Saturday, November 20, 2010

New Recipe, 3 Miles, Birthday Fun

Thanks you guys!! I'm so excited to try the risottos you told me about - YUM. Thanks for the links - you're awesome. I just still can't get over how rich and filling they are - and to know that it's mostly "special" rice and chicken stock that makes it that way is insane to me! It really tastes like it has heavy cream in it or something - fabulously deceiving!

So Thursday was my work from home day and I decided to be a total homebody. I worked, rested through lunch and hung out with the pups, worked more and then hung out with Austin, took Remy to the vet and cooked a couple of new recipes - GREAT night!

Yesterday was a pretty great Friday! Work, 3-mile walk during lunch with Stacy, more work, home by 4:15 to the family. Thanks for letting us out early - yesss! Around 6:30 we headed out to Decatur, met my mom for Fro-yo at Yogurt Tap, and then headed to Twain's for Shane's birthday get together! He had a great turnout - I had fun catching up with the girls, watching the guys play shuffleboard and having a couple of drinks. Good times!

Ze girls!
And boys! (SO hard to get a good pic of them - sigh)
Shuffleboard fun

Other than celebrating Shane's birth - I tried a new recipe! Here goes... my first time making jambalaya - next is gumbo!

Jambalaya
Inspired by a Hungry Girl recipe
Makes 4 Servings

2 links fully cooked chicken sausage, sliced into coins
6 oz. chicken cut in strips, not cooked
2 14.5-oz. cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes (not drained)
½ cup onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cup low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp hot sauce, or more to taste
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
6 oz. raw shrimp, tails removed, deveined, chopped
2 cups minute white rice, cooked
Optional: salt and black pepper

Add all ingredients except shrimp and rice to a large pot on the stove. Mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked, about 35 minutes. While it’s cooking, cook rice in microwave. Remove cover on pot, shred chicken, add shrimp and re-cover. Continue to cook until shrimp are tender and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and additional hot sauce. Serve over rice.

Nutritional Information: 389 calories, 56 carbs, 4 fat grams and 27 protein grams.

Review: Great jambayla! I enjoyed it! I do think that next time i'll add a pinch of cayenne pepper for some fire, and I also think i'll reduce or omit the celery - it's just not for me. I did love the mix of sausage, shrimp and chicken - lots of yummy meats! And the microwave rice tasted great - I just can't cook rice into recipes - it always comes out crunchy. Sad. So great - but needs some tweaks for me!

Q: Any ideas for how to spice up this jambayla? All we can figure is cayenne - I don't want to add more hot sauce. I may look up some other recipes to get some ideas for how to mix this one up!

Q: Shuffleboard: yay or nay? I think it's fun but i'm not very good. I usually don't play at the bars - Austin likes it though. I prefer pool any day!

17 comments:

lee said...

Personally, I like darts the best.

I love the Yogurt Tap. I went there a few weeks ago. The only bad thing is the parking situation.

Kate @ Daffodils said...

You could use hot italian sausage and take the spices from that. (not usre if they have it for chicken sausage though!) I started doing that for my shrimp and grits recipe and it makes it nice and spicy without over-doing it. I love the way the flavor cooks right in.

Hope you have a great saturday. Im kinda glad there is no game- it really frees up the day!

Priyanka said...

Adding Cayenne pepper will give it some kick!! Love your blog!

Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Never played shuffleboard....looks interesting!

Erica said...

How about adding a chopped jalapeno into the recipe? I bet that would heat it up! Looks like a fun night :)

CeCe said...

i like pull but i suck at it. never tried shuffleboard....maybe i'd be better at it then pool.

Tyler said...

Makes me think of the episode of Scrubs where JD invites Dr. Cox to something (don't remember what) and then randomly throws out "Jumbalaya".

Josie @Skinny Way Of Life said...

Looks yummy! I saw this recipe in my inbox and saved it, I can't wait to give it a try! I love spicy foods but I have to keep it mild b/c of the kiddies, maybe I'll add crushed red pepper seeds to my bowl : )

Itteh said...

I love Air Hockey!

Gabriela said...

Red pepper flakes are AWESOME for spicing things up!! I put them on everything, from salads to sandwiches and casseroles.

Beth @ bride in the little white dress said...

My first thought was add more black pepper to it, even some chili powder too.

Shuffleboard reminds me of cruise ships for some reason. And people playing it on the upper deck by the water lol

Christina said...

CUMIN!!

Kelly Pearce said...

Add some sriracha.... will give it the spice you need

Danielle said...

I like darts the best. Shuffle board was too hard, but it looks so freakin’ easy. Had fun Friday night!

danielledrn said...

I like darts the best. Shuffle board was too hard, but it looks so freakin’ easy. Had fun Friday night!

Josie said...

Looks yummy! I saw this recipe in my inbox and saved it, I can't wait to give it a try! I love spicy foods but I have to keep it mild b/c of the kiddies, maybe I'll add crushed red pepper seeds to my bowl : )

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