Spinach Salad with Warm bacon Dressing ala The Life & Loves of Grumpy's HoneyBunch

What's for Dinner???

The age old question, made just a little more difficult yesterday.  Still getting back into a rhythm from our road trip.not a lot of groceries and no real plan.  But fortunately, just yesterday, the woman with the best logo I have ever seen for a blogger posted this recipe and I suddenly got inspired!!! (BACON BACON BACON BACON BACON)

Shelby, author of the Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch Blog, writes a very fun blog.  She does what I like, which is be very personal about her life and her Grump.  I am always drawn to blogs from people who are happily married, who cook for their best friend.  Shelby unashamedly is in love with her husband and enjoys cooking for him!  Honeybunch and the Grump live in upstate New York, have two grown children, a daughter in law and a cat.  Again, except for the Kansas, thing, I have 2 kids, a son in law and a cat.  So, I am drawn to her food.

And great food it is... She has been blogging for years and years, with over 600 posts.  She posts on average about every other day.

We do have one other thing in common... She has a "Tag Cloud" showing her most popular labels for her dishes.  Desserts and "Cooking Light" are her two most blogged about dishes... Sigh... I feel your painful dichotomy.

Looking through her posts, she does cook with a lot of fresh fruit, from beautiful looking fresh fruit spring rolls to a wicked sounding Blueberry French toast Souffle!  While she does love her desserts, Shelby features healthy whole wheat pasta, as well as squeezes fruit and vegetables in many dishes (like a yummy sounding Red and White Cauliflower Bake).

If you like the personal stories, the wonderful healthy cooking (well... most of the time) and beautiful photos, I urge you to check out  the Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch Blog.

That's her wonderful photo of her version of this Spinach Salad with Warm bacon Dressing recipe to the left.  LOADED with shrimp, beautiful contrast of the colors of the egg and the spinach and everything sounded wonderful about it (and I had most of the ingredients in my pantry, so just a quick trip to the store would get me the red onion and fresh spinach that I needed).

Of course, I made a few changes.  With apologies, I simply can not leave a recipe alone.

I upped the bacon.  Shelby wrote this recipe when she was starting the South Beach Diet (been there).  so she only used 3 pieces of bacon... I used 8.

She had more mushrooms.  I was only able to salvage about a quarter cup from what I thought would have been enough.  So, I added some more Red Onion to make up the difference.

I made a bit extra dressing, added a bit more Dijon mustard and a bit more red wine.

The biggest change, I upped the spice.  I have a spice mix I like that I make up every couple of months that I call my "Big Easy in a Jar".  Just what it sounds like, a Cajun mixture of paprika, peppers, herbs and a few more pepper spices.

So, here's what I did...

8 strip of bacon (save the drippings)
1 Red Onion, sliced into rings, rings cut in half
3 mushrooms, sliced thin
1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 TBS "Big Easy in a Jar" (any commercial Cajun spice mix will do)
2 TBS Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar (I actually had a half empty bottle of red wine, so I used that in place of the vinegar)
1 bunch of fresh spinach
3 hard boiled eggs sliced

OK, this cooks very easy and all in one pan!!!

Fry up the bacon and reserve the drippings. Crumble the bacon
Add the onions to the drippings and cook until tender, about 5 minutes
Add the mushrooms and the shrimp, do a quick stir to coat the shrimp in the sizzling bacon grease.
Add the mustard and red wine and stir everything
And finally, assemble on the plate

Very filling, filled with delicious flavors (BACON BACON BACON BACON).  Just delicious, even with the extra bacon, a light refreshing but filling meal... Exactly what Honeybunch likes to make for her Grumpy!

Thank you so much Shelby.  I loved visiting your blog and will be back whenever you post fresh!

So, if I have tweeked your interest in Shelby and THE LIFE & LOVES OF GRUMPY's HONEYBUMCH, head on over and say HI for me!

And for a quick look at what she blogs, click on the logo link image to the right.  You will see all the eRecipeCards that Shelby has submitted to eRecipeCards.com.  You can add her recipes to your eRecipeBox (once you have a free account).

See how useful the site is and how easy it is to find new favorite bloggers!

These posts continue to highlight bloggers and recipes that I have found on  "eRecipeCards.com"..