Shrimp Ceviche recipe

 
Hello blog friends!

First and foremost, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!!

Hubby and I have been trying to be a bit more frugal (is it even possible?!?) lately. We both love going out to eat, but lately, instead of doing so, we have been trying to replicate our favorite restaurants' recipes.

One of our all time favorites is ceviche. "Ceviche is a seafood dish popular in the coastal regions of the Americas, especially Latin America. The dish is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chilli peppers."

Today, I would love to share our very own Ceviche recipe. I hope that you like it as much as we do.

Ooh Leela's shrimp ceviche

Cast of characters (as the Pioneer Woman would say):

**clicking on any of these pictures will make them bigger.

1lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined. You may also choose to use fresh fish. If using fish, skip steps 1 and 2.
8-10 limes, juiced (or enough to submerge the shrimp)
1 lemon, juiced
2 tomatoes
1 yellow onion
1 cup of cilantro
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
salt & pepper, to taste
hot sauce

Directions:

1. Place the shrimp in boiling water for a minute or 2. Although the beauty of this dish is the fact that the acid in the lime cooks the seafood, it is a good idea to pre-cook the shrimp to kill any bacteria. Don't overcook it though, or else it will become rubbery.

2. Drain. Shock the shrimp in an ice bath to stop it from cooking further. Drain again and place it in a bowl.

3. Submerge the shrimp in lime juice. Cover it and put it in the fridge. Let it marinate for 2 hrs. (this is when the magic happens). Thoroughly wash hands after working with lime. Otherwise, it could burn your skin, especially if you go out in the sun. **Tip: I love the smell of lime! Instead of throwing them away, I throw them in the sink and run the garbage disposal. The scent it releases is amazing.

4. Dice tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Dance and sing a song......

5. Cut each shrimp into small 1/2 inch cubes. Return it to the bowl with lime juice. Sing again.... Make those shrimp happy!!!

6. Stir in tomatoes, lemon juice, onions, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Don't forget to add some love too. Put bowl back in the fridge and let it marinate for 1 hr.

7. Avocados tend to turn brown after a while, so I always wait until right before I serve it to add my avocado. Same with the cilantro. Aren't these glasses precious?!?

8. Serving: I usually serve ceviche in a martini glass, garnished with cilantro or lime/lemon wedges. Enjoy!

Leela's tip: if you like it spicy, feel free to add finely diced jalapenos or red chilly pepper flakes. Adding a little bit of garlic works really well too!

If you have any questions about any of the steps mentioned above, please don't hesitate to email me! I would love to hear from you: oohleela{at}gmail{dot}com

Have a blessed week!!!

Beautiful treasury I'm featured in.

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a great Memorial Day weekend!

Just wanted to share this beautiful treasury with all of you!

It is time for a giveaway!

If you are visiting for the first time, welcome! I am glad you are here and I hope that you come back often.

As you may know, Mollie from Wild Olive is having a huge tea party this week. When she told me about it I got all giddy! I love tea and I love to par-tea!

So, to help her celebrate, I am sharing this cute cross stitch pattern:

And to top it all off, I am giving a $30.00 gift certificate to Teavana to one lucky winner. How cool is that?!? Perhaps you can bring your embroidery supplies along and whip this up while you have a cup of tea? What a TEAlicious way to spend a Saturday afternoon, don't you think?

To participate, visit Mollie's blog, and leave a comment (in my guest post) to let her know you are one of Ooh Leela!'s Facebook fans. 

For bonus entries, leave a 2nd or 3rd comment if you follow me on Twitter or are one of my blog followers.  

Have a lovely day!!! XOXOs

Coming soon: www.oohleela.com

I took the plunge and purchased a domain for Ooh Leela! For now, I will keep it simple and use it to point to the blog and to my Etsy shop.

I am also working on some new content for the blog. Stay tuned!

What have you been up to?

Mother's Day gift bags & free cross stitch pattern

Mother's Day is just around the corner. I am so happy that I will get to spend it with my Mom. A little sad though, that I am not going to be able to give my Mother-in-Law a big hug.

With these great women in mind (and with great help from my aunt) I put together these cute gift bags. I will bake some sugar cookies and put it inside the bag and give it to these lovely ladies on Sunday.

Ooh Leela's Mother's Day gift bag

Materials:

Aida cloth: this piece is 16''x15'', but feel free to use your own measurements
embroidery floss in black, yellow, red and orange
embroidery needle
sewing machine
red ribbon
ceramic rooster (optional)

Step 1: Fold aida cloth in half; sew 2 sides (1 long side and 1 short side)

Step 2: Fray top edge. To do this, take the strands out of the edge; feel free to take as many strands as you'd like, to create the desired length of fringe effect. In addition, also fray 1 strand (1 block tall) approximately 3 inches from the top (this is where you will insert the red ribbon to close the bag).

Step 3: Using this cross stitch template, embroider the rooster. Make sure it is centered. For help, click here.

At this point, your bag should look like this:

Did you know that displaying ceramic roosters in the kitchen is a very traditional Portuguese custom? It is supposed to bring good luck. I found my rooster here.

Step 4: Insert the red ribbon.

Then insert some goodies (chocolates, cookies, jewelry, or whatever tickles your fancy), the rooster and a tag. Lastly, be sure to hug your mom. Hug her, hug her, hug her.

And to make it easier for you, I designed a gift tag that you can use. You can download it here.

If you come across any other Mother's Day projects, I would love to hear from you! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a lovely day!!!

My vacation - part 2 - handmade goodies!!!

I have had so much fun looking for handmade goods over the past few weeks.

This beautiful necklace is made out of acai seeds. "The açaí palm is a species of palm tree that is native to Central and South America, from Belize southward to Brazil and Peru."

I found these coasters (made out of recycled MDF) in Brazil. They are sort of like a puzzle and when put together can be used as a trivet. It looks like this:

Even though I tried, I couldn't control my addiction.... Specially when I saw these beautiful vintage prints......

I can't wait to see what these become...

I have just finished putting together some gift bags for Mother's Day! I can't wait to share it with all of you. What have you been working on lately? XOXOs!!!