Happy Monday!

So, tonight I got home early.  No duties at school means I can usually get in my car and be home before 5 pm.  I actually remembered to get the frozen "meat" out of the freezer before I headed off to work this morning. I admit that is my number one challenge.  I find that planning ahead helps me to remove the "thinking" aspect of dinner thoughts between 6 and 7 am when I'm getting ready to depart for work.  

Being a girl from Louisiana, I should have been having Red Beans and Rice, but guess what, I don't like them! But, sticking with my roots, we had Jambalaya for dinner tonight. I have a special "mix" that I use, that I typically purchase when I go home and visit my family.  But, lucky for you guys, I've found a website that sells this little gem.  So, you can have the deliciousness of Louisiana without having to go on a long trip down south.  Although, I must admit, going to Louisiana is a wonderful experience.  I may be partial, but everyone should at least go once.

http://www.lacrawfish.com/Oak-Grove-SmokehousebrCreole-Jambalaya-Mix-79-oz-P83.aspx


Jambalaya (Oak Grove Version) 
I started with some Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa, how this fits in with Cajun food, I'm not sure... But we'll just go with it.  I sliced it into little bite size slices, and sauteed the sausage in a bit of olive oil.  Once the sausage began to get nice and caramelized, I then added 2 1/2 cup of water to the pan, covered and brought this to a boil again.  Once the water & meat mixture began to boil, I added in the mix.  I then turned the fire very low, so that the pan was just slightly simmering, and cooked this for 25-30 minutes covered.

Tonight's Jambalaya was by far the best I've had in a long long time.  I have enough left over for lunch tomorrow, for both me and the hubs!  I served this quick and easy dinner with a side of salad.  Right, you're asking, "does your picky 13 year old eat salad? "  But, he actually does.  We had a tomato and green bean salad.  I put a little salt and pepper, some olive oil and vinegar, mix... and enjoy!
Dinner was satisfying and not exhausting tonight.  I call that a success!
Happy cooking everyone.