Thursday, October 4, 2012

Gumbo for the fam


½ lb of bacon: cut into small pieces and fry in the skillet, pan, or pot you plan on using the whole time. (Save on dishes)!

1 lb Andouille sausage: fry in bacon fat, cool, then cut into bite size pieces

1 lb chicken: fry in bacon fat, cool, then cut into bite size pieces or you can do .5 lb chicken and .5 lbs of shrimp



1 large onion: dice

4 celery stalks: dice
2 large green peppers: dice

1 stick of butter: add to bacon fat and melt
1 cup of flour: pour into fat and brown. Stir constantly for 10 minutes. After that you can let it sit a few minutes at a time until desired browness. DO NOT BURN (if you do throw away and start over). Some people like light brown while others like it chocolate colored. (I like it light).


Mix the following ingredients into a bowl
2 tblsp smoked paprika
1 tblsp garlic
1 tbls oregano
1 tbls thyme
1.5 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper


Add diced veggies to roux cook for about 2-4 minutes on medium stir and cook another 2-4 minutes.


8 cups of chicken broth: heat to a boil and add to roux,
chicken pieces: add to roux
¾ of the prepared spices: add to roux
Simmer for 90-120 minutes

16 oz of frozen okra: add to gumbo
Andouille sausage: add to gumbo
Heat to a boil
Add the rest of the spices, or save some for people to add to taste

Serve over white rice and top with bacon

Freeze leftovers

Story Time

My 5 year old likes us to tell stories every night. My husband is awesome at telling stories so I am going to write them down.

The Cookie Town

Once upon a time there was a cookie town. And all of the people in the cookie town made cookies. There was Charlie the chocolate chip cookie champion. Sally the cookie sandwich queen, and Billy the cookieless kid.
Though Billy couldn't make make any cookies he wasn't completely out of luck. The cookie castle in cookie town housed the most spectacular, brilliantly, delicious, magical cookie in the whole world. This cookie was called the hope cookie. One nibble from the hope cookie could make anyone one an awesome cookie maker.