Jambalaya & Baked Banana French Toast

Jambalaya & Baked Banana French Toast

Charla taught me how to make Jambalaya based on her recipe (which I’m sure she adapted from somewhere but I'm still giving her all the kudos :).

2 Tb. olive oil

8 oz. sausage (I usually get turkey andouille)

~ 8 oz. chicken, cooked

1 large onion

3-5 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. parsley, dried or fresh

1 1/2 c. boiling chicken stock

1 1/2 c. white rice

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. hot sauce

1 14 oz. can tomatoes

1 green bell pepper

2 Tb. white wine

Heat oil in saucepan. Add sausage and brown. Add chicken and onions, cook for about 3 min. Add garlic, thyme, and parsley. Stir well, then add stock, rice, cayenne, and hot sauce. Add bell peppers and tomatoes with juice and break up with a spoon. Bring mixture to a boil, stir well, cover and simmer gently 15-20 min. Stir, add white wine and cook another 5 min. 

Charla was very good at walking me through everything but I’m not sure if I could do this again without Charla, or without getting totally overwhelmed and frustrated. However, I am feeling more comfortable in the kitchen and tackling recipes with more than four steps or ingredients.

Also, the basics of doing this meal project, such as cooking chicken and sausage was really useful. I also learned how to appropriately cut vegetables and chicken and it’s these basic cooking skills that are really necessary to learn.

As always I had a fun time and the food turned out really delicious! Success! Next time I would cut down the quantity being made since Ansell and I ate jambalaya basically everyday for 5 days straight.

Baked Banana French Toast

Before being baked

I am a huge breakfast fan and my latent cooking skills always shine when I do breakfast. I found this amazing recipe from Bakerella’s awesome website and couldn’t wait to try it! I wasn’t disappointed!

This is a fairly simple breakfast food that has a few things that make it a favorite:

   * It is in a contained baking tray which makes it

o   -Easy cooking and cleaning

o   -Reduces possible burning

o   -All pieces were warm when we ate since it was all cooked together

After the oven time

   *It involves bananas. I love bananas baked in breakfast stuff.

*It needs to chill so it’s perfect for making the night before.

*Look how photogenic it is!

This is such a winner!  Will definitely make it again!