Menu 6/12 - 6/18--2011

Wow,  it has been a long time since I did a menu post! Here is what I hope to make this week and we will see how that turns out.
Sunday– Roast Au Jus


Monday–Chicken Fried Rice

Tuesday–Double Decker Tacos

Wednesday–Pork and Noodle Skillet

Thursday– Chicken Spaghetti

Friday–Beef Stroganoff

Saturday–Might have to be a leftover night!!

Jambalaya Skillet

Although my mother is from Louisiana, she is from Shreveport, way up in the northwestern corner. That means I did not grow up with any cajun cooking. Now Mom does make some seriously delicious shrimp gumbo, but that's about it. And please don't ask me what the difference is between gumbo, jambalaya and etouffee. I know there's a difference but I haven't the foggiest idea what it is. They are all delicious though! In any case, I came across this recipe in a daily e-mail from a local grocery store. It looked easy, so I gave it a shot with a couple minor modifications. Here it is:
The Ingredients

1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 Tbsp oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into strips
2 Tbsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, divided
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 pound cleaned shrimp
2 cups brown rice

Saute your trinity vegetables in hot oil until crisp-tender.

Toss the chicken with 1 Tbsp of the seasoning, then add the chicken to the skillet and cook until done.

I put the seasoning and chicken in a ziploc and mashed it around

Add remaining ingredients, except for the rice, and bring to a boil.

Add in the rice, cover and simmer for 5 minutes until heated through.

Remove from heat, let stand for another 5 minutes. Serve with bread.

The original recipe said to use instant brown rice but I used some cooked brown rice I made. It was a little soupier than I think it was supposed to be but it tasted great. Enjoy!

Berry Delicious Freezer Jam

As I wandered around Tractor Supply recently I found the canning aisle. Now I would love to can my own homegrown veggies for us to eat all year, but A.) I'm lazy B.) I don't have the equipment and C.) It's too stinkin' hard not to just eat them! We don't have enough yet really in any case. But that doesn't stop me from looking!!
Anyhoo, I have been wanting to make some freezer jam and I even bought some frozen mixed berries for that purpose. So I got some fancy plastic canning jars and a package of freezer jam pectin. Then I got down to business.
The Ingredients:

4 cups crushed fruit
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package Mrs Wares Freezer Jam Pectin

Allow frozen fruit to thaw and then crush using a potato masher.

I didn't have quite 4 cups from my frozen berries so I added in some fresh strawberries.

Add the sugar and pectin.

Mix well and continue to stir for 3 minutes.

Pour into prepared jars and allow to set for 30 minutes.

What you will use right away, put into the fridge. It will last about 3 weeks. Put the rest in the freezer and it will keep for about a year. This jam is very tasty! It tastes like cobbler filling to me. I have used it in sandwiches and on toast. Next time I think I will make peach but according to the package of pectin, peach jam has a different direction set which you can find here.