Todd's Jambalaya

Okay, so in Dust and Cinder we learned about Todd’s Jambalaya dish, something that helped to keep his restaurant popping. Errr… his boyfriend has now opened a restaurant across town from him and because they are both moody as heck, I’m not sure if it will end well or not! But so far it’s going good!  

Here is that dish:

Ingredients:

1.   2 onions

2.   2 green peppers

3.   3 whole garlic cloves (Todd loves garlic! Maybe you can cut it down to one.)

4.   One 12oz pack of Hillshire Farms Beef Smoked Sausage

5.   One Family size Zatarain’s Jambalaya Mix (Todd would never take this shortcut, but we will!)

6.     One pack of shrimp either cooked are raw, tail off. (You can leave the tail on if you like or pull it off yourself if you want to.)

7.   Country Crock (It’s not really butter, but it packs on the flavor in this dish.

8.   One package of chicken breast.

9.   And the secret ingredient! The one thing you must not leave out. Knorr Homestyle Chicken stock. Two tubes.

Preheat oven to 350-400

Season all ingredients with red pepper flakes, Cajun seasoning, and Creole seasoning. Just use your favorite brand and season to taste.

Okay, now that we have the ingredients, the first thing we’ll do is put the chicken in the oven and let it cook for thirty to forty-five minutes, depending on how thick the chicken breasts are. If they are thinly sliced, or if you are using chicken tenders then cut that down to twenty minutes.

Next, we’ll put the rice on. Don’t add any meat! For this just put the recommended amount of water in a pot along with the rice and let it come to a boil.  

Go ahead and add a generous amount of the Country Cock to a large pan and let it melt on medium-low heat. Keep a check on it while you cut up the onions, green peppers, garlic, and smoked sausage.

You could always get ahead of the game and already have these items cut up, something I never seem able to do, though Todd has sous chiefs to help with this part.

Add the onions, green peppers, and sausage to the pan and only add the garlic after the onions and green pepper have started to soften. Stir often and add more Country Crock as needed. Keep watch on this, as you may have to add Country Crock quite often. Keep an eye on the rice! You may have to add more water to the rice as needed. 

Once the onions are translucent the rice should be done, if not take the onions off the heat until the rice is done. Add the rice to the pot with the onions, green peppers, garlic, and sausage, along with a cup of water (May need two) and mix well.

By this time the chicken should be just about done. If not, after the rice is mixed into the pot with the onions, cut the heat down to low, and stir frequently. 

Once the chicken is done, cube it and add it to the pot with everything else. Mix well. Then take two of the little Chicken Stock tubes and open them. Add more water to the pot if needed.

Now I know you're supposed to add chicken stock, but that’s where the little Herr Chicken Stock tubes come in. These things pack a wallop of flavor.    

Once the water boils add the two packs and mix well. Don’t let all the moisture go out! Cook it down some, but don’t cook all the water out. Once the stock is mixed in well, remove from heat, and add the shrimp. Mix the shrimp in well, put the top on and let sit for about seven minutes.

That’s it! Open the pot, spoon some into a bowl and enjoy the yumminess!

Also, if you fix it and like it, leave Todd a comment here to let him know.  

Pasta Salad

What you need:

1. One-pound chicken breast or strips.

2. Two boxes of your favorite pasta salad. I use Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Pasta Salad 7.5 box 

3. One cup shrimp (small-large,) deveined, tail off.
4. One onion (red or yellow) diced.
5. One medium tomato, diced.
6. One medium cucumber, diced.
7. One 15 oz., bottle zesty Italian dressing.
8. One 8oz pack of your favorite shredded cheese.

Preheat oven to 350.

Season the chicken to taste.  Arrange the chicken on a pre-sprayed baking sheet and put it in the oven. Cook for about twenty minutes or until chicken is done.

Set the pasta to boil according to directions on the box. 

While the chicken is cooking, dice up the tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers and put them in a large bowl together.

Cook the shrimp the way you like. I usually put them on a small baking sheet and stick them in the oven for a little under five minutes, just until they turn pink.

Once the pasta is done, drain it and set it to the side.

Once the chicken is done, dice it up and toss it, along with the pasta, into the bowl with the tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. 

Toss the shrimp in.

Sprinkle the cheese in. I usually use the whole bag.

Take the seasoning pack from the box and sprinkle it into the bowl with the chicken, pasta, cheese, shrimp, and vegetables. 

Take a large spoon and mix everything together.

Pour the entire bottle of the Zesty Italian Dressing into the bowl with the other ingredients, unless you only used one box of pasta, then only use half the bottle of Zesty Italian.

Mix everything together.

That's it! An easy recipe, good for any time.

Hope you enjoy!  

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

HI, Guys!

So this recipe is for chicken noodle soup.

What you need:

1. Three packs of ramen noodles. You can use any variation on chicken you like. I use picante chicken and regular, but feel free to use which ones you like the best.

