Jambalaya!!

OHHHHH Jambalaya how we love you!  This is hands down one of our favorite meals for me to make.  Now don't get me wrong this is probably North Dakota Jambalaya but we like it!  So I got the original idea here but have kind of revamped it to our liking. So here is my recipe as I make it.

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

• 1 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 lb andouille sausage, cut into slices
• 1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 0.5 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 8 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth (or chicken bouillon cube made as chicken broth)
• 1 Tbsp homemade Creole seasoning
• 1 lb cooked, frozen shrimp, thawed and tails removed
• 4 cups cooked rice

1. Mix together chicken, sausage, tomatoes, onion, pepper, celery, broth and seasoning in a large crockpot (4-6 quart).
2. Cook on High for 1 hour.  Turn down to Low and cook approx 4-5 hours or until meat is cooked and tender and vegetables are cooked through.  Put shrimp in and cook for 30 minutes.
3. Add cooked rice and mix well.  Serve and enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

So I have always wanted to be one of those wives that creates the "perfect" meal plan for the next two weeks and it'll all be great!  Hahahaha well I don't know about the rest of you but having a baby, a job, a husband, a house, and pets makes this seem like an impossible task!!  BUT I am determined to do this, why?  Well for one because I feel like it will save us money and be a little healthier for us as we have this bad habit of eating out, a lot!  Plus I do love to cook and want to be one of those moms/wives who everyone is like wow she makes the best food!!!  LOL so on that note I spent most of the morning planning out our days for the next two weeks and then going through our cabinets/fridge/freezer to see what we already have and then making a master grocery list.  The baby just went down for a nap so we will have to wait to head to the grocery store but I feel good....this'll get easier the more I do it right??!

So here's the plan:

•  Today - Meatloaf and scalloped potatoes (I've actually never made meatloaf and the potatoes are from a box LOL)
•  Tuesday - Nothing....I work a 10-11 hour day most Tuesdays so these are free days :)
• Wednesday - Slow Cooker Jambalaya (This is one of our favorite things for me to make!)
• Thursday - Left overs cause it makes a ton!
• Friday - Taco Pockets (New recipe)
• Saturday - Potato Pizza Casserole

• Sunday - Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
• Monday - Honey Chicken Kabobs and Corn on the cob on the grill (Hopefully the weather is nice!!)
• Tuesday - Nothing
• Wednesday - Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (another of our favorites)
• Thursday - Chicken Broccoli Tater Tot Hotdish (See my previous blog!)
• Friday - Lasagna
• Saturday - Nothing (we have a wedding that night)

Plus I'm planning on freezing a bunch of items to start re-stocking our freezer.  All of the casseroles are usually in 9x13 pans but that just makes way too much for us to eat so I will split all of them into two 8x8 pans and make one and freeze one! And then the Taco Pockets I will freeze anything we don't eat as well as the Buffalo Chicken sandwiches.

Well here goes nothing!!  The plan is to blog every recipe as well so check back everyday to see the recipe and how it all turns out!!!

Cheesy Chicken Rollups

Well first of all HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mama, grandmamas and stepmamas out there!

I made this dinner a few nights ago but am only getting around to posting it right now.  I have a sick baby this week but he's finally doing better!  This is one of our favorite meals and we devour it, there's usually no leftovers! hahaha Who am I kidding, there's never any leftovers!!  Plus it's seriously so easy it's ridiculous!!

I got it originally from the Once A Month Mom website where I get a handful of my recipes.  I absolutely love it.  So go check out their hundreds of yummy recipes, she mostly does freezer cooking but of course a lot of the recipes are so good that I'll just make them for dinner. 

So here's the recipe, try it out, substitue the cheese or try different kinds of breading, mix it up!  I make it just like the recpie says and it's so absolutely amazing!

Cheesy Chicken Rollups

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 0.5 cups Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade
• 8 ounces Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
• 0.5 cups ground french fried onion rings

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise, basically fillet the breast so that you have to long flat pieces.** Marinate chicken breasts in Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade for 30-90 minutes in a gallon sized zippered bag. Remove chicken and add shredded cheese. Roll chicken and secure with toothpicks. Place bread crumbs and ground french fried onion rings in a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken back in the marinade, then place in the crumbs, coating the chicken evenly. Place the chicken on prepared pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 35 – 40 minutes or until done.
**If you are limited on time you can simply cut a pocket in the chicken breasts and insert cheese instead of rolling.

Here's my finished product:

Chicken Broccoli Tater Tot Casserole

So this is of course a meal I found on the wonderful Pinterest.  I made it for my husband one night as his self proclaimed favorite meal is tater tot hotdish and I thought this would be an interesting twist on it!  We ate so much!!  I think it was the first time that the leftovers got eaten!  I knew this was going to be a staple in our home.  Well my parents were stumped on what to have for dinner tonight so I offered to make it.  They are very meat and potatoes people so it is always nice to try something new!! 

I spent a total of $7.93 for this meal.  Which for 3 adults who will be able to each have 2-3 servings that's not bad!  We did have the chicken already in the freezer which obviously helped save us on $$ and we had all the spices and milk and cheese. 

Groceries:

• Cream of Chicken soup (store brand) $0.99
• Oreida Tator Tots $3.64
• Birdseye Frozen Steamable Broccoli $1.93
• 8oz Sour Cream $1.37

Here's my version of the recipe: (originally found HERE) I did omit the bacon pieces as it doesn't really need em.

1 pound of chicken breast, cut into chunks and browned
2 pounds of frozen tater tots 2 cups of broccoli, cooked

2 cups of colby jack or your favorite cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

First I cut up my chicken and browned it in a pan with a little bit of oil, salt and pepper.  Then you layer the chicken in the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan.  Then layer the broccoli (I buy the quick steamfresh packages of broccoli, steam em and then dump them on top of the chicken).

You mix the soup, sour cream and spices together in a bowl.  Then add the milk and 1.5 cups of the cheese.  When that's all mixed up you pour it evenly on top of the chicken and broccoli.  Then put the tater tots on top and finish by topping it off with the rest of the cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  Then ENJOY!!!

It's so easy, and fairly cheap if you keep the main ingredients stocked in your cupboard/freezer.  If you make this dish let me know if you love it!!!

Sorry for the terrible picture, we all started digging in before I could snap one!!  LOL