Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo

We were young. We were in love. We had no idea how to prepare meals.

Six years ago, two of my best friends and I had met the men we were going to marry, and we were all just months of being engaged. All three of us still lived at home with our respective parents, and it dawned on us that if we were to become wives, we should learn to make a good dinner.

One of us hatched the plan to prepare a meal together, with our mutual moral support, in my mom's kitchen, for our dashing, sweet, and hungry men. So one sunny afternoon in the fall, the three of us pored over cookbooks, searching for the perfect recipes, making a comprehensive grocery list, and doing our best to prepare a delicious meal. One that would win their hearts, straight through their stomachs.

Our dinner party was a success: we learned quite a lot, we made a dear memory, and we were all married within a year.

Looking back, I'm not sure why we chose to make two soups: Minestrone and Gumbo. But our beloved men didn't complain. They even ate seconds. And they sopped up every drop with Beer Bread. While listening to a CD of Nora Jones. They were such good sports.

This is the gumbo recipe. It is taken from The New Good Housekeeping Cookbook. My variation is simpler. I use smoked sausage instead of Anduille sausage. I use frozen "gumbo mix" vegetables instead of chopping fresh. I used cooked shrimp, because that is what was in my freezer.

Last week I made this for the first time solo, and I took pictures. This is my first recipe with a photo tutorial!

Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo

• 1 pound sausage (smoked sausage, or Italian sausage, or Cajun sausage)
• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 16-ounce package frozen gumbo mix vegetables (or 2 stalks celery, 1 green pepper, and 1 medium onion, all chopped, and later add 1 10-ounce package frozen okra)
• 1 14-ounce can or 1-3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
  
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 4 cups cooked hot rice, prepared according to package directions
  

Heat a 5 quart dutch oven over medium heat.
When it is hot, add the sausage.
I sliced the sausage. If you use an Italian or Cajun sausage that have casings, be sure to prick the skin with a fork so they don't explode.

Let them get browned, about 5-10 minutes, then remove them with a slotted spoon. (If you are using a different kind of sausage, let them cool enough to handle, and slice them into 3-4 pieces each.)
Leave only about one Tablespoon of the grease in the dutch oven.
Add 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil.

Next, add the flour to make a roux. You want about equal parts oil and flour. Stir constantly, and do not let it burn. Cook until it gets a light brown, and thickens. You don't want to taste raw flour in the finished product.

Here it is getting a little more golden.

Here you see it is thickening enough to leave a path when I scrape the bottom.

Next, add the vegetables.
My mix had onions, celery, corn, peppers, and okra.
I felt like it needed more celery than what came in the frozen package, so I sliced a stalk.

I separated the okra, and added it at the end, so it would not be as slimy.

Add the vegetables to the roux, and cook until they are tender, about 7-10 minutes for fresh, about 5 minutes for frozen.

Then add the sausage back to the dutch oven.

Gradually stir in the broth, water, and frozen okra.

Add your spices.

Heat to boiling over high heat, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the shrimp, and cook until they are pink and opaque throughout (if using raw), or heated through (if using cooked).

Remove bay leaf before serving in bowls over rice.
Makes about 6 main-dish servings.


I'm linking to Alicia's Try New Adventures Thursday (because it revisits an adventure from the past, and it was an adventure to try it again, and try a photo recipe, to boot!)

Bibs

I just realized that we gave Lizzie her first bites of solid food A YEAR AGO.

It gave me a scare for a moment not unlike the moments in which you realize you can measure your life in DECADES.

We've come a long way. The first thing she ate was avocado. She loved it.

These days, Liz will eat almost anything except for avocado. The texture gets to her. I guess it reminds her of baby food. And she is such a big girl that she wants nothing to do with baby food.

Now she eats green beans. Whole. Frozen--especially when she's teething.

(Speaking of teething, we are almost done. Praise Jesus! The last incisor is through and is working its way into its position. Oh, the relief!)

Ever since teething began, along with the buckets of drool, bibs have been part of our daily routine.

Until recently, they have been wadded in one of the few drawers in the kitchen. The same drawer that holds the hot pads and towels and cloth napkins. And it's pretty small. You know how it is trying to cram too many things into one small drawer. It was frustrating, so I began not putting them away. That never helps the frustration level go down, because then they're just out where they don't belong.

Here is my solution:

This picture only shows two bibs hanging, for clarity's sake. Normally there are about a dozen. And the way this kid eats, we go through that many between laundry days.

