Shrimp & Bacon Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed
15-20 small raw shrimp, chopped
10 saltine crackers, crumbled
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs, divided
1 egg, beaten
1 small shallot, diced small
1 clove garlic, chopped
5 strips of cooked bacon, chopped
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 dashes of hot sauce
2 tbsp mayo
1 tbsp dijon mustard
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small pan, saute the shallot and garlic in about 1 tsp of olive oil or butter until soft (do not brown). Allow to cool slightly. In a mixing bowl, mix together the shrimp, crackers, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, egg, bacon, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, mayo and mustard. Add salt & pepper to taste. Mix in the shallot and garlic and mix well. Set the mixture in the fridge for 30-45 minutes.
Fill the mushroom caps with equal amounts of the mixture. Sprinkle each with the remaining 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and the shrimp is cooked.

*Surprise NJ Fresh fans!! I couldn't resist posting this recipe for you all, because it was just that good. The idea just came to me one day while I was thinking of new ways to make shrimp. The recipe is essentially crab cakes substituting shrimp for the crab, and kicking it up a notch! Feel free to experiment and add your own herbs and spices until you find a flavor you really like. But trust me, this recipe is delicious just as it is. I can almost hear my cousin Josh saying, "You had me at bacon." I hope you all are doing well...I confess, I missed you!! Enjoy friends :)

Attention NJ Fresh Fans!!

While I know I have pretty much given up on this particular blog, I have, however, started a new one!!
Check it out at: http://evanandaubrey.blogspot.com/

I will be posting once a week (much more managable than every day!) and the premise is slightly different than NJ Fresh. I hope you enjoy it, and become a "follower" too!!
And who knows, maybe one of these days, I will post some new recipes here too :)

Love you all!!
Always,
Aubrey Lynn <><

"Drey & Brey's" Ridiculous Pie

1 pkg. pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough
1 large pkg. Jell-O vanilla pudding
Approx. 2 cups fresh whipped cream
Chocolate Chips (for garnish)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare the pudding as directed on the package. Prepare the fresh whipped cream. Set both aside in the fridge.
Press the cookie dough into a well greased pie plate to form the crust. Place another pie plate on top of the crust (too keep it from bubbling up) and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until crust is just baked through. Carefully remove the top pie plate and allow the crust to cool completely.
Once cool, pour the pudding on top of the crust. Pour the whipped cream on top of the pudding. Sprinkle chocolate chips overtop for garnish. Slice and enjoy!

*The idea for this pie came from my best friend Audrey's craving for some cookie dough ice cream. She complained that there is never enough cookie dough in the ice cream, to which I totally agree. So then we thought, why couldn't we make a "cookie dough pie?" The original recipe had raw cookie dough chunks mixed in the pudding, but we found that to be a little too much. The reason it's ridiculous? Because there's just no good reason to make it, unless you a craving something ridiculously sweet, or you're pregnant :) It is a pretty darn good pie though.

"Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him." - Isaiah 64:4

Just for Fun

Foods I do NOT Like...period.
Just for fun, I thought I'd share with you all a list of foods that I refuse to eat, no matter what. While I am an "adventurous" eater, and will probably try anything once, there are certain foods that I have written off for good.

In no particular order, they are:
1) Tomatoes (by themselves): the "mouth feel" is not pleasant to me. I don't care how much salt or sugar you sprinkle on top.

2) Olives: salty, briny, chewy...nasty.

3) Liver: I mean, who wants to eat an organ that's used for filtering?

4) Cilantro: tastes like soap, smells like mud.

5) Water Chestnuts: Just what are those things anyway?

6) Eggplant: Evan loves them, I do not.

7) Brussel Sprouts: they smell like stinky gym socks, why would I want to eat that?

8) Veal: the thought of eating a baby cow is just too sad to stomach.

9) Licorice: just the mere fact that they chose to make licorice-flavored things black is enough to keep me away.

10) Fennel: why would I want to eat a vegetable that tastes like licorice?

Okay NJ Fresh Fans...

I know I have been a TERRIBLE blogger lately, and haven't left you anything delicious to try out. You must understand, food blogging is no easy task! I have to come up with an original recipe, make the food, write the recipe, take the picture, load the picture, type out the blog, find a verse to go with it, attach the picture to the blog, and THEN post it! Kudos to anyone out there who can do this regularly.
Alas, my job and volunteer activities are making it hard to keep up with NJ Fresh. I will try to get some more recipes up here soon, but in the meantime, I hope the ones that are already here are inspiring you to keep cooking, and as always, keeping it NJ Fresh!

Thank you all for your continued support!!

See ya soon,
Aubrey @ NJ Fresh

In Pursuit of the Giant Cupcake

While discussing mother's day gifts with my mother-in-law Barbara, she told me about this place called "Crumbs Bakery" which will ship their cupcakes wherever you want for mother's day (or any other occasion for that matter). Apparently these cupcakes are spectacular and not to mention HUGE (4-inches in height and width to be exact). So, I looked up these marvelous cupcakes online, and boy did they look deeeeelicious. They have every kind of flavor you can imagine, from blueberry swirl to cookie dough. They also have three different sizes of cupcakes: "taste" which is about 2 inches big, "classic" which is like supermarket-sized, and "signature" which is the big guy coming in at 4-inches.
We looked up locations of this mystical bakery and noticed that there is a store in Westfield, which is about 15 minutes from where we live (Insert girly squeal here). So we decided to go check it out the very next day.
We managed to find the place, no problem. Finding a parking spot was a little tougher. We finally found a spot and walked on over to Crumbs Bake Shop. It was a quaint little bakery with the glorious cupcakes, cookies, brownies and other tempting treats displayed beautifully in the glass case. We stood there practically drooling trying to decide which ones we would get. I ended up getting 4 cupcakes, 2 for me, 2 for Evan: From top left, clockwise, they are: Chocolate Sprinkle, Cookie Dough, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and Cappucino.

To give you an idea of the size of these babies, I have placed one next to a regular can of beans:
I cannot wait to sink my teeth into these marvelous, mouth-watering confections. The only question is...which one will I try first?

To take a look at the other cupcakes they have to offer, click here.

Housemade Potato Chips

2 or 3 large russet potatoes
Oil for frying
Salt

Pour the oil into a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven. Heat to about 375 degrees. (Best way to tell? Flick a little bit of water into the oil, you should hear popping sounds).
While the oil is heating up, slice the potatoes using a mandoline slicer (or whatever is going to give you paper-thin slices). Set the slices aside.
Carefully drop the slices in batches into the heated oil one at a time. Using tongs or a spider strainer, move the chips around so they don't stick to each other or the pan. After about 3 minutes, give them a flip. Fry until they turn golden brown, flipping again if necessary. (Hint: if the chips stop "bubbling" from frying, they are most likely done. It means all the water has boiled out and they will be nice and crispy.)
Remove the chips from the hot oil and drain on a paper towel or cooling rack. Spinkle with salt while they are still hot.

*This is a great way to use up potatoes that are about to go bad. If you don't have a mandoline slicer, try cutting the "tops" off of the potatoes and using a vegetable peeler to get paper-thin slices. Or, if you think you have superior knife skills, you could do that too. If your slices are thick, they will just take longer to fry. These chips are much healthier than factory-made chips, and you'll feel better eating them because you made them! These will keep for about a week or so stored in a zip-top bag or air-tight container...if they last that long :)

Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Matthew 15:13