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.

Party update #1... Cheesecake stuffed strawberries.

My Jambalaya is done, I made it last night and I am glad I did. I ended up NOT using a slow cooker. I will update that with pictures later and recipe.

So I made my Cheesecake stuffed strawberries this morning. There are tons of these floating on pinterest but I decided the boxed jello cheesecake mix was not good enough for me.

Here is what I did.

I got my strawberries ready, the bigger the better and luckily Strawberries are coming in just south of here. I washed and hulled them and took out any extra that was inside. The bigger ones work best because they are somewhat hollow in the center.

Now the filling.(for topping you will just need graham cracker crumbs) 1 block of Cream cheese (8oz) Softened. about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar (I tasted and added as needed, when the strawberries are super sweet you don't need a lot of sweet stuffing but you can adjust it to your taste preference) 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 tsp of almond extract. Beat these together until smooth and creamy consistency and well combined. Taste now to ensure that you have it sweet enough. Put the filling in a plastic ziploc or a piping bag and pipe the goodness right in the holes in the berries. Once they are all filled on a small plate but your graham cracker crumbs and lightly dip the filled part of the berries in it. I was going to drizzle with some white and dark chocolate but I tasted one (then 2, then 3, then 4 and AB tasted 1 then 2 then 3 then 4 you get the picture) and they were perfect.

I will warn you, make extra and don't make these prior to having breakfast because they will become your breakfast :D

Homemade French fries.

These are so good, they are easier than you think but requires a little more work than opening a bag of frozen ones but it really is worth the extra effort and it saves lots of money since you can buy a 10lb bag of potatoes for the price of 1 or 2 bags of the frozen bags.

in the picture I used red potatoes because it is what I had on hand. Then a couple of nights later I made them with russett potatoes, good both ways.

You can do these skin on or off which ever you prefer I do it both ways but the past two times I have done them skin off.

5-6 good size potatoes fed my family of five and we had leftovers.

In your deep fryer or a large pot on the stove warm your oil (peanut oil is the best but it is pricey and I use a lot of oil so that I can get more done at a time, so I usually use vegetable unless peanut is in the budget) you want it to be around 325

Get a bowl with cold water, this is where you will put your raw fries after you cut them (and while you cut the rest).

Wash and peel potatoes I try to get 4 slices long ways and then 4 fries out of each slice, you can cut the fries according to your preference. Put the fresh cut fries in the cold water once you have cut all your potatoes let them stay in that water for a couple minutes (while you clean up your peeling mess)

Take them out and place them on a dishtowel or paper-towel to drain (make sure they are patted dry water and grease don't mesh well)

Drop them a few at a time being sure not to over crowd the oil I usually can do a handful at a time. Leave them in the oil for a few minutes, they will start to float at the top and won't have much (if any color) but that is ok! put them onto a paper-towel to drain and continue to do the rest. Once all of your fries have been fried once you can crank your oil up to about 350-375, let the fries cool back down to room temp. After they have cooled drop them in the oil for their final frying. They will become golden and crisp, remove from oil onto paper-towel to drain and sprinkle with salt (and pepper if desired, or Cajun seasoning, or dry ranch dressing)

Enjoy!

Poptarts-better than poptarts

Ok so floating around pinterest is yet again some recipes for poptarts. I didn't really follow any certain recipe (because you know me) But here is what I did.

So it is a snow day (well what they call a snow day here)and G-man wants a poptart. So I decided to make them.

I have a go to pie crust that has never-ever failed me. Here it is (without a food processor) and when my food processor was alive I used this one. Both are equally yummy. And if you are super lazy Buy refrigerated crust- it is just as good).

I also made a quick jam filling (please don't pass out when you see the sugar content) I used 16 oz bag frozen strawberries and 1 cup of sugar. I put it in a large pot and let it slowly come to a boil ( you can use store bought jam too)

once the strawberries broke down I cranked the heat a bit and stirred, and stirred until I got the consistency I wanted (it coated the spoon)

That Jam is hot and when I say hot I mean melt your skin off hot-be careful!

Ok so here is what you need:
Pie crust
jam
icing (optional)I personally think they are toooooo sweet with the icing but the kids loved it (naturally)
(the icing is just a simple glaze powdered sugar tad of vanilla and a couple drops of water or milk)
sprinkles (optional)
One egg beaten for egg wash

Roll your dough out into rectangles and and a small amount (I made small poptarts so I used about a TBSP) of filling in the center

top with the other half and pinch/crimp together with fingers or a fork.
Place poptarts on cookie sheet (ungreased) and brush tops with beaten egg bake at 450 for 6-10 minutes depending on your oven or until the edges are browned. top with icing and sprinkles if using. Let COOL COMPLETELY (trust me)

Now for the grownup version I added cream cheese filling to mine It was so full I had to eat it with a fork (whoops) but here is what I did.

I used a little less that the half block of cream cheese I had left, sprinkled some sugar (oh eyeball it, you can taste it after you beat it together I would say about 1 1/2- 2 TBSP) a capful of PURE vanilla a drop or two of milk and some fresh grated lemon zest

Beat it all together