Dinner and Dessert!

Ohhh what a good night for dinner and dessert!! I decided a while ago to get a library card and just check out cookbooks since I don't have the money to buy them. I checked out 'The South Beach Diet Cookbook' and found a lot of good recipes. Tonight I tried lettuce wrappers with shrimp, they turned out so good!! You can easily switch up the shrimp for tofu or chicken like they do at P.F. Changs.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, and chopped [[I just used small frozen shrimp so I didn't have to chop them]]

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup water chestnuts, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ginger

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

8 large leaves Boston lettuce [[I used 6, 3 for each of us and it was more than enough]]

Directions

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until they are opaque. Remove the shrimp to a bowl and set aside. Add the celery, water chestnuts, garlic, and ginger, and stir-fry until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Return the shrimp to the wok and add the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and vinegar. Cook for 1 minute, or until heated through. Evenly divide the shrimp mixture among the lettuce leaves.

For dessert I made Chocolate Caramel Brownies. I tried making these months before but didn't have the right size dish, and it just turned out like crap. I knew for sure I was going to try making this again... and it turned out awesome!! It's really rich and nowhere near being good for you like our dinner was ha. I make stuff like this so I can have just a little bit then have Frank take the rest to work.

Ingredients

14 ounces caramels

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 package chocolate cake mix

1/3 cup evaporated milk

3/4 cup butter, melted

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions

Peel caramels and place in a microwave bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup evaporated milk. Heat and stir until all caramels are melted. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a 9x13 pan. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, melted butter. Place 1/2 of the batter in the baking pan. Bake 8 minutes. Place the remaining batter into the fridge. Remove brownies from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips on top. Drizzle caramel sauce over the chocolate chips. Remove brownie mix from the fridge. Using a teaspoon , make small balls with the batter and smash flat. Very carefully place on top of the caramel sauce until covered. Bake for another 30 minutes.