coralreefseafood – Postcards From TLC

May 19, 2018May 19, 2018

Coral Reef Seafood Does It Again

So, after my blog went down for 20 days during my move to a self-hosted platform, I think we’re finally (I hope!) up and running on a normal basis again. Many, many thanks to Bluehost for getting my platforms straightened out and mostly consolidated. If you are planning to set up a blog site, definitely consider using Bluehost for your hosting platform. Their customer service is hands-down so helpful and I was amazed that they had my two sites fixed within 24 hours.

AND once again, I have to tout the seafood from Coral Reef Seafood at the Lake of the Ozarks. They did it again and I guess as long as I keep enjoying their seafood, you run the risk of seeing a blog post about them.

We had gone down to the Lake of the Ozarks Saturday afternoon for just a quick getaway and to tweak a couple of things with the condo. Actually, we stopped at Coral Reef BEFORE we even went to the condo. I had seen their Facebook post with pics of some of the new items they had just rolled out, and I wanted to stock up. Since I failed to take many pictures, you can actually see their pics HERE.

We loaded up (not in any particular order) on:

RED PEPPERS–stuffed with Cajun rice, Andouille sausage and shrimp. THESE WERE INCREDIBLE! Hubby grilled them for about 40 minutes on a medium heat. The rice had a good Cajun flavor going, but the best surprises were when I found chunks of the sausage and shrimp in the rice. I’m not even a big fan of Andouille, but the sausage they use almost melts in your mouth.

FAROE ISLAND FRESH SALMON–stuffed with real blue crab lump meat. OK, so for the longest time my favorite thing to get from CR has been Justin’s Stuffed Roughy, but I think this Faroe Island Salmon has just taken the ~~cake~~ crab leg. The sweet flavor of the Blue Crab meat was a perfect ingredient for this stuffing, and I always love salmon. It’s not like I won’t ever have the roughy again, but I really enjoyed this salmon.

CRAB STUFFED JALAPENOS–stuffed with cream cheese and crab meat AND wrapped in bacon. These are going to become a new item in our regular CR rotation. They were so easy to grill, and the cream cheese/crab filling was like no other I’ve had before. Blew the doors off what I would’ve gotten in a restaurant!

ROMA TOMATOES–stuffed with blackened Ahi tuna salad. These were so light, crisp and refreshing, we had them with breakfast. This was also a great way to go low carb with tuna salad.

LARGE WILD TEXAS SWEET PINK SHRIMP–this is a regular CR staple in our house. I usually pick up a pound of the raw, take them home, and steam them up to snack on throughout the weekend. BUT, they will steam and season them for you if you’d like. This is some of the best tasting shrimp I’ve ever eaten.

And they have lots of other seafood (and some non-seafood) that we’re working our way through trying. We’ve had the scallops (another fave), the crab legs (colossal!), red snapper, orange roughy (great on the grill), triggerfish (tastes similar to crab), Justin’s Salmon Cranberry dip, Justin’s Stuffed Roughy, and twice baked potatoes. They also carry lots of condiments like Tequila Lime Cocktail Sauce and Sriracha Aioli, seasonings, even steaks!

If you like seafood you should definitely go check them out. If you can’t visit them in person, you can still check out their goodies here or follow their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/coralreefseafood/ or find them on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/coralreefseafo1/.

***General disclaimer: no human consumed all of the food listed above in one meal. While there may have been two or three items at one meal, the rest was split up between three days helping to preserve the healthfulness of seafood!

March 28, 2018

LOTO Weekend Getaway

Spring is upon us and we’re headed back to our condominum at the Lake of the Ozarks. We still have a few cosmetic things to accomplish in the coming days and still have our goal within reach of having everything complete and ready for funning and sunning visitors by April. We hope to have it ready to go on the VRBO rental market towards the end of summer as well.

Hubby’s going to finish painting the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. No, your eyes don’t deceive, some of them are currently white and some of them are off-white. Who does that? We also get to install a new faucet this weekend, which is really needed! After that, it’ll be time to find some curtains and a few more red accents. And SOMEDAY, not any day real soon, we’ll be able to upgrade the appliances, which I hope will really make the kitchen pop.

The bedrooms are mostly done. Aside from a few minor decorating touches in the master bedroom, like some more pillows on the bed and having the dresser painted, they are pretty much ready for sleeping in. We actually adore the master because the bed is much larger and way more comfy than the bed we have at home!

Master BR

Sunset BR

Beach BR

The ultimate task, which may or may not get completed this weekend will be the kitchen table. Even though it’s character was one of the selling points of the condo, the poor thing is so beat up I haven’t had the heart to take any pictures of it. Right now it’s a sage green color with green and tan checkered seats. We are planning to paint all but the wooden top and re-upholster the chairs in colors that will flow better with the rest of the condo.

Our goal is to make enough progress on the condo that we (or I) have time to go to my favorite place Saturday–Coral Reef Seafood! They have been having cooking demos on Saturdays–2 weeks ago was Mussel Mania–and Chef Ryan has been doing it justice.

