Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo

This alfredo sauce recipe is based on the one from Heavenly Homemakers, although I have found some substitutes if you don't have cream :)

Sauce:
1/2 cup butter
One pint of cream or half and half or whole milk (2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Bring the butter, cream, garlic and cream cheese to a boil.  Turn down the heat, simmer and stir for about two minutes.  Add the grated cheese and stir until melted.  Simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes until it becomes “thick and saucy”, stirring occasionally. Quite often I can't wait this long and we eat it after only a few minutes of simmering. Sometimes my sauce is a little lumpy, but that doesn't bother me :) This sauce does freeze extremely well and would be easy to make a double batch and save half. Just thaw in fridge first and reheat slowly. The butter may initially separate out, but that's ok.

Shrimp and Broccoli:
thawed and peeled shrimp (about 10 per person)
1 garlic clove, chopped
frozen broccoli
olive oil

Heat a small amount of olive oil in skillet. Add shrimp and broccoli, saute until shrimp is pink and broccoli is heated though.

Make linguini noodles. My favorites are organic sprouted noodles you can buy at Central Market. Layer noodles, shrimp and broccoli. Enjoy!

Zucchini Parmesan

My wonderful friend Melinda makes amazing zucchini Parmesan, but for some reason it did not turn out the last time I made it (years ago), so I hadn't tried it again. Then this summer she made it when we were over and I knew I had to make it, but of course the night I planned on it I didn't have enough time to make it the same way. So, here is my short cut version, which finally turned out yummy :)

Ingredients:

Spaghetti sauce (heat on stove while other items are cooking)

Spaghetti noodles (start water boiling so the noodles can cook while you are making the zucchini)

1-2 zucchini, sliced
1 c flour (in own bowl)
2 eggs (in own bowl)
1.5 cups bread crumbs mixed with garlic, onion powder, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper in own bowl
olive oil for pan frying

Heat spaghetti sauce on low. Start water for spaghetti, cook spaghetti and drain. Heat oil in skillet. Dip zucchini slices in flour, then egg, then bread crumb mixture. Fry on each side. Set on paper towels to drain.

Place noodles on plate, layer sauce and zucchini. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy! Leftover zucchini crisps up nicely in the oven when baked at 350 for a few minutes.