New Orleans Red Beans and Rice

So, I am a huge fan of cajun food, being from New Orleans and all, so one of my favorite dishes is Red Beans and Rice. It can be a little tedious but, the end result is very much worth it!

Yields about 4-8 servings (depending on how hungry you are! :)
Here is what you will need:
One package of smoked sausage (I just get the regular with no flavor)
Half of a bell pepper (green) Chopped
Half of an Onion chopped
One tablespoon minced garlic
Tony Chachere's or any other cajun seasoning mix (like Zatarains) to taste. I use quite a bit. :)
One teaspoon garlic salt
A few shakes of regular tabasco
One lb. Red Kidney Beans

First things first. I take a large mixing bowl the night before I am wanting to cook this, pour the package of beans in it, fill it with water just above the beans so that they are covered, and store in the fridge until ready to cook. This cuts the time you will have to boil them to soften them up in half! Now, if you don't have time, fine, just be prepared to be boiling them for a while. Like a few hours. Okay, now that you have done that, drain them and pour them into a large pot. Cover them with water again and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium and let them simmer until they have softened to your liking. This could take about an hour. While they are simmering, chop up your bell pepper, onion, and garlic and toss them into a frying pan. You should only need a small one. Melt some butter in there with them and stir until they are soft. Then, you can toss them into the pot of beans and stir them in. Next, cut up the sausage into small pieces. I slice them to be a little more thick than a pepperoni and then cut that in half. Once done, throw them into the bean pot and stir them in. Next, you are going to add all seasonings to your liking. Be sure to keep tasting it in order to determine how much seasoning it needs. When the beans start getting softer, you can start your rice. Make about 2 cups of rice. Just continue to let the beans simmer and also mash a lot of the beans while stirring, this will make it creamier. Once soft, put on top of rice and enjoy!
Tip: Cornbread goes great with this dish!
If you have any questions or need clarification, just ask! :)

Italian Chicken in the Crockpot

So, my husband has been trying to get me to cook things in the house with ingredients that we already have. So, instead of saying "Oh, I think I want spaghetti tonight but I have no noodles. I have to go to the store and get some" he wants me to figure out what else I could do with that ground turkey with things I already have. This is probably because our pantry and refrigerator are overflowing and I just keep buying more and more groceries. So, this means that this recipe will be very different than my usual ones. I have to be creative. Luckily, I "think" I am pretty good at that. I have a bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts in the freezer. I also have like 6 cans of tomato paste because I always forget that I have it and buy more. Whoops. So, I have decided to make a sort of Italian Chicken in the crock pot. This could be genius or nasty. But hey, if it's nasty I can put the blame on Corey because it was his idea! So, here's what I am doing:

You will need:
1 small can of tomato paste
1 regular sized can of campbells tomato soup
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 stalks of green onions
Italian seasonings
spaghetti noodles
3 chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
salt & pepper
shredded cheese of your choosing

Makes about 3 servings


I am thawing out three chicken breasts on the Time Defrost setting for 30 minutes in the microwave. If you need to feed more people then thaw more out but, for two people this should be enough. (These are big chicken breasts). While those are in the microwave on thaw, I am getting the slow cooker ready. First I put a little bit of salt and pepper into the pot. Then I am dumping the tomato paste into the pot and adding a teaspoon of minced garlic. You will learn that there are very few things I cook that I do not use garlic in. Now, I have some green onions in the house so I will chop up about 3 stalks of it and toss that in there. At this point I am turning on the crock pot to HIGH so that it can warm up. Okay, here's where I risk screwing everything up. I do not have a can of tomato sauce so, I am adding a can of tomato soup. This could be bad but we will see. After adding the can of tomato soup, stir the paste and soup together and it will make a nice thick sauce :). Next, add a couple shakes of basil, parsley, oregano, and rosemary. Stir that all into the sauce. By this time the chicken should be almost thawed. Once done, take the chicken out of the microwave and place them one by one into the slow cooker covering each as they are put in with the sauce. Once they are all evenly covered with the sauce put the lid on and let cook for about 4 hours. About 20 minutes before it is done, boil up some noodles (I am using spaghetti noodles because that is what I have in the house) but any type will do. Then at the end of four hours take the noodles and just cover the bottom of the plate with them, place a chicken breast and some of the sauce on top, and top with any cheese of your choice. I will post how we liked the dinner after we eat it tonight :) Hopefully it turns out yummy!!

Okay! We tried it and I am going to give it a 3.5 out of 5. It was very yummy but I should have added about a teaspoon of sugar to the sauce before cooking it to make it a little less bitter. Oh well, I will know for next time!