Lemon and Garlic Shrimp "Pasta"

Recently I realized that entirely too many of my calories were coming from carbs, so I've been trying to cut back! I love pasta dishes and I've been eating a lot of spaghetti squash recently, but I wanted to try something new! I had some zucchini in the fridge so I figured I'd give zucchini pasta a try. I always keep a bag of shrimp in the freezer for quick dinners, so I ended up with Lemon and Garlic Shrimp Pasta!

What you need...

• 1/2lb peeled and deveined shrimp, thawed if frozen
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced into thin strips for zucchini pasta

How to make it...

If your shrimp are frozen, put them in a bowl of cold water to thaw. While they are thawing you can make your zucchini pasta. By the time you get the pasta made and the sauce ingredients into the skillet, the shrimp should be thawed.

To make the zucchini pasta, use a vegetable peeler and make long thin strips of zucchini. Continue around the zucchini until you get to the seeds. If you have a spiral vegetable slicer, you can use that instead!

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and combine all ingredients except zucchini pasta. Sauté until the shrimp turns pink. If you want the "pasta" al dente, just add the zucchini into the pan, toss and serve. If you want the pasta a little softer, remove the shrimp from the pan and set them on a plate covered with foil to keep warm. Add the zucchini pasta and toss for a few mins until softened.



I've made this dish three times since I first created it, its definitely a keeper! K, byeeeee.

Avocado Bacon Sammies

Not having bread in my life was a struggle during the WLC - I love sandwiches!!!!! But I realized you don't need bread to enjoy a sandwich! Recently I've been eating a lot of zucchini sammies...you could probably figure out how to make them just by looking at the picture, but I'll give you brief instructions anyway.

What you  need...

• 1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil 


• 1 zucchini, sliced


• 1/2 and avocado


• 2 slices of bacon

How to make them....

Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add oil. Sautée your zucchini until tender. Placed a bite of bacon and a mini slice of avocado in between. Use a toothpick to hold them together. Annnndd then eat those little guys!

{Photo courtesy of @kick_ass_girl_va}

I've also made these sammies with cucumbers or sauteed mushrooms instead of zucchini - both are really good as well. K, byeeee.

Zucchini Creole.

Zucchini Creole was the first dish I made in my real adult life (meaning when I graduated college and joined the rest of the world in prison...I mean having a full-time job). It is very easy to make and continues to be one of my favorite dishes in my adult life.

What you need...

• 3 or 4 medium zucchini, sliced


• 2 tomatoes, chopped


• 1 onion, chopped


• 1 green pepper, chopped


• 3 tablespoons butter (I use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!^® Light)


• 3 tablespoons flour


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 tablespoon brown sugar


• 2 cups grated cheese (I use Sargento^® Shredded Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Italian)

How to make it...

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Layer the sliced zucchini in the bottom of a casserole dish (I usually use a 9 x 13 pan, but sometimes you have to improvise). Melt the butter in a pan and stir in flour, onions, green pepper, and tomatoes. Add salt and brown sugar. Cook for 3-5 mins or until thick.

Pour the vegetable mixture on top of the zucchini slices (if you're using two dishes, distribute evenly). Bake for 30 mins.


Top with cheese and bake for an additional 10 minuets, or until cheese is brown and creole is bubbly.

Sidebar: I usually top the dish with cheese, cover it with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 mins. Then I uncover it and bake for an additional 10 mins. In this case, I didn't have foil, I added the cheese at the end, and it turned out just fine. Make it however you would like, either way, it will be delicious!

The best part (besides it being easy to make AND delicious) is how healthy it is! The dish makes 8 servings and, even smothered in cheese, each serving is only 145 calories!!! You could eat two servings (guilty of doing this) and still only consume 290 calories...crazy talk, I know. Guess you'll just have to give it a try...k, byeee!!

Veggie Tales.

When I eat healthy food I want it to be something substantial AND tasty. Is that too much to ask for? There is nothing worse than devouring your dinner and still being hungry...really makes you feel like a kid from the Seam (Hunger Games obsessed).

Anyway, you're in luck! I found a dish that is both healthy and filling: a Zucchini, Black Bean, and Quinoa skillet. The recipe calls for rice, but I substituted it for quinoa, and I used mozzarella cheese  instead of cheddar and monteray jack (because the biggest loser taught me it is the much lower in calories than a lot of other cheese - like Cheddar and Monteray Jack).

The recipe was simple to follow, but as I've said before, I'm no chef, so chopping the veggies is what took me the longest. However, this time I had a legit knife and I am now convinced I probably should have invested years ago.



The recipe calls for 1-1/2 cups sliced zucchini. Ummmm, okay? That doesn't tell me how many zucchinis I need to buy?! Because of this, I essentially doubled the recipe and made about 8 servings instead of 4...but who doesn't love leftovers!



The recipe called for a green pepper, but I used red to make it look like Christmas.



At this point I was beginning to doubt this recipe choice. Could it look any healthier? (And by healthier I mean not satisfying at all.)



Quinoa definitely looks weird, but if you can get past the look of it, it tastes great and definitely beats rice in the nutrition game.



Once the melted cheese was added, I knew it was going to be good. And I was right. My only suggestion is to add hot sauce because it could be considered bland to some people (me). If you don't like hot sauce, add some ketchup? Haha gross...only kidding. K, byeee.