Guest Post ~ Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen making Summer Shrimp Roll's

Another great guest post from a 

Fellow Foodie Friend!

Bobbi has to be one of the strongest 

women I have had the privilege to

 get to know a little bit better through her

post's and updates on Face Book.

I am confident in saying that after

reading this post you will also

want to get to know her better!

You can follow Bobbi on her

Face Book Page HERE.

You can also become a follower

of her Blog Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen HERE.

 So here is a little bit about BOBBI...

I wasn't raised in a foodie family. My Mom had a hand full of "go to" dinners. Monday night Meatloaf, and Tuesday night Tuna Casserole, etc. Many of her recipes called for canned soups, and the sides consisted of processed boxed foods. Both of which were high in sodium and/or fat. Many of my comfort foods ended up revolving around those items. Mac and Cheese (yes the blue box folks), cream of mushroom soup, etc. I hated just about anything in vegetable form and refused to eat them.

In 2004 I underwent Gastric Bypass surgery, 

which helped me to lose 160 pounds. 

Through that process I began searching for new recipes to showcase great food with good flavor. It became all about quality to me. 

That is when I became addicted to cooking. I have TONS of cook books, watch countless cooking shows, and my house is littered with all types of cooking magazines.

Having only done "basic cooking" before my surgery, I was so happy to find recipes that tasted wonderful but didn't require a culinary degree to prepare them. Fresh herbs and veggies took over in a kitchen that had been more accustomed to seeing fast foods and Hamburger Helper.

In 2010 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had been in school full time, but ended up having to drop out due to surgeries and recovery time. I am now cancer free, but during my time at home my kids pushed me to start my own blog. When I first began cooking I looked to someone that was not intimidating to follow, that person was Rachael Ray. My kids began referring to my "tinkering" with recipes as "Rachael Raying" them.

When the movie Julie and Julia came out they immediately began hounding me to start a blog of my own. I brushed it off as silly and told them no one would be interested in reading what I had to say. But when I was home with Dr's orders to not lift, push, pull, etc. anything and found myself with so much time on m hands I gave their prodding some thought and decided I wanted to give it a try.

My first blog was called Bobbi Renee and Rachael Ray. But after a few weeks I was emailed by a few people telling me that copyright might be an issue so I created Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen. That was in May of 2011. Now I can't imagine what I would be doing other than this. Cooking has become a passion to me. I used to say I lived to eat, now I live to cook. 

If you are loved by me I am cooking for you!  

Summer Shrimp Rolls

Last week I was flipping through the pages of my Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine looking for ideas for this weeks recipes. I knew I wanted to find some seasonal things to cook since summer is almost over. I wanted to find a way to hold on to it as long as possible. So there I was flip......flip....flip.....TADA!! This recipe screamed at me MAKE ME MAKE ME, and my response was HECK YA! Some people talk to their pets, I evidently talk to food magazines. OK OK yes I talk to my pets too. Hey you have to find conversations wherever you can when you live in a very small town. Ya, I know, You are right, I am just weird *sigh*.

Anyway, off of my mental health issues

 and on to the food, this recipe calls

 for shrimp which I LOVE.

 I have wanted to try making lobster 

rolls, but with lobster being soooo expensive,

 (and this girl trying to cook on a budget) 

shrimp was right up my alley. 

What a nice surprise it was when I went

 to the store and the shrimp was on sale!

I hadn't really shared my recipe plan

 with anyone, so when I started to prepare

 this dish and the shrimp came out 

I had everyone's attention. 

Well, not my Dad, but Kevin and Seth were 

both hanging over my shoulder

 to see 

what I was making. 

Seth's response was 

OMG,

 I am so excited!

 Kevin was intrigued however a little 

hesitant because he is not a big fan of pesto. 

Seeing that this recipe calls for 1/4 C. of pesto. 

It made me a bit uneasy yet the picture

  looked so incredibly yummy it didn't

 give me much pause to think.

I will tell you that this is the perfect meal 

for a warm summer day. 

They are cool and creamy and so tasty.

 Kevin ate three rolls himself!

(I guess he decided pesto wasn't so bad after all.)

I think these are so pretty with all 

the summer colors in them.

 The corn takes on a bit of shrimp flavor

 because you throw it in with the shrimp

 right as it is done cooking. The green onions,

and red pepper's give the rolls

 just enough crunch. 

I am telling you... that before Summer

 is over you HAVE to try these! 

 Summer Shrimp Rolls

1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped

3/4 cup fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears of corn)

1/4 cup mayonnaise (can use reduced fat or fat free)

1/4 pesto, fresh or store bought

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

3 green onions, thinly sliced (whites and greens)

Salt and pepper

4 hot dog buns

 (I will tell you we had 6 with enough leftover for 1 more)

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

 Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until opaque,

 about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, 

stir in the corn, let cool.

In a medium bowl add the shrimp corn mixture,

 bell pepper and scallions, toss.

 Season with salt and pepper. 

Serve in the hot dog buns.