Barefoot Blogging: Barefoot on a Budget

So we had a bonus Barefoot Bloggers challenge this month..... and it's Barefoot on a Budget. Basically you have to take one of Ina's recipes that have some pricey ingredients and find a way to make it cheaper. This month's challenge was for Ina's Lobster Cobb Rolls. And I've seen her make this before and my mouth was watering. Watching her chop 2 pounds of freshly cooked lobster was torturing. And then she began adding more of my favorite things in life... avocados, bacon, bleu cheese. This recipe is RIGHT up my alley.

So the other day when I posted my Shrimp Tempura a few posts back, I mentioned that I had 5 lbs of Jumbo Shrimp (isn't that an oxymoron, haha). I had another pound left over to mess around with. I've seen Ina make some Roasted Shrimp for salads and dishes and I've always wanted to try it. I figured it'd be fantastic in this simple salad!

The shrimp was so simple and easy.... season well with salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic pepper. Toss with olive oil and roast in a 400 degree oven for 7 minutes. The shrimp came out perfectly cooked and delicious! So then I chopped them into bite sized pieces and added a few strips of crumbled bacon, 1 chopped avocado, 1 small diced tomato (from my own tomato plant!), and a few shavings of parmesean. I tossed it all in Ina's dijon vinegarette and put it on a plate.

It was so hard taking these photos because I wanted to eat it so badly! :)

Not so lazy Sundays....

So yesterday I got to head out to the Kingsley Plantation for a photoshoot with a co-worker, and while I was out and about on that side of town, I remembered a GREAT seafood shop with cheap prices and the freshest seafood out there. So I ended up picking up 5 pounds of this huge Mayport Shrimp for only $25. Knowing my family loves fried shrimp, I picked up some tempura batter and some tempura mix on the way home.

Then I had the brilliant idea to slice some hearty garlic pickles and dip them in the tempura batter. Fried pickles are one of my new favorite things in life.

Nothing too fancy with my pictures this time, I was eating my food too fast to plate it, haha!

And my "outdoor office" for the day.... I was excited to find out that my wireless works out on our back patio! So I took advantage of the fantastic weather and set up shop outside!