thentherestwo.com Landscapes, LIFE, Photography

Fall in the Midwest

This past fall was some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve had here in Indiana for a few years. I did a lot more driving up through southern Indianapolis, Danville, Mooresville, and Plainfield due to the sad fact my mom had a stroke in October. She is fairly young and went in for a rather routine heart cath and stroked. (The odds were less than 1/2 percent.) All our lives changed that day.

I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it completely. When you see someone go from totally functional, driving, etc.. to needing help with everything and their mind just not all there…well, I still think I’m in shock. It all happened within an hour. It wasn’t a slow degredation, nor something we saw coming and could attempt to prepare ourselves for as we did with my husband’s father. He dealt with Parkinsons. It has just been a lot in such a short time with sudden adjustments.

Not only is mom dealing with a severe stroke, but they also found her heart to only be working at 25%. (According to her doctors, this heart thing could’ve been going on for years.) She had already been dealing with severe, undetermined pain for decades, along with pain from fibromyalgia. So, my poor mom has been through A LOT, and having entered that arena of severe pain, especially these last ten years myself, I am realizing just how REALLY TOUGH my mom truly is!!

Mom was over an hour away from us; first in the hospital, ICU, then went on to a rehab facility. So, I had a lot of time to drive and think. As I drove (and prayed), I thought of how much my mom would’ve loved these vibrant colors. She LOVES fall. She used to paint, and I thought she would’ve loved painting all this beautiful color!

While on the road, I positioned my camera to catch some of the fall foilage. (You may have already seen some of my IG photos.)

But here’s some of my video links: Driving through the Indiana countryside.

Driving the new I69 from Bloomington, IN up through Martinsville.

AND my YouTube channel: thentherestwo

I’m not a professional by any means but someday maybe my grandkids will see the clips along with everything the grandparents were up to. 😉

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thentherestwo.com Family, LIFE, Main Dishes

Garlic Buttered Shrimp and Asparagus

When I was younger, you couldn’t get me to eat ANY kind of seafood. None. Nada.

The thought of going to Red Lobster after church…just yuck.

I think it had something to do with the fact my dad used to take me fishing with him out on Balboa Bay in California. We used to be out for hours trying to catch fish…many a time we caught seagulls. 🎣 They’d sweep down and pick up our bait as the line was spinning out into the sky. Oh, the memories. But during those long hours of baiting, and smelling stinky fish all while drinking V8 out in the heat of the day, 🤢 well, it just seared it in my brain. “NO, YOU WIll NOT LIKE SEAFOOD!” 🐟🐠🦑🦐🦀

And I didn’t for many many years.

Then, somewhere between high school and college I was asked pleaded with (more than once) to try fried shrimp, and I actually “tolerated” it. (I think because it was fried, so I barely tasted anything seafoodish.) I later graduated on to trying grilled shrimp and scampi.

It was a big leap for me. 😂 I guess anything with garlic and butter on it has resonated with me.

So, here I am. Now sharing my own shrimp dish. Unreal.

But this turned out better than I would’ve thought as I’ve literally only made shrimp twice in my life. It met the hub’s satisfaction, so it’s going on the blog. 🙂

You will need:

1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp (Yes, I actually did this myself..I know!😱)

Olive oil to coat your pan

5 cloves of crushed Garlic (or jarred minced garlic can be used.)

1 stick of butter

Salt

*Red pepper flakes

*Smoked paprika

1 & 1/2 Lemons

*Parsley

*Asparagus cooked

*optional items

Instructions:

In a hot skillet, add olive oil just to smoking temperature. Next, add in the shrimp, constantly tossing till slightly pink (roughly a minute) and then add in your garlic and red pepper flakes (small amt) turning everything for about another minute being careful not to burn seasonings. Add butter to your liking. (If your butter is salted no need to add salt.) Add paprika, and finish with chopped parsley and lemon juice. You just want to toss your shrimp till they turn a darker pink and curl slightly. I then added steamed asparagus mixing it all together and added a bit more of the seasonings also more lemon juice. (This is all to taste.)

It assure you it will be delicious! 👌🏼

Just ask my hubby and this shrimp 🦐 eatin’ gal now. 😉

What is your favorite seafood and where would you like to be eating it about now? We just got a snowstorm, so I vote Hawaii!

Items to buy:

I love my pan: https://amzn.to/2DkT2Ar

Peeled & Deveined shrimp: https://amzn.to/2MoNqbC

WOK: https://amzn.to/2Cv7l3W

thentherestwo.com Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads & Dressings

Chicken Salad Recipe

We recently bought some organic chicken breasts on sale and cooked them on the grill. They were so large, we had a lot of chicken left over, and I thought hmmm…what else can I make out of this chicken? 🤔 I remembered I used to make chicken salad often and hadn’t made it in a long time.

We just had a snowstorm overnight and since my hubby was preparing to watch the Colts playoff game, he asked if I’d make him some sandwiches.

Every time I’ve made chicken salad, it has turned out differently adding or omitting different ingredients.

But, I did my best to try and keep track of all the ingredients as I used them today. (You know me, I rarely follow a recipe, never measure anything, and just throw stuff together. 🤪)

Ingredients:

3 large, diced chicken breasts

Red grapes halved

1 diced boiled egg

4 diced celery stalks

3 diced green onion stalks

Mayonnaise as needed (I used low fat.)

Seasonings: onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and fennel. (But you could use just about anything you want.)

Instructions:

I previously seasoned the chicken and grilled it. You could also boil your chicken, use canned chicken, or make things really fast and simple and go buy a rotisserie chicken.

Next, I cut the chicken up smaller to make it easier to add to the food processor. And, I added a little mayo to help it break down easier.

Food Processor: https://amzn.to/2TVcnh9

After the chicken was the consistency I wanted, I added it to the bowl of diced celery, green onions, and egg and added about a cup more mayo till it was even creamier.

I then added the seasonings to taste and that was it!

You could even add walnuts, cranberries, or apples to your chicken salad. Initially, I thought about using sweet pickle relish until my husband requested grapes. There’s really 1 million ways you could make it. Ok not a million, but you get it.

My hubby loved it and wanted his chicken salad on Hawaiian bread. He’s presently waiting for the Colts to play in this snow. (They’re one game away from the AFC Championship game.) 🤞🏼

As for me, I went gluten free, so mine was on top of greens. 👌🏼 Once again, my chicken salad was a different recipe, but oh so good!!