Update #2 Jambalaya

I almost didn't get to take pictures I made it Thursday night and stuck it in the fridge, by lunch time the boys had eaten almost all of it.

It was so good, I mean so good. Here is what I did. I started off thinking I was going to use the crock pot recipe well when I finally started my veggies I thought, hmm my crock pot isn't big enough. So in the stock pot it went. Please don't cry when you read the ingredients and directions.

Onion
Celery
Green Pepper
Sriracha sauce
Emeril's Bayou Blast (I mean he is cajun, he is bound to know what seasonings to use, right?) I am not sure about the gluten content of his seasonings, but you could use cayenne, paprika, ground mustard, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and maybe some dried lemon zest...I ended up using about 2 1/2-3 TBS of the bayou blast
Chicken breast- I used 3 breasts with rib meat, they were rather large.
Smoked sausage 1 package, I used the turkey sausage
Shrimp (I used 1 bag of 41-50 count)
Rice- I had on hand those boil-n-bag rice things so I used three of them
1 box of Chicken stock
water
butter
salt and pepper to taste
Oregano (about TBS)
3 Bay leaves

In The pan I melted a stick of butter (yes, a stick...actually there were about 2 pads missing off of it and I slapped it in the pan, just call me Mrs. Butterton)
To that butter I added my diced onion, celery and green pepper until softened, (I season every layer of this so I added my bayou blast and a tad of salt and pepper because the seasoning was already salty in my opinion) I poached my chicken first (because it was frozen, shame on me) But you don't have to if it is thawed...dice that up and add it in. season. I added the whole entire box of chicken stock (and only used water as needed to keep it the consistency I wanted- like near the end where I didn't want to scorch it and the next day when I warmed it up and the next day, some like it really soupy though)my bay leaves and oregano Once the chicken was done I added the sausage and last I added the shrimp. Tasted it and decided I needed to add more heat- enter sriracha sauce I did a healthy squirt probably about 2 TBS or so. At the very end I put in the rice, now I added it in the bag and cooked it partially then realized that was stupid and opened them up and let it cook all together. By the time it was done the rice was nice, the chicken was shredded nicely and the shrimp were perfect. It wasn't too spicy, just enough to make you want to drink a beer.

Mexican skillet meal under $9 (cheaper if you use leftovers!)

This meal is one of my Husbands favorites. He requests it all.the.time.

I threw this thing together one evening when I had failed to have something ready for supper. I had some left over rice and I had some turkey kielbasa that needed to be either used or frozen that day.

If you catch them on sale the butterball turkey sausages can be bought for $2.50 a pack. The key is to dice it to make it "look" like more in the skillet. I could probably get by with using only half if I diced but usually I slice and use the entire thing.


Here is what you need

about 2-3 cups of rice (measurement is for cooked rice) (perfect for leftover costing you nothing, even if you need to cook it its pennies on the dollar)
Can of black beans drained (or use dry beans, about a half a bag soaked overnight)
1 package of kielbasa (I use turkey kielbasa) Sliced or diced
2tbs butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup Chicken broth ( you can substitute water, or even bouillon water to be more cost effective, Chicken broth is something I always have on hand)
Onion (grated or diced)
1 Clove of Garlic minced
Mozzarella cheese (I always preach about buying block cheese and grating your own but this is one meal that when I am fixing on the fly I tend to grab a bag of shredded cheese, Trust me, it is so much better with the real McCoy but whatever is more cost effective for you)
Spices (this is all entirely up to you) I use salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and a tad of chili powder (and sometimes cumin).I also add a squirt or 3 of sirachi sauce (great stuff I should be their spokes person) but you can just use plain ol' Tabasco or do without the hot factor.

Now the good part, In a skillet add your butter, saute your onion and garlic (you can add other veggies too, whatever is on hand this dish is a throw together meal to fit any budget or taste bud) Add the sliced kielbasa, cook until starting to brown. Add your beans (we also like red kidney beans in this meal or even garbanzo beans would be great), add your rice, add a bit of your broth just so it doesn't dry out, add your spices, cover and simmer to heat everything through, watch it carefully though so that it doesn't get too dry and stir often. (if it starts to dry out add more broth/water) I salt mine at the end once the flavors have melded. top with cheese cover just long enough for it to melt and there you have it! Now the great part, EATING IT!

Other items that would work great in this dish are Corn, salsa or canned tomatoes, you could even use ground beef or chicken instead of kielbasa. This meal is usually enough to feed us plus my husband has enough for work for one or two days.