Thanksgiving left over Gumbo

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the left overs for GUMBO the next day!!!

What you'll need:

** For the Roux **
~ Use a wooden spoon ~
1/2 cup peanut oil (or oil of your choice.)
1/2 cup flour

* For the Gumbo itself *
1 lb crab meat
1/2 lb cut sausage (I use Hillshire Farm's chicken sausage, & crab boil it first.)
1/3 cup okra
1/4 cup corn
1/2 cup crawfish tails
Whatever left over Gravy you have
tsp hot sauce
tsp tony's
1 tsp Gumbo Filet (Sassafras)
1/2 lb of shredded left over turkey meat
1 can of Rotel (diced tomato and green chili)
5 cups Chicken broth
1/3 cup caramelized onion, celery, pepper mix.

How to get started:
STart making your Roux by placing your oil in the stock pot on medium/low, and very slowly adding in your flour, bit by bit. Do NOT leave your Roux for even a moment. keep stirring. If you even burn one bit, you need to throw it out and start over again! Keep stirring until your roux turns a dark brown/coppery color.

Once your roux is to your desired color, add in your chicken broth and carameized onion, celery, & pepper mix.

While that is going, saute your okra. Basically cook it until it is no longer slimy in the pan.

add in all your seasoning, rotel, hot sauce, turkey, crawfish, crab, corn, & sausage.

Keep cooking for about an hour. The longer it cooks on medium/low, the better it tastes. Once your ready to serve, add in your gumbo filet and serve over a bed of rice! ENJOY!

A Cajun Thanksgiving...

So, My favorite "food" memories in life for Thanksgivings were, 1.) Growing up, my mother would always get a deep fried turkey from Popeyes, & this amazing Crawfish cornbread dressing from Lagniappe market. 2.) My first husband's mother made the BEST homemade macaroni and his Dad made deep fried turkeys himself.

Now that I am in charge of my own Thanksgiving dinners, My husband and I were in search of our own deep fried turkey recipe and found Emeril's! It was great, though everyone besides myself, complained it was too spicy, so I tweeked it and here it is!

What You Will Need:

• 1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey, rinsed well inside and out, patted dry 2 tablespoons 
• 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 tablespoon concentrated liquid crab boil (We use Zatarian's.)
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1  bottle of beer. (We use Miller Lite.)
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup Creole seasoning (We use a mix of Slap Yo Mamma & Tony's.)
• a Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely minced garlic 
• 3 teaspoons Sea salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 stick of butter to rub on the skin.

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until it is as liquified as possible. Then inject into every piece of the turkey as possible. I even stick some down the neck to marinate in!

* Make sure you use a LARGE syringe, because the mixture WILL get jammed in the injector if not! *


Crawfish Cornbread Dressing

What you will need:

•  2 1/2 cups squares of corn bread mixed with whole wheat bread. (When I do cheat, I use a box of  Stouffers Corn Bread Mix or turkey stuffing.
• 3 eggs
• 4 TBSP of REAL BUTTER (Not that spread crap.)
• 1/3 cup caramelized onion, celery, pepper, blend.
• 1 cup crawfish tails, preferably some from a real crawfish boil!
• 1/4 cup of Italian style bread crumbs, used as topping.
• 1 tsp Tony's cajun seasoning
• 3 cups of chicken broth.

What to Do:
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine all the above, except bread crumbs, ingredients in a large bowl. Once it is thoroughly combined, move it into a greased baking dish. I like my Glass Pyrex dish.
Now sprinkle the bread crumbs on top and place into the oven.
Bake for Approx. 20-30 minutes covered, and then for another 10-15 or until the top is browned.

I hope you like it, & have a blessed thanksgiving!
Stay safe, & be careful frying up those turkeys!

Most importantly, put the FUN in dysfunctional family! HA

Banana Muffins... Hold the flour!

In my quest to live healthier, I was looking for better options for desserts, &  found a couple flourless recipes. Here's my twist on my favorite!

You will need:

2 1/2 cups oats (Not the packet kind. REAL OATS!)
1 cup of plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 TBSP light brown sugar
2-3 bananas

Get Baking:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all of the above ingredients in a blender until oats are broken down, unless you want it oaty!

Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray. (DON'T use baking papers. This WILL stick to the paper if you do!)

Pour in your mixture, and bake until the insides are no longer gooey!

ENJOY!

For the love of Curry...

I absolutely LOVE curry, and I usually make it with rice noodles and shrimp, but tonight I decided to shake it up for the Hubbs...

What you will need:

• 1 cup of Curry sauce. I like the "Golden Curry" from Walmart or any Asian Market. (You can find recipes for homemade curry sauce if you prefer.)
• 1/2 cup organic brown rice. (You could do white or Jasmine if you prefer, but I try to keep it healthy!)
• 2 Large boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup chopped onions, peppers, celery blend.
• 2 tsp real butter
• 1 tbsp real butter to caramelize onions, celery, peppers, & garlic in.
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 small bag of carrots

Let's get to cookin':
Make your curry sauce or heat it up.

Cook your rice.

Cook your carrots with the 2 tsps of butter, covered.(You can serve them on the side, or cut and add into the mix.)

Bake your chicken on a baking pan. (I topped mine with some red thai chili seasoning from Pampered Chef.)

Carmelize your onions, peppers, celery, and then add in garlic. (I buy the frozen bag and then just throw it in the pan with the butter, Fast & Easy!)

Once chicken is thoroughly cooked, cut into prefered size pieces, (I make mine in 1/2 inch bites because of the kids.) add everything into one, serve, and enjoy! Easy Peezy.