Crock Pot Shrimp Creole

(Adapted from Paula Deen)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced green bell peppers
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 (14-ounces) can tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
• Green onions, for garnish

Directions;

1. Preheat crock pot on high.
2. In fry pan, heat olive oil. Add peppers, onions and celery. Cook until softened. Add chili powder and saute until caramelized. Remove from heat and pour into crock pot. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, hot sauce, Worcestershire, white sugar, salt and pepper.
3. Cook for 3 hours. 
4. Add shrimp and cook for about 3 minutes. Serve over rice. Top with chopped green onions

Italian Sausage Sick Day Soup

Pandora Station: Porcupine Tree

Today, is another boyfriend-less, roommate-less, school-less day off of work. And today, I am sick.

My throat has decided to catch itself on fire, close up, and itch like crazy. This has caused me to cough until I choke multiple times already. My body has also decided that it quits. In fact, I'm pretty sure the amount that it's aching is a signal, warning me that the end is near. I started feeling sick early yesterday morning, and unfortunately found it too short notice to get anyone to go into work for me, so I pushed myself through a grueling night shift, where eventually I left an hour and a half early. They weren't going to let me leave-- they needed me. But I couldn't stay. I can't even imagine the chaos and drama that would ensue had I passed out in the front lobby of Starbucks, my green apron sailing down with me, like a surrendering white flag.

So I guess, in a way, it's lucky that I don't have work today. It sucks that I have to be a hot mess of sick on my day off, but at least I'm not missing work for it. The worst part is not being able to do anything at all. I don't handle boredom well. And boredom is a lot more miserable when you're home alone, sick, hungry, and practically immobile. It has been a long time since I was last this sick. In fact, the last time I was this ill, I was dating a girl, whose motherly instincts kicked in at the first sign of my illness. She made me food, helped me shower and dress, even set me up in front of the tv where I (reluctantly...) watched an entire season of Gilmore Girls. 

This time, I don't have that. I'm being forced to be a real adult and battle this bug alone. I was up at 6 AM this morning, unable to sleep because of the aching throat and body pains. It was then that I realized that it was raining, I was sick, and I was alone. I decided that it would be a good idea to haul out the crock pot again and make some soup for myself. I spent a few more hours in and out of consciousness, while I tried to find the strength to crawl out of bed and sink downstairs, where I could be a gelatinous puddle of sick downstairs with all of the dogs, rather than being a gelatinous puddle of sick upstairs by myself. I wrestled with the idea of making soup during those few hours, and eventually decided that I needed to do it and that I needed to get my ass up. Finally, with a little of my own momentum, and gravity, I was able to pull myself out of bed.

Now if I was going to make soup, I needed a few things from the store. This would be a challenge. Should I put on real clothes? Were pants necessary for this type of outing? I mean, it's raining and I'm sick. Would anyone really notice of judge me if they saw me at the grocery store in my neon purple plaid jammies and my giant black hoodie covered in pitbull fur? I spent entirely too long with this thought. In the end, I opted not to draw more attention to myself and my illness, as it may cause people around me to take extreme measures to avoid me, and this could become very inconvenient for me. I threw on some jeans and a hoodie with slightly less dog hair, and I pulled my rat nest of a mane out of my face. I also decided that last night's make up was perfectly acceptable (When I returned home, I realized that it was not). 

So, let me break this down for you in list form to make it a little easier:

Step 1: Find will to get up and out of bed. CHECK.

Step 2: Put on pants. CHECK.

Step 3: Shoes may also be a good idea. CHECK. (I actually forgot them initially and had to run back inside...)

Step 4: Go out into the world to purchase soup ingredients. CHECK.

Before I go on, can I just mention how completely confusing the pasta aisle is for me? I can never decide what kind of pasta I want....there are wayyyy too many options. Someone needs to get on those italians...

Step 5: Make soup. Throw it in the pot and take a nap or watch West Wing.

Step 6: Eat delicious, delicious soup and feel a billion times better...hopefully...

