Cajun Jambalaya

We had a wonderful Cajun night last night! We turned on some lovely jazz/blues music, and started pouring the red wine. We had a blast cooking up some wonderful southern food! We had tried Jambalaya before and it has just come out....mediocre. This time, in my opinion, we got it just right! Finally!

So heres what we did...


Cajun Jambalaya 

1 Cup Brown Rice
1/4 C chopped up onion
1 T Fresh Parsley
1 T Beef Bouillon
1/4 t Thyme
1 Garlic Clove
1/4 t Black Pepper
1/4 t Salt
2 Bay leaves
2 1/2 C Water
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 can Tomato sauce
2 andouille sausage links (fully cooked)
1 t Cajun Seasoning
Favorite hot pepper sauce ( We used the local spice merchants EXTRA hot hot sauce.)
1 lb raw shrimp (deveined, and peeled)


1. In a medium bowl combine the first 9 ingredients. Mix well.
2. Heat large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the rice mixture, water, diced tomatoes, sausage and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil.
3. Now you can add your cajon season and hot pepper sauce. Everyone likes their food at a different spice level so measurements will different for everyone. I wanted my jambalaya to be super spicy so I added about 1t cajun seasoning. I didn't measure the hot sauce. I just added and tasted until it was hot enough for us.
4. Cook Jambalaya until the rice is tender and stir occasionally. If it starts sticking you can always add more water until the rice is done.
5. Add raw shrimp and cook until opaque (5-7 mins)
6. Remove bay leaves.
7. Serve hot! :)


We served our Jambalaya with a cheesy potato casserole, rosemary artisan bread, and red wine.

Organic Doggie Treats

Organic Doggie Treats 

So, even the dog is going organic. Meet the love of my life, my beautiful baby puppy... Elliana Gatz..AKA "Ellie"....

Isn't she adorable.. she even smiles.. :)


Ok, back to the doggie treats. I wanted to make a treat for Ellie that isn't full of fillers, or just odd/weird things. So, I made these..


Organic Doggie Treats

Ingredients

2 Cups Organic Wheat Flour 
1 Cup Almond Milk 
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 
1 Cup organic/natural peanut butter 

Pre-heat oven to 350
1. Mix all of your ingredients into one large bowl. Once it is well mixed, spread it out onto a lightly flowered surface. Roll out until about 1/4 inch thick.

2. Then, I used a pizza cutter and cut the treats into two inch squares.

3. I lined them up on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and baked for about 15 mins. The bottoms were light brown when I pulled them out.

4. Let cool. Store in an air tight container. (I am not sure how long these will last... its the first time I have made them, so I'll keep you posted!


So, the real question is.... did the dog approve??

She definitely is enjoying them!!