You Are What You Eat

Little Miss M is obsessed with shrimp.  It is her all time favorite food to eat.  She has been well on her way to finishing a tray or two of the little creatures before I could stop her.  She would seriously eat the whole tray if I let her.  Every single time we pass the seafood section in the grocery store, she freaks out about the shrimp.  She's just short of getting on her hands and knees begging me in the middle of the aisle to buy them.  Last night I finally broke down and bought a 1/2 pound for her.  I would have gotten more, but the Mister isn't too big on the whole seafood thing.  Little Miss M was dying to shell the shrimp when we got home, and I was more than happy to oblige.  Less dirty work for me!  

While Little Miss M was busy shelling the shrimp, I preheated the oven to 425 F and melted half a stick of butter in a glass baking dish.  Once the butter was melted, I sliced a lemon and placed on top of butter in dish.  Once the shrimp were shelled and rinsed, Little Miss M placed them on top of the lemon slices in the dish.  We then sprinkled a couple of tablespoons of Italian seasoning (recipe at bottom) on top of the shrimp and placed in the oven to cook for about 15 minutes.

 

While the shrimp was cooking, I had Little Miss M cut the ends off of a bunch of asparagus and spread it out on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.  We drizzled some olive oil over the asparagus, squeezed a bit of lemon juice on top, and added salt and pepper.  Little Miss M then rolled the asparagus back and forth to distribute the olive oil and lemon juice more evenly.  When the shrimp had about 7 minutes left to cook, I put the asparagus in so that they'd be done around the same time.  You have to be careful when cooking asparagus not to cook it too long or it becomes mushy.  It should still have a bit of crunch to it when done.

Little Miss M was so excited she could hardly contain herself when I pulled the shrimp out of the oven.  To her credit, it did look and smell pretty darn good.

I have never seen a child eat something so fast in my life!  She probably would have had thirds and fourths if I'd made enough.  Maybe next time we'll get a pound!

Italian Seasoning

3 tablespoons dried basil

3 tablespoons dried oregano

3 tablespoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Mix well and store in airtight container.