2. One pack of chicken. I sometimes use legs and wings. You can use breast, thighs, or whichever is your favorite.

3.  Two packs of Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock. This is optional, but it adds such a rich flavor that I find myself using it every time.

4. Two large onions sliced. Now here feel free to add a couple of carrots and celery if you like. I find I like it best with just the onions.

5. Red pepper flakes for an extra little kick.

6. Just a dash or two or chicken seasoning or either a chicken bouillon.

To Prepare:

1. Put the chicken in a pot and cover it with water, put one of the onions in now. Add a generous sprinkling of the red pepper flakes as well. Unless you like it less hot, then just add a little of the red pepper flakes.

2. If using chicken seasoning go ahead and add it.

3. Turn the heat to medium and let it boil about thirty minutes and then add the other onion and the cube of bouillon.

4. Let it boil another ten minutes and then add the two packs of Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock.  Mix everything around.

5. Boil another ten minutes and then add all three packs of the noodles, mixing them around.

6. Once the noodles are done, add the little seasoning packs that came with them, and continue to mix everything.

7. Remove from heat and serve.

Hamburger and Cheese Dip

The beauty of this recipes is that it can be used as a snack, lunch or dinner.

All you need are:

1 pound of hamburger.

1 16oz of Velveeta cheese in the box.

1 10oz can of Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies. You can get original, medium, are hot, whichever you prefer. I usually use original, which has a nice kick to it.

To prepare:

1.   Heat your crockpot to high. This only takes about an hour to cook, but keep watch because it can stick to the sides sometimes.

2.   Brown the hamburger in a pan on the stove under medium to low heat. Season the hamburger to taste.

3.   While the hamburger is cooking, cut the whole block up cheese up into tiny squares.

4.   Drain the hamburger.

5.   Pour the hamburger, the cheese, and the can of Ro-Tel into the crockpot.

6.   Mix thoroughly.

7.   Let cook about an hour, longer of needed. Make sure to keep watch and stir often.

With this, I usually get a bag of Doritos, but tortilla chips work as well.

    

Pork Chops With Salsa

So this recipe is super easy, and it tastes good too!

All you need is Pork Chop, Salsa, and Brown sugar.

You need about four or five pork chops, your favorite kind. I used bone in, as I think it adds more flavor.

 Put the crockpot on high, this will only take about two hours to cook.

You need a cup of brown sugar and your favorite salsa (I like Old El Paso medium.)

1. Preheat the crockpot to high.

2. Season pork chops to your taste.

3. Place them into the crockpot.

4. Pour in the cup of brown sugar and a  16oz jar of salsa. Let it cook for about an hour and a half to two hours. Depending on your crockpot you may have to adjust the time up or down.

Make sure the pork shop is fully done, then enjoy it over white or brown rice.

Hope you enjoy!

Broccoli and Chicken Casserole

Thought I’d post a recipe today! Let me know what you think. 

What you need:

1. About 6 chicken breasts, or two packs of chicken tenders
2. About two handfuls of Broccoli or a 12oz bag of steamed broccoli florets.
3. One 12oz package of shredded cheddar cheese.
4. One 14oz(can use 8oz) can of cream of mushroom soup.
5. One 14oz can (can use 8 oz) of cream of broccoli soup.
6. Approximately half a cup of breadcrumbs. 

Okay, cook the chicken. I usually season it, don’t skip this step, you really need to season the chicken. Salt and pepper are fine. I usually put a little butter on chicken when I’m cooking it in the over. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and let the chicken cook for about 20 minutes. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on how you like it.

Next, cut the chicken into smaller cubed pieces.

While you’re cutting the chicken up, let the broccoli cook. I like the pack that steams in the microwave; it only takes a couple of minutes to cook. I didn’t have that this time. So, I filled a pot with water, (about two cups), put it on the stove, let it boil, and dropped the broccoli in for two-three minutes.  

After the chicken is cubed and the broccoli’s cooked, get a big bowl. Turn the oven to about 350 degrees.

Put the chicken and the broccoli in the bowl. Open the cream of mushroom and cream of broccoli, pour both into the bowl. Add as much of the cheese that you like, just leave a little to sprinkle over the top.

Take a spoon and mix everything together. Make sure it’s mixed well. (Add a little more salt and pepper if you like, maybe taste to see if you need it.)

Get a casserole pan out. Grease the bottom and the sides. I use a non-stick cooking spray, but use whatever you like.

Pour the whole bowl into the pan and spread it out evenly.

Take the breadcrumbs and the cheese and sprinkle them evenly over the top.

Put it in the 350 degrees preheated oven and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the top is a little brown. Remember everything has already cooked; we’re just blending it all together.

Let it cool for about 10 minutes. If you cut it too soon, you’ll have a gooey mess. It’ll still be good, just a little gooey. I think it’s best to let it cool.

Adjust seasoning to taste.