RAT in the Kitchen?

Before anyone makes a comment about rodents in the kitchen... it's JUST a movie, okay? But a darn cute one.

I'd been dying to see Ratatouille ever since it came out (the release of the latest Harry Potter barely even diluted my excitement for this one!) and since Chris is easy to please with any animated film (his collection consists of Cars, Finding Nemo, Happy Feet, Monsters Inc., Shrek and Shrek II, Madagascar, The Incredibles... to name a few), we headed out to catch this latest Pixar wonder Sunday evening.

There are so many great things about this movie - including some great motivation for all of us to keep cooking, or trying to cook, all of the scenes of Paris (I do love Paris, anti-American sentiment and all... yes, this from this most patriotic girl), and how the artists are able to make even a (normally, to me) gross little pest so absolutely adorable.

I will absolutely, 100% for sure purchase this movie on DVD for my continued viewing pleasure and there's a chance I will see it again in the theaters (okay... not really, but it's THAT GOOD).

The movie served its purpose... though it doesn't take much to motivate me to cook. Remembering that I had some shrimp frozen, I went searching online for a yummy recipe around my main ingredient. I was rewarded with a recipe using tons of my favorites... including corn, avocados, cucumbers, lettuce (yes, I CRAVE salad)... all topped with shrimp!

*I just about doubled the amount of chili-garlic sauce/cumin/salt/pepper that they recommend to "marinate" the shrimp in for added flavor; and as one of the reviews suggested, I cut the corn off the cob before cooking and sauteed that in with the shrimp and chili sauce instead of boiling

The end-result was delicious (and I loved the bright colors!); I will definitely be coming back to this recipe time and again... and not only because I am now the proud owner of both chili-garlic sauce and toasted sesame oil.

Not bad for the end to a busy weekend... watching a super cute movie about a little guy who makes it big in the world of food and having our own fun in the kitchen!