Mom-o's Jambalaya

My grandmother, Mom-o, and incidentally my mother both have a knack for taking something boring from a box or a can and making it spectacular.  This is my grandmother's Jambalaya recipe.  Made from chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni, this recipe is a one-pot meal that only takes 20 minutes to make and will knock your socks off!

Ingredients:  chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni, pepper, hot sauce, onion powder, celery, bell pepper, and any cooked white meat, preferably a variety.

Melt some butter in a pot and brown the package of Rice-A-Roni over medium heat.

Stir in some hot water and the chicken flavor packet.  Season with pepper, hot sauce and onion powder to taste.

Dice some celery and red bell pepper and chop up your meat.  You can use any cooked white meat.  I chose smoked jalapeno sausage and crawfish tail meat and it was delicious!  You could do any combination of chicken, pork or seafood.

Toss in the meat and veggies.

Give it a good stir and bring to a simmer.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Dinner is done!

This is the perfect meal for a night when you don't have much time to cook.  It's even better leftover.  Similar to Chinese take-out, it ages well in the fridge.  So be sure to make a big batch of this spicy and completely fantastic dish!

Copy and paste the recipe below into Word for printable version:

Mom-o's Jambalaya

In 2 tbsp. butter, lightly brown 1 pkg. Chicken Rice-A-Roni.  Stir in 2 3/4 c. hot water, contents of chicken flavor packet.  Season with black pepper, hot sauce and onion powder to taste.  Add in 1/4 each diced celery and red bell pepper.  Add any combination of cooked white meat (about 3 cups).  I use 2 c. smoked jalapeno sausage and 1 c. crawfish tail meat.

Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Chicken and Dumplings

I love classic chicken and dumplings.  Tonight we ate this with turnip greens and biscuits for a Cracker Barrel copycat meal at home.  I have to say, it was pretty darn close to the real deal!  I love this recipe because it is from scratch but still quick and easy.

Ingredients:  cooked chicken, chicken stock, flour, baking powder, salt, butter and milk.

You can make this as easy or complicated as you want.  The most complicated way (which is still really easy) is to make the chicken stock yourself.  Basically, just simmer the chicken (any part) in salt water for about an hour. You can add any other leftover vegetables and herbs you have around such as onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, rosemary and parsley.  If you don't have extra veggies or herbs, just chicken and salt is enough.  You can remove the meat from the cooked chicken and reserve the stock for the recipe.  Or you can always cheat and use store bought broth and chicken.  Or you can roast the chicken.  The possibilities are endless!

I prefer to make my own stock.

To make the dumplings, mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and cut the butter (dice it first) into the mixture using a pastry blender or fork.

Pour in the milk, mixing with a fork until the dough comes together in a ball.  It should be pretty sticky.

Roll it out on a well floured surface with a floured rolling pin.  Use a pastry or pizza cutter to cut the dough into roughly 2X2" squares.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the dumplings one at a time, swirling after each addition.  Reduce to a simmer and let them cook for about 15 minutes.

If the broth needs thickening when the dumplings are done cooking, remove some of the broth with a coffee cup and mix in some flour.  Then pour the concentrated thickened broth back into the pot.  Add the cooked chicken and heat through.  Season with salt and pepper.

Easy right?  Super delicious!  Just like Cracker Barrel.

Link to the printable recipe:

Chicken and Dumplings

Source:  Tasty Kitchen

Murh's Mexican Casserole

I'm in the mood for some family recipes this week.  My husband's family gave me a wonderful book of his late grandmother's recipes.  I found this one; a comforting, delicious, churchy pot-luck kind of dish that tastes like deconstructed beef enchiladas.  I'm usually not a huge fan of recipes made mostly from canned ingredients but if it's in Murh's cookbook, it's going to be good!

Ingredients:  canned cream of mushroom soup, canned cream of chicken soup, canned enchilada sauce (any kind), canned green chilies, canned chipotles in adobo, ground beef, onion, tortilla chips and shredded cheddar cheese.

Heat some oil in a skillet and cook a chopped onion for several minutes until softened.

Then add the ground beef and cook for several minutes until browned.

Next add in all of the canned ingredients.  I added the chipotle peppers to the original recipe because I adore them.  If using, chop them up before adding and make sure you get a little of the adobo sauce in there too.  But be careful not to overdo it - they are very spicy!

