Garlic Shrimp with Caribbean Style Rice

I'm in a cooking phase!

I've always loved cooking, but I never really paid much attention to recipes. I've always been able to come up decent tasting stuff just by using ingredients I already have in my fridge. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine who's a Beachbody coach started a clean eating group on Facebook. This group made me realize that recipes can be a wonderful way to spice up your kitchen routines. Yes, it's easy to put a few ingredients together, but there's something to say about following an actual list, where you're challenged to find that rare ingredient, or incorporate an herb you've never tasted before to your cooking. I dusted off the Jamie Oliver cookbook that was tucked away in my bookshelf, and bought two more. To date, I have these three:

      

While cookbooks are awesome, it's impossible to deny that the Internet is the best resource when it comes to recipes. I've been scouring Yummly and have been using their app, and have had a ton of fun trying to pick recipes.

A few nights ago, I decided to make a Garlic Shrimp recipe from Skinnytaste.com. It's a very simple that doesn't call for a lot of ingredients. My result, this--

I didn't have the cilantro or parsley that was called for in the recipe so I used rosemary. It's not something I've used many times in the past, but since experimenting with recipes, I've realized how wonderfully this herb elevates your food.

Another thing I have discovered recently is the Caribbean Style Rice from Seeds of Change. Man, oh man, is it ever good! I topped it with my Garlic Shrimp, and needless to say, the result was amazing! 

I've ordered two more cookbooks and I'm super excited for them to arrive. I can't wait to try out more recipes. You'll be hearing more about my kitchen adventures here, soon!