot, add the butter, and let this melt. Skim any of the foam off of the top and discard. If you want to strain the butter into a fine mesh sieve, you can go that route, but for this recipe, any of the solid fats that might remain are fine. Reduce the heat to low, and add the garlic, chili flakes, wine, and shrimp.
Poach the shrimp just until the become opaque, about 5 minutes on low heat.
Stretch out your pizza dough for about a 14 inch pizza. Once stretched, remove the stone from the oven and carefully place the dough on top.
Add the cheese, the place the shrimp on top of the pizza. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of the garlic butter. Place the stone back into the oven, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the pizza dough is golden, and everything is cooked through.
Remove the pizza from the oven and place onto a wired rack. Let the pizza cool for about 5 minutes, then shower with the parsley. Slice and serve.
I ended up making this pizza only because I had that leftover butter, well, not only that, but my wife (and I for that matter) really loves shrimp scampi. As I would normally eat this with some pasta, or just the shrimp by itself, this pizza was incredible to say the least.
I served my wife the first piece, and I heard her from afar talking to herself with food ‘umms and ahhs’, that I knew this was going to be great. The smell of the garlic buttered shrimp, with that white wine was apparent right off of the bat, and believe it or not, the cheese just held things together and did not interfere much with the shrimp. I know I say this from time to time, but this pizza was really, really good.
Set your oven rack, closet to the top of the oven, and preheat your oven, and pizza stone (if you have one) to 500 degrees. Let the oven preheat until you prepare all of the remaining items.
To a small pot, add the butter, and let this melt. Skim any of the foam off of the top and discard. If you want to strain the butter into a fine mesh sieve, you can go that route, but for this recipe, any of the solid fats that might remain are fine. Reduce the heat to low, and add the garlic, chili flakes, wine, and shrimp.
Poach the shrimp just until the become opaque, about 5 minutes on low heat.
Stretch out your pizza dough for about a 14 inch pizza. Once stretched, remove the stone from the oven and carefully place the dough on top.
Add the cheese, the place the shrimp on top of the pizza. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of the garlic butter. Place the stone back into the oven, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the pizza dough is golden, and everything is cooked through.
Remove the pizza from the oven and place onto a wired rack. Let the pizza cool for about 5 minutes, then shower with the parsley. Slice and serve.
I ended up making this pizza only because I had that leftover butter, well, not only that, but my wife (and I for that matter) really loves shrimp scampi. As I would normally eat this with some pasta, or just the shrimp by itself, this pizza was incredible to say the least.
Let me begin by saying that our daughter has always wanted a dog, always. She would bring home dog books and research every dog to see if they were hypoallergenic as my wife has some fairly bad allergies when it comes to dogs and cats. My daughter would also draw pictures of various dogs, pretty much all the time. She dreamt about them, and after a couple of years of this, my wife and I decided to do our research and give our kids, especially our daughter, a surprise she never knew coming.
Meet Odin.
It was shortly before Christmas, which was perfect timing on our part, and I had been casually searching the Wisconsin Humane Society’s website. We wanted to rescue a dog, that was our goal. We had never been through the process, so we found a dog that we liked online, and a couple of days later, I drove there after work to inquire about the dog. He was already taken. As I was a bit bummed, I learned from the staff that dogs typically go fairly quickly. That was good to know because I knew that if we were to find another one, we would have to move quickly.
There was one late afternoon, where I figured I would go online. Three terrier mix puppies were available. I quickly called my wife who was out doing some late Christmas shopping, and I said we had to go. She quickly drove home, we lied to our kids that we had to go somewhere, and we took off.
When we entered to view the dogs, we found the room, and sat there and watched, for about 25 minutes, and then we scheduled a visit with one of the staff members. We went back and continued to watch the three dogs, two of which were a bit hyper and aggressive, and then there was Odin. We was the runt of the bunch, and he was getting picked on by the other two quiet a bit. We wanted him.
The process was quiet intensive, and the staff asked a ton of questions as to how we were going to take care of it, training, etc. I was quiet pleased with their process. After about a hour and a half of being there, we purchased a handful of items, and took off to surprise our kids.
When we arrived home, my wife entered the house to gather the kids, as I was going to go to the front door with the dog in my arms. My wife was supposed to get her video ready on the phone to capture the experience (she forgot to the flip the mode to video, and ended up with blurry images). When the door opened, I saw the look in my daughter’s eyes. She was in heaven. The jaw fully dropped and possibly a tear in her eyes. That was worth it alone. My other two boys were not that surprised, and I think one actually said something like “Really, a dog? Why?”.
This is the same boy that loves him up and plays with him all of the time now.
Odin has been a real champ. He’s battled a couple of puppy issues with the vet already, but hopefully on his way up. My daughter baths him with no issues, and well, I have been watching endless hours of Caesar Millan’s “The Dog Whisperer”.
Needless to say, our family is now complete and my daughter’s dream has came true.
We have a long way to go, but his last vet visit (they love him), everything was great, and he was growing just fine. Now all we wait for is Spring time where we can walk on his walking and social dog skills. He’s been cooped up in the house as it has just been too darn cold to walk him outside. Needless to say, myself and the kids throw the ball with him quiet a bit to wear him out. He’s super fast, and super smart, and he still has a lot of puppy in him.
We just love him up. He’s got great color, big pretty eyes, and neat ears. He’s already learning to sit, and stay, however he has taken off outside three times now as my kids have not paid attention. He hasn’t gone far, probably because it is just too darn cold.
If you have any tips on training a puppy, I’m all ears!
