Fall semester 2011 & Pesto Fettuccine Shrimp Pasta

I just finished my first semester back at College after a 5 year hiatus! Phew! The semester ended a week ago and I started to cook again! I missed my kitchen and my weekends off. I’ve been taking night classes so I can still keep my 8am-4pm day job. Winter break started a week ago and I’ve been trying to relax and I was finding myself a little bored, so naturally I landed in the kitchen!

I’ve been telling everyone I see, even strangers: I made the Dean’s List! Okay, I haven’t really been telling strangers but I am extremely proud of myself. My first semester back in five years and I did so well that my name will appear on the Dean’s List! I struggled through some projects and breezed through others, hello “A” on my diet analysis project! My nutrition class was life changing and so great. I will miss spending my Wednesday evenings with my favorite professor: Doc LaRosa, you are awesome! I am now seriously considering becoming a Registered Dietitian! Samantha Seeley, Dean’s List and eventually Samantha Seeley, R.D?

It was touch and go there for awhile in one particular short story class. I handed in tear soaked essays on beating hearts under floor boards and deteriorating yellow wallpaper that had the capability to drive someone insane. English is my best subject, or at least it was. My teacher was really tough and yes, I cried. We had a running joke by the end of the semester that my typed pages were covered in blood, sweat and tears. He eventually started giving me B’s and I ended the class with a B-, somehow. I probably wouldn’t have finished the class without the encouragement and guidance from my Aunt Sherri or the nights my boyfriend spent calming me down and trying to stop my tears. True story.

Incoming: Christmas cookie posts. I’m a little late to the cookie game this year. Thanks, College!

Fettuccine Shrimp Pasta with Pesto Sauce

Serving size: 4

ingredients:

for pasta:

• 8oz Fettuccine
• Shrimp, precooked

for pesto: (makes about 1 cup)

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

directions:

for pasta:

1. Boil lightly salted water in a large pot.
2. Add the fettuccine and stir frequently until cooked to your liking.
3. Drain and run cold water over the noodles so they don’t stick together.
4. Let sit while you work on the pesto sauce.

for pesto:

1. Combine the basil with your choice of nuts in a food processor, pulse a few times.
2. Add garlic and pulse a few more times.
3. While the food processor is on, add the olive oil through the open top.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste and scrape down the sides of the food processor.
5. Take out a large skillet and combine the pesto sauce with the fettuccine.
6. Add as much shrimp as you desire, I added a large handful.
7. Turn burner on medium and cook until heated.