Camping on the beach = Cajun Shrimp Soup..

Vaughn helping saute' .

This weekend our family went camping on the southern tip of Guam at a private beach...it's nice having friends who's husbands are Navy cops and have connections. We set up camp and snorkeled, swam, the kids played and we ate..A LOT! One of my favorite camping recipes is for Cajun Shrimp Soup, its so easy to throw together if you dice and chop ahead of time. Just get to the beach and throw it all in the pot and in 30 minutes you have a delicious seaside meal... don't forget the crusty bread.

Cajun Shrimp Soup

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup chopped green onions

4 cloves minced garlic

28 ounce can diced tomatoes

8 ounce bottle clam juice

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice

3/4 pound fresh uncooked shrimp, cleaned and tails removed

dash of hot pepper sauce

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute' green pepper, green onion and garlic until tender. Stir in diced tomatoes and clam juice and water. Season with thyme, basil, red pepper and bay leaf and salt. bring to a boil. Stir in rice, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes until rice is tender. Add shrimp and cook an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove bay leaf and season with hot sauce. Enjoy!