In a baking dish, layer the beef mixture.

Some tortilla chips and then a generous sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese (sorry, no picture of this step : / )

Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and melted.

I have to honestly say that I prefer Pioneer Woman's Beef Enchiladas, but this takes about 1/4 of the time to make and has a very similar flavor with the added crunch of tortilla chips.  So I'd say this recipe is a winner!  You could also easily adapt it to chicken and make the filling with sour cream instead of enchilada sauce for a quickie version of deconstructed chicken enchiladas.  Yum!

Copy and paste the recipe below into Word for printable version:

Murh's Mexican Casserole

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans enchilada sauce, any kind (I used 1 green, 1 medium red)
1 can chopped green chilies
1/2 can chipotles in adobo, chopped + 1/2 tbsp. adobo sauce
1 1/2 lb. hamburger meat
1 small onion
tortilla chips
3/4 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown meat with onion.  Mix in canned ingredients.  Layer meat mixture, tortilla chips and cheese in baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Hazelnut Sorbet

This is so rich, creamy and decadent, you won't even know that it is low fat and dairy free.  It's insane!!  When I am on a (relatively) healthy kick, I look for recipes that are naturally healthy without sacrificing good ingredients for low-fat, light, skim, etc. versions.  This is one of those recipes.

Ingredients:  sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, water, espresso and hazelnut liqueur (or any liqueur of your choice).

Brew the espresso.  I buy instant espresso.  You can also brew some extremely strong coffee.  But instant espresso is about as easy as it gets.

Mix the sugar, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon and salt together in a saucepan.

Then mix in the water and espresso and cook over low heat until all of the dry ingredients are dissolved.  Remove it from the heat and stir in the liqueur.

Transfer the batter to a bowl, cover and chill overnight.

Freeze in an ice cream maker.  It will double in size and be a sort of thick, icy consistency.

Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze overnight.

I'm in love.  Come to Mama....

Link to the printable recipe:

*Note, I substituted hazelnut liqueur for the coffee liqueur.  You could use any liqueur you want: orange, raspberry, mint, etc.

Chocolate Hazelnut Sorbet

Source:  Barefoot Contessa

Classic Lasagna

Who doesn't love lasagna?  Warm and comforting, it's a meal in itself.  My favorite lasagna recipe, of course, is Ina's.  It's so easy.  You can make it ahead of time and it freezes well.

Ingredients:  olive oil, onion, garlic, Italian sausage (the recipe calls for turkey but I can't resist pork sausage), canned crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh parsley and basil, salt, pepper, lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, goat cheese (or feta if your local grocery store doesn't have it), parmesean, egg and fresh mozzarella.

Chop up the onion.

And the parsley and basil.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the onions for a few minutes until soft.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Remove the sausage from its casings and break it up.  If you don't have the Mix 'n' Chop from Pampered Chef (pictured above) I highly recommend it.  It's my favorite PC gadget.  It's awesome!!

Cook until the sausage is browned.

Then add the tomatoes, paste, herbs, salt and pepper.  Let the sauce simmer for 20 or 30 minutes.

This is the secret to perfect lasagna (thanks Ina!)...instead of cooking the noodles in boiling water, soak them in hot tap water for about 20 minutes.  They will soften and then finish cooking in the oven.  While they are baking, they will absorb some of the tomato sauce and keep the lasagna from getting thin and watery.  They are also much easier to handle than fully cooked noodles.

Mix the cheeses with some of the fresh parsley and season with salt and pepper.

I like to use loaf pans since I'm only cooking for my husband and I.  I will freeze the other half.  See my Poppy Seed Chicken Bake for a quick tutorial on how I do it.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of a baking dish.

Followed by 1/2 of the noodles.

And half of the 1/2 ricotta mixture (forgot to get a picture of this : / ).

Repeat with another 1/3 of the sauce, the rest of the noodles and the rest of the ricotta.

Then top with the final layer of sauce and sprinkle with shredded parmesean cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

You could feed this to anyone, any age and they would enjoy it.  I certainly did ;)

Link to the printable recipe:

*Note: I substituted pork sausage for turkey.

Classic Lasagna

Source:  Barefoot Contessa