Mussels with Andouille Sausage in a tomato sauce

Not only does he demonstrate how to make the recipe, we then get to sample it. He demoed three mussels recipes which were all incredible!

Really, I can’t say enough about Coral Reef. If you like seafood, you must stop by. Even if you aren’t interested in the cooking demonstrations, they have some of the freshest seafood available. Justin’s Stuffed Roughy and the Large Wild Gulf Shrimp are the usuals we buy to take back home for dinner later in the week.

Besides that, they have a Bake N Serve Seafood Lasagna that I have my eye on for a future dinner. I’ve also heard they will be having crab legs on sale this weekend which may have to be dinner Saturday night.

And dare I mention that their non-seafood items are great too? I believe they have the best andouille sausage I’ve ever had, and they also have a selection of steaks, side dishes, marinades and spices.

Apparently, I have a lot to look forward to this weekend. I can’t wait, c’mon Friday!

January 10, 2018

Rolling Into a New Year at the Lake

We wound down our year 2017 at the Lake of the Ozarks condo. Some of our friends joined us throughout the weekend. We arrived Friday night, and did some shopping on Saturday. We stocked up on coffee for the Keurig and wine for cocktails in the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker. We did a little furniture shopping, where I found these Ashley Furniture Charlowe Nightstands which will go perfectly in the master bedroom.

And we made a final stop at my favorite place to shop, Coral Reef Seafood , to stock up on crab legs for NYE dinner. If you are EVER anywhere in the Lake Ozark area, in Mid-Missouri, in the middle of the United States, you must stop here to shop for the best seafood we have access to! You can also read all about them in my earlier post Coral Reef Seafood. I absolutely LOVE this store!

Coral Reef, Lake Ozark, MO

Coral Reef Shrimp, Lake Ozark, MO

I also picked up some shrimp (a MUST) and my friends purchased the Seafood Stuffed Orangy Roughy that is like a party in your mouth! (I hope they never changes this recipe.)

Our BIG mistake was going out to dinner later at a restaurant called Redhead Lakeside Grill. I don’t mean “mistake” in that any of our dinner was less than good. I mean mistake in that it was so cold walking from the parking lot to the restaurant it somewhat diminished my experience there. Once inside, I don’t think I ever got warm, so instead of having a great, leisurely time, I was just ready to go home and get under a nice warm blanket. We’ll have to go back and try again when the weather starts to warm back up. There were lots of items on the menu that I can’t wait to try.

Since the temperature at the lake was a not-so-balmy 0-degrees, we wound up planning to stay in for the New Year’s Eve celebration for a quiet night in the warmth. Hubby wanted to play Cards Against Humanitybut we never got around to it. After eating crab legs (and pizza for those who don’t like crab), we checked out Ryan Seacrest in Times Square on TV and watched the ball drop to start off another year. We did have champagne, which I single-handedly attempted not to let go to waste.

It was a low-key New Year’s Eve, but that’s ok. We wrapped it up the way we wanted to with friends we wanted to be with. Maybe next year will be warmer. Or, maybe next year we’ll be on a beach somewhere much warmer! Either way, there’s a whole new year ahead of us and it will be what we make of it.

July 26, 2017

Coral Reef Seafood

This is just a brief public service announcement, my own opinion really. The past weekend was one of the hottest on recent record. We didn’t really have any plans, except to stay cool, so we headed to the Lake of the Ozarks for the weekend. What could be cooler than staying in the water most of the weekend? Since “The Lake” is only an hour drive from home, we don’t really consider it a trip. But, it is just far enough that with different activities, shopping, and scenery they have down there, it is like a mini-vacay.
The weekend’s best discovery goes to Coral Reef Seafood. If you like seafood, fresh seafood, that can remind you of being on vacation and you know how to cook it, this is a place you have to find. I’ve known they were at the Lake for years, but when they moved to their current location, I lost track of them. Sunday, before we headed back home, I found them. They are located at 5370 Osage Beach Parkway at the Case Rd exit.
I went through that entire store, TWICE! Their prices were pretty reasonable for seafood, and I ended up picking up some Crab and Shrimp stuffed Orange Roughy to take home for dinner that night. It was easy enough to bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees and needed nothing added to it to make it scrumptious!
I also picked up a pound of large, raw shrimp which looks like it will be for dinner tonight. Steamed until they turn pink, they should go well with a nice, big salad, which is all I have appetite for in this heat!

My last favorite find was that they carry some of Jamaica’s Island Spice –specifically the Fish Spice. Now, the next time our friend Paul comes to visit from Jamaica, I will have the Island Spice Fish Seasoninghe uses in many of his recipes.At any rate, I urge you, if you like to cook fresh seafood and you are anywhere in the Lake area, you MUST stop at Coral Reef Seafood. I’m already making my list for the next time we go back.