Jambasta

Zack has our Dish set to automatically record Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals. So I was sitting on the couch putting the girls to sleep for their nap and decided to watch an episode that was titled "Fire and Ice" - sounds good right? Well Rachael was making Jambasta, a dish that she created for her dad's birthday that combines jambalaya and pasta.

The ingredients for this dish are:
1 pkg andouille (we used linguica) sausage
1 chicken breast
3-4 large deveined shrimp per person
celery - we used about 6 stalks
half an onion
some (1t +/- to taste) garlic
1 red bell pepper (we used yellow)
1 poblano pepper
1T butter
2-4 t flour
about 1/2C beer
about 1 C chicken stock
a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
a couple sprigs of thyme
about 1/2C cream
1 pound of any short-bodied pasta (we used whole grain penne).
**Liquid measurements are estimates, Rachael Ray did "turns around the pan" rather than measurements. A turn around the pan starts at one spot near the edge of the pan and goes around to that point again.**
To make Jambasta
You start out by removing the casing from your sausage and cutting it up into small pieces. In a large, deep skillet brown the sausage until it is crisp, set aside. While cooking sausage, cut up your veggies.
In the same pan, melt some butter - maybe a tablespoon, and then put your garlic, onion, celery, bell pepper, and poblano pieces in there, sprinkle with flour (maybe 2-4 t) and mix well to combine.
Don't forget to start a pot of water to boil for the pasta.
Pour some beer over the top of your veggies - not really sure how much, about one turn around the pan.
Then pour some chicken stock in, about two turns around the pan. Open the can of crushed tomatoes and add that, mix. Add a couple of sprigs of thyme, when getting ready to serve you are going to remove the stems.
Now is the time to cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces, and add them to the sauce. Add the raw shrimp at this time too. The chicken and shrimp are going to cook in the sauce and add a bunch of flavor! Put in one turn around the pan of cream, and stir.
Add your pasta to the water which should now be boiling. Cook according to the package directions, but you want to drain the pasta just shy of "al dente" because it is still going to cook when added to the sauce.
When the pasta is cooked, pick out the thyme sprigs from your sauce. Combine the pasta in with the sauce and mix gently to combine.
Put in your serving dish, and top with linguisa!
ENJOY!!!!

This was an absolutely delicious meal!
Rachael Ray paired this dish with individual pecan ice cream pies, but to be honest with you, we were so full that desert wasn't even on our minds! I hope that if you decide to try Jambasta, that you enjoy it as much as we did!
Thank you for reading this and have a blessed day!

Wannabe French Hot Chocolate

Oh. my. gosh. This was awesome! For days now, Emily and I have been talking about making Wannabe French hot chocolate, a recipe from Max Brenner's cookbook Chocolate: A Love Story that we got for review a few weeks ago.
Our expectations have been building for days, as we read the recipe, bought the ingredients that we didn't have, and actually got around to making this. Most of the ingredients are those that you would commonly have in your kitchen/pantry: milk, corn starch, sugar, egg (yolks), chocolate (your choice, chopped), cocoa powder, and heavy cream.


We started making our hot chocolate and were to the second step of the recipe when I realized that I had not read the directions very well and had to start over. No problem, except I don't have any milk left now! :) Once I read the directions more carefully, it was easy. Emily had fun helping me mix ingredients in, and lick the adjustable measuring cup after we put the sugar in!

I think that it took us less than 10 minutes from start to finish - granted, we enlisted Zack to chop our chocolate and whip our cream! This was a WHOLE family job!

The Wannabe French hot chocolate was amazing!

Seriously, it has a custard base that you melt the chocolate into, and then a "generous dollop" of whipped cream on top, with cocoa powder (we used finely grated chocolate) sprinkled on top! The hot chocolate was incredibly rich, but not with an over-powering chocolate flavor. The
cream on top was a great compliment to the chocolate underneath, it kept the flavor rich while mellowing out the sweetness.

Zack doesn't generally like hot chocolate, but loved this! So we had fun, and our efforts paid off! Did I mention that I love weekends!

Recipe Share

So I am going to start by posting a pretty easy recipe that my family LOVES, then you can leave one of your family's favorite recipies in the comments...hopefully we will get enough recipes that we wont have any problems with not having something to cook for supper for a while! ;) Might have a problem deciding which one(s) though!

"Taco Taters" (Not the orignal name, but descriptive!)
3 lg. baking potatoes
1 Tbs. butter
1 lb ground beef
1 can(14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 envelope taco seasoning
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
Scrub and pierce potatoes. Cook in nuker until done. When cool enough to handle, cut potatoes in 1/2 lengthwise. Carefully remove pulp, leaving 1/2 inch. Brush butter on inside and outside of potato shells. Place taters cut side up on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake, uncovered, at 375 for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook beef over medium heat untill no longer pink; drain. Add tomatoes and taco seasoning. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer;, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Spoon into potato shells; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake, uncovered, 5-10 minutes longer or untill cheese is melted. Top with sour cream.

In the interest of full disclosure, there WERE onions in the recipe - but I detest onions, so I ommit them from my recipe. IF you want to add the onions, chop up half of a medium onion and cook it with the meat.

LOVE Coffee

My husband told me this morning that I am now a junkie!
What can I say, there is something about the wonderful aroma of fresh brewed coffee that gets me, everytime. I have recently discovered that I not only like my coffee black or professionally mixed (Starbucks) but I really like Dulce de Leche creamer in my coffee!
I was talking to my sister and her husband the other night and told them that with my new discovery, I don't think I will ever again feel the need to rush to Starbucks for my ultimate favorite - carmel macchiato - because I come pretty close to it myself.
What an eye opener, I can save so much money induging myself...with many fewer calories too!!! Just thought I would share, and maybe even encourage you to try it - come on over and I will make you a cup!