What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Sheet Pan Edition

It’s that time of year when the weather is almost always nice, and that means a whole lot less time is spent indoors. Especially in the kitchen. A wonderful excuse to break out a sheet pan dinner! And luckily I have 2 pans because I needed the other for a crafty thing I was MacGyver-ing in preparation for future camping adventures: homemade fire starters. Very useful to starting fires here on the Wet Coast, where wood and tinder are sometimes too damp to facilitate a quick and satisfying campfire. Hey, those S’mores ain’t gonna roast themselves, ya know?

As usual, I came across something on Ye Olde YouTube that sparked my interest. The video is here:

Try to ignore all the bullet adoration in the intro to this guy’s channel. I did.

I watched the video and gathered my supplies. Then I got to work.

Note my improvised double-boiler, for melting both the petroleum jelly and the candle wax. Will the MacGyvering never end?! 😉
Cotton rounds soaked in melted petroleum jelly and ready to go into freezer to quickly solidify, in preparation for the next stage.
First dip of rounds in melted wax.
Starting the 2nd (and final) dip process.

These fire starters turned out great, and they burn heartily for more than 10 minutes after being lit with a single match.

Put to good use at Miracle Beach

The same afternoon I made these, I also made a delicious sheet pan dinner, inspired by this YouTube video:

The actual recipe to be printed off can be found here.

I hustled off to my little local grocery store and was disappointed that they didn’t have any fresh green beans in stock. They did however have some delectable-looking bundles of asparagus in the veggie section, so I made that swap. I think it turned out at least as good, if not better.

I also used sambal (Indonesian pepper paste) instead of cayenne pepper because I think it tastes better.
Asparagus ready to go into the oven
Shrimp tossed in spices and lemon peel.
Finished! The sheet pan dinner, almost complete…
Now complete! Served on a bed of some deliciously-nutty brown rice.
That was mmm-mmm good!

Have you ever made a sheet pan dinner? Chime in, in the Comments below!

And, as always: please feel free to let my co-host Donna (she is dishing up some food for thought, this month!) or myself know what’s on your plate at your house, in the Comments of either Donna’s or my post. And remember if you decide to blog or Facebook or Instagram about it, to use the tag #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge so we can find you out on ye olde interwebbs!

Rock on,

The WB

64 thoughts on “What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Sheet Pan Edition

  1. AJ Blythe

    Mmm, looks yummy. I love seafood and asparagus so my kinda meal (although that would be prawns in Oz, not shrimps – we don’t call anything shrimp… except short people).

    1. We call small things “shrimp” or “shrimpy” too. Don’t know why we don’t use the word “prawns” more. Sometimes larger shrimp are labelled as “prawns” or “giant shrimp” (which is kinda funny, if you think about it). I find it kinda confusing actually and could not for the life of me tell you what is the difference (if any) between a “shrimp” and a “prawn”. Thanks, AJ 💕

      1. Canadians typically say “prawns” for the large ones and”shrimp” for the little ones, whereas Americans call all of them “shrimp.”

        Jude

  2. Carol Peddle

    I’m going to try making both the fire starter and the sheet pan dinner. Thanks for your blog.

  3. You really are MacGyver, aren’t you?? 🙂 – I usually make my fire starters with pinecones and dryer lint dipped in wax. Those work really well too. – As for your shrimp sheet pan dinner. YUM. Also, your asparagus is HUGE. We just have these puny little stick looking asparagus out this way. Back east they’re big like that and it’s delicious. I would take asparagus over green beans any day.

    1. Thanks, Mimi 💕 I’ve seen videos of the dryer lint fire starters too. There are so many cool ways to make these things! Green beans are my all time favourite veggies, and asparagus are a close second.

    1. Hah! I just left a comment on your blog using almost the exact same wording (unintentionally). Thank you, Tammy 💕 I’m so happy you joined in the fun. 😁

  4. hilarymb

    Hi Deb – now I can see your fire-starters actually at work – I congratulate you making them up – ready for heading out to camp. While the sheet pan dinner looks delicious – I love asparagus and am gorging myself at this time of year … as too seafood – not as good as the West Coast – but does me. Sounds as though you’re really enjoying the VI life-style … cheers Hilary

      1. hilarymb

        Sounds like it to me … so glad you decided to move across – just enjoy – I’m glad I had some time over there … cheers Hilary

  5. The Misadventures of Widowhood

    I love oven baked asparagus but just looking at the scrimp gives me hives.

    Your little fire starters are great and practical for all the time you spend outdoors. Do be careful with making them, I know from years of making candles how easily that wax in a double boiler can catch on fire. We did ours on a hot plate outside.

    1. Oh, good point Jean! I was being careful, and now will be even more careful in the future – thanks for the tip! I think the sheet pan recipe would work well with chicken too. Thank you 💕

  6. Very ingenuous with the fire starters. I have a friend who makes them from pine cones, but yours would be easier to transport because of the uniform size. Your pan dinner looks delicious. Don’t you love the concept of a pan dinner?

    1. I do love the concept of a pan dinner, a one-pot dinner, a casserole…so much easier on the cook (and the cleaner-upper…which at my house is the same person 🤣). Thanks, Ally 💕

  7. Your asparagus & shrimp on brown rice looks delicious! My local grocer doesn’t seem to stock much fresh asparagus, but they used to carry plenty of fresh green beans in season. Do so agree with loving 1-pot meals for multiple reasons!

