Crock-Pot Queen

I made an amazing meal tonight. And I am not queen of cooking. In fact, I only cook when Steve twists my arm into feeling as though it's my responsibility. Sooo, this afternoon when Steve announced he would be home by 6:15 (normally it's close to 9), I decided to take it upon myself to cook. I had two options, tuna steaks or chicken (only thing I had thawed out of the freezer)... Steve doesn't particularly care for tuna steaks, so that narrowed the options down pretty quickly. No matter what, I had to go out and run errands, so I went online and found a slow-cooking Jambalaya recipe. Now, this meant I needed to go to the grocery store... and the grocery store meant that I would probably spend more money than I should. Buttttt, I couldn't resist. I assumed the recipe would feed us for a few days (I was right), and I had to prove I could cook, more to myself.

I go on my errands. I dropped 5 applications off at the post office to be mailed out to their respective Human Resources departments (very exciting!), and made a deposit at the bank for Steve. Then I hit Harris Teeter... I did end up spending a fortune (that I don't really have, but hey.), but I bought apples and blueberries for snacking, a big bottle of red wine, and dessert.

I made stewed, whiskey soaked peaches, plums and blueberries with angel food cake for dessert. Steve didn't like the fruit, but I do. It would be good on ice cream, or even oatmeal.

And the jambalaya... OOOOOOOOOOOOH, it was Good. With a capital G. It was spicy, to the point it made me sweat, and sooo flavorful between the chicken, andouille sausage and shrimp. I think the only thing I would do differently would be to use raw shrimp and let them cook in the pot, instead of throwing in frozen cooked shrimp at the very end. And it didn't take long to cook at all! Maybe 2.5 hours?

Jambalaya

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes (mine were a little bigger, I figured they'd cook down)
• 1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced ( I used a 4 pack of sausages... I think 12 ounces or so)
• 1 pound frozen cooked shrimp without tails... (Like I said, I will use raw peeled shrimp next time and allow them to cook in the pot... The pre-cooked shrimp get kind of mushy after being in the pot for a little while.)
• 1 - 28 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chicken broth (I have kind of a small cooker, so I just filled it to the top with broth... I think next time I will probably leave it out completely. It made it sort of soupy.)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (I used half and half of a blackening seasoning and Old Bay... I think that added to the spice)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used 2.. Steve loves spicy food)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

In the slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, green bell peppe, celery and broth (If you need it). Season with spices.

Cover and cook 7-8 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on high (I used high.). Stir in the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cooking. (I added the shrimp 10 minutes before we ate and they were fine... but as I said, I'll be using raw shrimp next time.)

Serve with your favorite starch (rice is best).

Steve and I have leftovers that will probably last us the next 2 days or so. This is a fabulous recipe, I commend the woman who made it. I got it from www.allrecipes.com and I have found some great meals there.

Make this meal... even if you just stew it on the stove for a few hours. It's DELICIOUS.