They are now hanging on the wire shelving behind the door of the pantry. The bibs that clasp are wrapped around the wire.
The bibs that don't clasp--the kind you have to pull over the head like a t-shirt--are looped through a plastic link.

This has solved the bib problem!

Since I'm talking about bibs, and mentioned laundry, I also realized that bibs should be washed inside mesh lingerie bags. Even if you close all the Velcro tabs before you throw them in, there is no guarantee they won't catch on something you really didn't want to have frayed.

I'm giving the "Works for Me Wednesday" link up a whirl. Because I believe this will help more than just me.

So far I have linked up with 3 different sites this week. It is so much fun to meet new people through these sites. I don't know why I haven't tried to do this before!

Kitchens, Plastic and Real

This weekend we hit one of our favorite subdivision yard sale extravaganzas. If we had any particular goal in mind, it was to buy Lizzie a kitchen play set. And a baby monitor, since our video monitor took a dive off a bookshelf and didn't survive. No luck on the monitor.

However, we had success, and found a large kitchen set in great condition, with a ton of dishes, for $25!

Now a colorful plastic "Country Kitchen" is in the dining room, in view of the real kitchen.

Liz is in love. She pretends to microwave a cup, pushing the buttons, closing the door, pushing the buttons again, removing the cup, then pretending to drink out of it. Then she giggles. And we giggle. Watching her pretend play is amazing. Her imitations are exaggerated, and almost exact. That girl wants to be just like me.

Humbling thought.

At least both kitchens are clean. I know they're clean, because I used Clorox wipes on them. The real one and the plastic one. Now I have two kitchens to pick up before bed every night. Or at least more dishes to put where they belong. I may have to implement a chore for Lizzie after dinner.

Recently I did a complete ceiling-to-floor cleaning of the kitchen. The last time I did that was during my 2nd trimester, and I have a 16-month-old child. The Clorox wipes are as close as it has gotten to thoroughly clean in a long time. If I had absolutely no pride, I would have taken "before" and "after" photos, but I only took one "after" photo of what I'm the most pleased with.

You know how those odd cooking staples like oil, vinegar, and all the things that get too close to the stove somehow have a film of grease, then the countertop gets all gunky, and so does anything that touches the gunky countertop?

And you know that one huge platter you have that you only use for Thanksgiving? The one that takes up half a cupboard?

Well, I repurposed the platter, and gave all the bottles a place to live. Isn't it pretty? It makes me happy.


Back to this weekend. To make room for the new kitchen set, I cleared the dining room table and took out a leaf. This means we have a clean dining room, too. It means we can eat without pushing papers and crayons and contact lens cases and batteries and scissors and power tools to the far end in order to find a place to set our plates.

The office is taking shape. There are no more papers on the floor. We vacuumed it. Yes, that's a big deal around here. Why, yes, we don't have company over very often. Why do you ask?

L's closet has only clothes in it that she can grow into. All her smaller clothes are in the attic. Next I will go through her toys. Slowly but surely I am making my way through the house. One day it will be clean; maybe even free of excess clutter.

Not free of clutter. Free of excess clutter. And I can live with that.

What project are you working on, what result are you happy with, or what do you hope to accomplish this month?

I'm linking up with the Moms' 30 Minute Blog Challenge at Steady Mom's blog today. I love the concept, and could stand to do this more than only on Tuesdays!

Monday. Meals and Such, Oct 4

Well, the Menu Plan Monday thing is tricky for me. I have posted our meals on the blog 3 times, and never have stuck precisely with the plan. So, I'm going to go with "Meal Options" instead.

Apparently I'm more of a free spirit than I let on, and don't like following a list. Or maybe I'm such a poor planner that I don't plan according to logic, or refrigerator space. But I suppose I'll figure it out before too long. For now, I do well with a list of "what we can eat this week" and I'll start whichever one on whichever day, and if not, we'll eat grilled cheese.

Meal options, 10.4.10

Honey Dijon Chicken w/ pasta and veggies (what we ate tonight; a hit with all of us, every time)
Country Style Pork Ribs (Help? They were on sale. Any suggestions for me as to how to make them?)
Sausage and Peppers and Onions (this is SO good)
Beans & Rice
Cube Steak and veggies and potatoes
Grilled cheese & soup (from a can)
Arroz con Pollo
and probably some chicken sandwiches (you know, frozen chicken patties, on buns. Yes, because we're classy like that.)