    Never thought of making your own fire starters, but it sounds a good idea. (As kids, back in the cave days, we used to use blocks of paraffin to make holiday candles, complete with snow!)

  8. Hi Deb! You’ve gotta love YouTube it is where I do all of my learning LOL 🙂 The prawns (as we Aussies call them) and asparagus are a great combination, healthy and delicious so tick all of my boxes. Go you with the firestarters (a new online business perhaps?). Thanks for the opportunity to share with you and Donna at #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge. My contribution is Sweet Potato Muffins and now to think of next month! x

    1. Same here, with regards to YouTube and learning of new things 😁! Love your sweet potato muffins! I will have to make some – my mouth is watering at the imagined taste. Thank you, Sue 💕

  9. You sure are a resourceful one!! Yes, I oven roast on a pan quite often. I’ve done asparagus and shrimp that way, but never together. It looks wonderful! I’ll definitely try that.

  10. Shrimp and asparagus; yum! One pan cooking; even better! I have a dish I trot out to visitors involving chicken thighs, chorizo, potatoes, lots of herbs and a glug of white wine (plus sometimes shrimps, sweet potatoes, peas, lemon, whatever’s in the fridge) all cooked together on a sheet pan or roasting dish. We call it Nigella chicken but I suspect it has evolved substantially from the dish I saw in a Nigella Lawson book many years ago and though “ooh, that would be nice.”

  11. I can vouch for those firestarters. They are seriously amazing…and work better than the two store bought packages that I wasted good money on! 😀
    I LOVE sheet pan dinners (and usually make Salmon and Aspagus this way).
    As for your Shrimp and Asparagus dish featured above. You can make that for me anytime. Especially around a campfire! 😀

    1. OK, it will have to go on the menu for our next adventure! With hopefully drier wood, or else it will be smoked shrimp and asparagus 🤣. Thanks, Donna 💕

  12. I learnt 3 new things today: how to make homemade fire starters (who knew?); that a sheet pan dinner is what we’d call a tray bake (which is different to a tray bake in the UK which means a cake baked in a tray); and that you guys get a heap of rain. As an aside, the prawns and asparagus look amazing – and sambal lifts everything a notch or three.

  13. I’ve never done shrimp in the sheet pan approach. this is definitely gonna be on my new recipe list this summer, when I get some good farmer’s market green beans!

  14. Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a recipe for fire starters anywhere. Very cool and I might bookmark this page for future reference as we often travel to hot and humid climes. Maybe even back to the Pacific Northwest one day. If we leave the hot part out of it. 🙂

    Yes, sheet pan-baked dishes are fun, easy, and tasty and they don’t require a lot of dish washing. We always roast our asperges this way. We toss them with olive oil and “everything but the bagel” spice from Trader Joe’s. Yum!

    1. Oh, I wish I could get my hands on some of that Trader Joe’s stuff. I’ve heard it’s amazing and so many people are talking about it. Thanks, Liesbet 💕

  15. I’ve never even heard of a sheet pan dinner! Guess I’m still living in the dark ages but do love asparagus and shrimp (my understanding is that prawns are bigger but having been to Auz their small is our huge so I don’t know!).
    Fire starters seem like a good idea but it’s usually pretty dry on the prairies and I will just leave it to the Boy Scout I travel with!!

    1. Thanks for the prawn/shrimp explanation, Bernie. I think it rings true. Welcome to the world of sheet pan meals! Good idea to travel with a Boy Scout 😁💕

  16. That asparagus looks delightful – and I love your addition of sambal … so clever!
    and I am amazed that you made your own fire-starters – lots of good use coming up for your camping trips!

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  18. debscarey

    Sambal? Yummy! It sounds fabulous – I shall see how easily Himself is to influence in that direction.

    Also love your homemade firelighters. Himself loves watching bush craft stuff on YouTube (as well as the military stuff) so if you’d not mentioned it, the bullet stuff would’ve just whooshed right past me in that instructional 😀

    1. Thank you, Deb 💕 I don’t like bullets or guns…I live too close to America, where guns are a religion to some people. I grew up in a family that hunted, so I am used to those types of guns being around and kept locked up when not in use…not people who collect the deadliest guns and ammunition possible and are “packing heat” whenever they leave the house.

  19. debscarey

    By instinct, I’m entirely with you on that front. Himself used to shoot regularly in competitive environments way back, but you know our laws here are very stringent, and he allowed that pastime to lapse. That said, he’s shot most things by now, so not exactly deprived. It is fortunate as I’m not comfortable around weapons at all. I can be left physically shaking at just the sound of a gunshot, especially if I’m out in the open. I’d never be able to live in the US for that reason.

  20. You happen to be the most attractive McGyver ever. I never thought about needing waterproof fire starters, but now I know it’s a thing! So cool.

    I’ve not made a sheet pan dinner in so long that I actually forgot about them What a pity! I love shrimp. I love green beans. I also LOVE asparagus. I’m going to add this to my shopping list and try it asap. Thanks for sharing!

  21. Pingback: What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Taco Salad Bowl Edition – THE WIDOW BADASS BLOG

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