I have a little confession to make.  I love to watch award shows – the Oscars, the Grammy’s, even the Golden Globes.  My two best girlfriends come over; we make appetizers and cocktails then take our place on the sofa for our own review of the red carpet happenings.  We dish on the couple sightings, the best speeches and the worst losers’ faces when the winner is announced.  And of course, we give out our picks for best and worst dressed for the evening.

This weekend is the Grammy’s and we are ready to do it all again.  The party is at my house so I am on appetizer duty.  I have the usual nibbles on stand by, pita chips and artichoke dip, a cheese tray and my signature “wow” appetizer of the night, Gorgonzola Shrimp Bites.

These three appetizers are perfect combination for our evening of TV watching.  The artichoke dip and cheese tray I can mostly assemble in the afternoon or the night before, leaving only the Gorgonzola Shrimp Bites to be made that night. What I love about these tasty treats is that they are so easy to make. And, the added touch of gorgonzola and apricot preserves definitely put these little beauties in contention for this year’s “best dressed” appetizer at the party!  So bring on the celebrities and the drama, my girlfriends and I are red carpet ready to go!  Give the Shrimp Bites a try and let me know what you think.  Would these tasty treats get your vote for “best dressed” appetizer of the year or do you have a better candidate in mind for your party table?

Gorgonzola Shrimp Bites

Prep Time: 2 minutes  Cook time: 15 minutes  Makes: 16 appetizer servings 

• 1 (9 oz) package SeaPak® Jumbo Butterfly Shrimp – Oven Crispy or 1 package (8 oz) SeaPak® Butterfly Shrimp – Oven Crispy, frozen
• Apricot preserves
• Gorgonzola crumbles

PREHEAT oven to 425 degrees. Bake SeaPak Butterfly Shrimp according to package instructions. Remove from oven. Turn oven up to broil.

SPOON apricot preserves (about 1/2 teaspoon) onto each shrimp. Top with Gorgonzola crumbles (about 1/2 teaspoon).

PLACE shrimp under broiler for 1-2 minutes (watching closely).

SERVE immediately.

One of my favorite things about my job is that I am able to live and work on the coast.  There’s something about the salt air, the sound of sea gulls and the sand between my toes that just makes my heart happy.  And that doesn’t even take into account all the delicious fresh seafood which keeps my tummy happy too!   It truly is a sunny lifestyle that suits me perfectly!

Part of the reason I started this blog was to share my love of the coast and all the delicious seafood it has to offer with you.  Now I am so excited to have another opportunity to share with you even more of the beautiful island SeaPak calls home.  SeaPak is sponsoring a Coastal Getaway Sweepstakes.  Four grand prize winners, and their guests, will win a trip to St Simons Island, GA next fall for a 3-day, 3-night all-expense paid getaway!  Hooray for visitors! It is going to be an amazing trip filled with a catered dinner, seafood cooking class, boat tour and plenty of time for rest and relaxation.   In addition to the 4 grand prizes SeaPak will be giving away 200 second prizes, a year’s subscription to Coastal Living Magazine. 

You can enter the contest up to once per day through April 30,2010.  Click here to enter and read all the contest rules and regulations.  Good luck! Who knows, maybe we’ll be taking a stroll on the beach together in a few months! 

It is that time of year we all start thinking about healthy habits and resolving to have new better habits for a new year.  This year my resolutions include: getting back into the habit of walking, keeping my desk better organized and lose that last couple of pounds of baby weight.   Want to take bets on whether I can keep all three going at least until February?

Ok I know the key to starting a healthy new habit is making the changes small and manageable.  So here is how I broke down my resolutions into manageable small steps.

Resolution 1 – walk more.  I made a pact with one of my co-workers that we would walk at least 3 times per week at lunch.  I am hoping the buddy system will help make this goal an on-going habit.

Resolution 2 – keep my desk better organized.  I always envy people with those perfectly organized desks.  I don’t know how people maintain that.  I resolve to at least keep the piles on my desk constrained enough that when someone walks into my office they can immediately still tell what color the desk top is.  (Remember what I said about keeping the resolutions small enough to be manageable?)

Resolution 3 – finish losing the baby weight.   Ok, clearly my walking resolution can help with this one but I probably need a diet concession as well to be successful here.  So my first attainable step is going to be adding more salads because of all of the healthy nutrients found in vegetables.  And, they are low in calorie!  I have to take it one step further by cutting out full-fat salad dressings.  After all, salad dressings often derail the best intentions of a healthy salad.

Of course just because I want to cut back on the fat and calories doesn’t mean I want to eat a boring dry salad.   So here is a flavorful high-protein salad with a tasty yet lower calorie dressing to spice it up.   I love this combination. You get some nice protein from the fish, fiber and antioxidants from the beans and a nice serving of fruit and veggies from the corn and tomatoes. It is totally your choice whether you serve the tilapia over the salad or on the side.  I will warn you that the dressing has a little bit of a kick to it.  I like that because it makes up for the fact we are leaving out most of the fat.  If it is a little too spicy for you, you can always use less chili powder.

Tilapia Tenders with Spicy Fiesta Salad

Prep Time: 6 minutes  Cook Time: 18 minutes  Makes: 3-4 servings

• 1 (14 oz) package SeaPak® Tilapia Tenders
• 1 (8 oz) can corn, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14 oz) cann diced tomatoes with green chilies, well drained
• 1 head leaf lettuce (optional)

Dressing

• 1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (may substitute dry chili powder)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

 
PREHEAT oven to 425 degrees.  Bake tilapia according to package instructions.

In a small bowl, MIX yogurt, mayonnaise and chipotle and garlic powders to make dressing.

In a large bowl, PLACE corn, black beans and diced tomatoes.  Pour dressing over top and toss until well mixed.  (Use more or less dressing to taste)

PLACE 2 lettuce leaves on plate.  Top with corn and black bean salad.  Add hot tilapia tenders and serve immediately.