For breakfasts: oatmeal, eggs, and once or twice pancakes or waffles

Lunches: leftovers, sandwiches, whatever we can find in the pantry

Last week I did make a couple of good meals, and one of them I want to share with y'all. It's a pretty simple gumbo, and I got pictures and everything. Fun. So hopefully that will go up this week.

Coffee and a Purpose in Writing

Good morning.

I'm linking up with the Company Girls again today.

Sam is interviewing right now. Well, actually it's a meeting, which may have a large pool of additional interviewees, but it is a start. And it is for a job that he is very excited about. I am, too.

It's been an interesting few months. Having no real income is a drag. Yes, we have been OK, and we thank God for His provision. And thank God for our families and dear friends who care about us. We are blessed.

Having Sam here nearly every day has been great. It will be different when he starts working again and I won't be able to just leave Lizzie at home while I run errands. I'll have to actually take her with me to Kroger. Poor Lizzie won't know what to do with herself with only one parent around all the time. She will miss having Dada at her beck and call all day. I'll miss having him around to bounce ideas off of, and to ask him questions right away, instead of having to wait until he comes home. And to have him available to change a couple of diapers, refill a sippy cup, or take Lizzie out when she goes crazy asking to swing.

And as much as I love having him around, it will also be nice to have the house to myself, work out my own schedule, and only clean up after myself and Lizzie for most of the day.

What else, what else?

It has been cool this week. Highs in the 70's, lows in the 60's. We have had quite a bit of rain. But when it hasn't been rainy, it has been perfect. Sunny, breezy, perfect. We have had the windows open more often than not.

The cool weather has brought one of the cats onto my lap. He's such a wimp, and can't stand being the slightest bit chilly.

Lizzie is still sleeping. I am so glad. We had a late night, and she had no nap. So if she sleeps until 10, I will not complain.

This past week I have been really considering this blog, its purpose, and its use of my time. As I have been praying and thinking about it, I have done reading and research, and have felt very purposeful about it. That has never happened before. I have always felt it has been some kind of hobby, almost a waste of time (but not quite).

Yesterday - or maybe Wednesday - I finished categorizing my posts. There's a list of them on the sidebar. I'm pretty sure that there are too many tagged as "miscellaneous". And most of the posts are far too long. However, doing that helped me see where I have emphasized different things, different subjects, and different aspects of life.

There will come a day when I change my blog name and move it over to a different format. Not right now, and not until I really have it set up, planned, and ready.

The idea of a new, shiny, purposeful, professional-looking blog excites me. If I set out to compose a blog, I want to do it well. I want it to be more than just ramblings. Of course sometimes I will "flap my gums" via the keyboard, but I hope there will be substance and something of worth in the pages.

I picked out a name for it. I even googled the name, and it's not copyrighted. So I claimed it already.

I am hammering out a vision for it. I know that it will grow, and it will change, as I do. The beauty of a blog is that it is not static.

I believe that the opportunity to write is a gift. I believe that I am truly called to write. I believe I have something to share. Something to say. Something in my hands to hold out to the world.

While you are reading, do you have any words of wisdom, experience, or constructive criticism to add? What has spurred you on to blog? What have you learned about the creative or technical aspects of blogging?

Blogger? Wordpress?

Who uses what system, and what do you like about it?

I am considering moving over to Wordpress.

Because I am trying to make my blog look professional and lovely and be something you want to follow.

Any suggestions?

Earning

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom 6:23

Daily Light, September 26, AM

When I graduated high school, the parents of one of my friends gave me a leatherbound copy of The Daily Light. In the (gasp) 12 years since then, I have at least glanced at it most days. To be sure of that, I keep it open, in the bathroom. The humidity has bubbled the pages, but I sort of like it that way. I would rather it seem a little worse for wear than be pristine because it was on a shelf.

I glanced at the morning devotion, the verse above struck me. Since I thought it would be a fairly busy day, I tried to make the most of the quick visit to the little bathroom.

Wages. Something that is earned. When I try to earn anything, all I will reap will be death.

Gift. Something given. Something received. Something not earned.

The gift of God is salvation, forgiveness, wholeness. The gift of God is eternal life. Life! Unending, unquantifiable, full, spiritual life.

But when I receive the gift of God, that is, draw on the life He provides through the Spirit, what I will reap is life.