Vampires beware!

I made a pretty tasty dinner last night - and it took hardly any prep time. It's from Real Simple, and it is! It's Garlicky Baked Shrimp, and in addition to being real simple, it IS garlicky. It may be due to the fact that I added five cloves instead of four; I figured as long as we were both eating it, it wouldn't really matter. But there was no danger of being attacked by vampires last night.

It's SO EASY: preheat your oven to 425. In a baking dish, combine 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp, 4 (or 5!) thinly sliced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons white wine, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup softened butter (I pretty much melted it), 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, and 1/4 cup panko. (I love panko for breading. I think it's lighter and crispier than regular bread crumbs.

Who cares what I think of panko? On with the recipe!

Sprinkle this mixture over the shrimp and bake 15-18 minutes until shrimp is done. (They were done after 15 minutes in my oven.)

panko mixture added before being baked

15 minutes later...

Doesn't that look good?! Now the dilemma: serve over rice or linguine? I opted for brown rice, figuring it would better soak up the buttery deliciousness. And it did.

GREAT invention. Wouldn't have worked so well when the kids were all home, but it's great for the two of us

I found this package of naan in the freezer with only one piece left. It was perfect with the shrimp and a salad. To be honest, I got tired of chewing before my plate was empty.

(Note: the baked shrimp recipe serves four, and the nutritional info is as follows: 242 calories, 8 g fat, 5 g carbs, and 24 g protein.)

I love breakfast so much that I think about it before I go to sleep at night (really). I must have been tired last night, because I didn't give it much thought, so went with my standard breakfast of a peanut butter bagel thin and fresh berries. And coffee.

After a morning at the museum, I came home and made myself a little lunch of leftover shrimp served cold on top of romaine. I added some blueberries and a few sprinkles of my favorite balsamic vinegar, and finished off the meal with a toasted sandwich thin sprayed with butter spray. And I do love the Synergy.

I'm pretty excited - Dwight is taking me to The Hunger Games this afternoon and then out for dinner. And I didn't even have to send him this:

Kids, you DO know you weren't conceived through immaculate conception, don't you?

Seriously, though I am SO EXCITED!!! Emily forced me to start the series over Christmas of 2010. I started reading and could not put the books down - finished them all in three-and-a-half days. I found myself staying up late and getting up early to read. It helped that I had some bug that made anything more than lying on the couch darn near impossible.

I can't wait to see how the characters and the story are brought to life. I bought the soundtrack yesterday after hearing the Taylor Swift / Civil Wars lullaby, and the whole album (dating myself) is fabulous. (Note: Taylor Swift may be tied with Kelly Clarkson as my guilty pleasure.)

Don't worry, I'll tell you how I liked it. But now, it's time to go slap on some lipstick for a movie and dinner date with my husband!