Without further ado, I give you, Italian Sausage Sick Day Soup:

(recipe adapted from allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds Italian seasoned ground turkey(Jennie-O is the best!)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 2 (14.5 oz.) cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 1/4 cups dry red wine
• 3 (14.5 oz) cans beef broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 (16 ounce) package rainbow rotini pasta
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot, cook sausage over medium heat until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Drain fat from pan, reserving 3 tablespoons.
2. Cook garlic and onion in reserved fat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, wine, broth, basil, and oregano. Transfer to a slow cooker, and stir in sausage, zucchini, bell pepper, and parsley.
3. Cover, and cook on Low for 4 to 6 hours.
4. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain water, and add pasta to the slow cooker. Simmer for a few minutes, and season with salt and pepper before serving.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches on Homemade Hoagie Rolls

Pandora Station: Blind Pilot


Let me start off by telling you that I have ADHD and that I'm taking medication for it. And I'm not even going to lie to you, when I have a day off of work and school, I have been known to abuse my prescription just a tiny bit, putting myself into a do "ALL of the Things!!" kind of frenzy. A lot of the time when this happens, I end up throwing on my short shorts, pulling all of my hair back, and deep cleaning the entire house (seven dogs and three boys make a lot of dust!) But, other times, I end up doing a little experimenting in the kitchen.


Today is a cooking adventure kind of day. Roommates gone, boyfriend at school and work all day, and tiny kitten sleeping soundly in my hoodie pocket, I take my first steps into the cooking blog world. Sort of. Here goes.


I love barbeque sauce. I love it so much. If bbq sauce were a man, I would sit with it and watch football without complaining (And that's saying something...). Lately we've been trying to save money, so we've been buying those big bags of frozen, individually wrapped chicken breast halves from Costco and using them for all kinds of things. To be quite honest, I'm surprised that this is the first time I've decided to use bbq sauce with it. In addition to that, I will jump at any opportunity to use my awesome red slow cooker. Something about smelling dinner all day long just makes it a billion times tastier.


This recipe was adapted from AllRecipes, but I made a few necessary improvements:




Slow-Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches (Serves 3-4)


Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, thawed
• 1 (12 oz) bottle of bbq sauce (It is really important to use a good quality sauce for this. I like Bullseye or Jack Daniels Original sauces.)
• 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 fresh minced jalapeno (This may be cut down or omitted completely if you aren't into spicy things. You can also use canned jalapenos, but fresh ones have a way better flavor!)
• 3 minced garlic cloves (Or more! I'm a huge fan of garlic, and I will slip it in anywhere!)
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Rub chicken halves with salt and pepper, and place them in your slow cooker.
2. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour them over the chicken.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 2-4 hours.
4. Shred chicken and serve on warm hoagie or kaiser rolls with cheddar cheese. You can use pre-made rolls, or try my recipe for homemade ones below!

Home-made Hoagie Rolls (Makes 9 rolls!)

Ingredients

• 1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast (That's 2 1/4 tsp. if your using a jar!)
• 1 1/2 cups of hot tap water (You will end up dividing this into 1/4 cup and 1 1/4 cup) 
• 2 tsp. white sugar
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 - 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of the hot water, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, and let it stand for about five minutes. A little foam will start to form.
2. Add the remaining water and sugar. Beat in oil, salt, and flour until smooth.
3. Turn onto a floured board and knead for about 6-8 minutes, until it is elastic-like.
4. Place into a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.
5. Cover with a kitchen rag or a damp paper towel. Make sure to place it somewhere that isnt too cold. yeast likes warmth to rise. I put dough in my microwave to rise (But don't turn it on!!). Let it rise for about 45 minutes
6. Punch the dough down (So much fun!), place it on a lightly floured board, and cut it up into nine equal-ish pieces.
7. Shape each piece into an oval.
8. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. I like to cover my sheets with foil for easy clean up...What can I say? I'm lazy.
9. Use scissors to cut a 1/4 inch slash on the top of each piece.
10. Cover and let them rise for another 20 minutes.
11. Before baking, you can also brush them with a little butter, add some parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, or really anything you want to the top of them. I sprinkled a little garlic salt on top of mine!
12. Bake for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

So, there you have it! I realize that making your own bread is a little extensive, but I had extra time today, and I have a jar of yeast that I really need to use up. Plus, I don't think there are many things better than fresh bread.