Hailey's taco bus part deux: attack of the crustaceans!

The one week countdown is on. Exactly one week from today one paper and one presentation will be done. Check, check. The following day my Shakespeare paper will be turned in, and then this little chick will sigh an enormous breath of relief. Check, check and check. But, not yet. One paper is nearly written. I am stuck, which is why I am posting. Hopefully this will help get the creative juices flowing again.

The weather here in Eastern Idaho has been glorious. So glorious, in fact, that my eyeballs have been popping out of their sockets due to all the pollen in the air. I actually had to excuse myself from class yesterday because I had a sneezing fit. Anyone who knows me can attest that these fits are disruptive spells of endless sneezing -- not just a polite two or three, like thirty sneezes. No joke. It's an abdominal workout.

The weatherman is calling for storms through the weekend. Thank you, Jebus. It is painfully difficult to park myself in my computer chair and be productive when the sun is shining and beaconing me to come play. Mother Nature, you can be as tempestuous as you would like for the next week. Then after I turn in my Shakespeare paper, it's all sunny. Deal? Deal. I'll have my allergy meds in hand.

Speaking of sunny, I made shrimp tacos last night. They were deliciously light and fresh. A perfect spring/summer meal. These tacos are like prozac in food form. You can't help but be happy when you eat them.

However, a note on shrimp. I am doing my damnedest to adjust how I eat -- purchasing locally as much as I can from sustainable, environmentally sound sources. That said, I failed miserably by purchasing the shrimp for my tacos. The Monterey Bay Aquarium produces a fabulous pocket guide suggesting ocean-friendly seafood. It clearly lists items that are best choices, which are those that are "abundant, well-managed and caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways." It also includes seafood we should avoid -- like shrimp farmed in Thailand, which is exactly where mine came from -- and also good alternatives.

Here's a link to the pocket guide. Print it out and post it on your fridge. If you are like me and want to adjust your purchases on land, you might as well do the same in our oceans and rivers, too.

Back to the grind, friends. Eliza Hart Spalding calls.

Me gusta this rice. Bright and cheery and delicious.

Familiar accoutrements with the addition of cabbage.

1 pound shrimpies in this marinade. I added red jalapenos.

Less than three minutes to cook: once they turn pink, they are DONE!