Love, Sweat, and Beers

Good Morning Bloggies!  Did you all do your homework from yesterday?  I hope so.  It’s a great way to start the week.  I have three topics today.  Three???  Yes, but don’t worry, I’ll be brief.  First I’d like to share a new recipe with you.  I made it up last night, and I think it turned out pretty well.  Next, I’d like to share a tidbit of brew news.  Lastly, well… you’ll see.

Lower Calorie Jambalaya

• 4 servings brown rice and more water than necessary
• Hot sauce (if you like it hot)
• With 4-5 tsp olive or canola oil, divided
• 1 onion (diced)
• 2 jalapenos (diced and not totally necessary-these were pretty mild)
• Half of one bell pepper (diced)
• 1.5 cups diced celery (or about 5 stalks/stems)
• 1 tsp Cajun spices (I think it’s mainly cayenne pepper, onion powder, and chili powder.)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• Black Pepper (to taste)
• 1 can kidney beans (rinsed, drained)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (with juice)
•  0.75 lb shrimp (peeled)

The Yum Stuff

1. Cook rice while prepping the other ingredients.  This generally takes 45 minutes.  I added my hot sauce to the rice during this time.  Be sure to use a large pot for this.
2. Add two tsp oil to large frying pan, and cook onion, jalapenos, bell pepper, and celery.  After a few minutes, add spices and continue cooking until soft (approximately 10 minutes)
3. Add half the tomatoes to the pan and the other half with juice to the rice.  Add the can of beans to the rice as well.  You may need to add more water to rice, but this depends upon how soup-like you want your jambalaya.  (Mine was a little less soupy than I would have wished.)  The burner under the big pot should be on very low heat.
4. When rice is finished cooking, add vegetables from the pan to the pot of rice.  Keep burner on medium-high.
5. Add one or two tsp oil to pan, and sauté half the shrimp.  These only cook a few minutes and should be cooked only until they turn pink.  Scrape bottom of pan for extra spices that may have stuck.  Transfer shrimp to pot.  Repeat with remaining shrimp and oil.
6. I had a teeny bit of white wine in the fridge while I was cooking, so I added a splash of white wine while cooking the shrimp.  It was delicious and fragrant but totally unnecessary.  You could also boil the shrimp if you prefer.
7. Mix all ingredients in the big pot.  Add salt, pepper, and/or hot sauce to taste.
   

   Who you callin shrimp?

I added extra beans to Kev’s bowl because he eats more than I do (hints the extra can in the first picture).  I wouldn’t recommend this though because he complained about it.  If you have a hungry eater, it’s worth considering.  This will feed us two nights, so it’s 4 servings.  Hurray for leftovers!

My Bowl of Amazun Cajun

In other news, today kicks off craft beer week.  Try looking around for events and celebrations in your area; it’s a nation-wide event.  In the words of Miley, “Party in the U.S.A.!”

Lastly, I’m still not over this darling haircut.  I hate that it makes me feel old, but I love the way it holds curl.  I guess I don’t feel too “old” today while rocking the headband.

Gotta Love Spring

By the way, I totally skipped my workout today.  Crazy, right?  I just wasn’t feeling it.  I’ll go to the gym tonight though to make up for the difference.  I’m just doing my Women’s Health workout, so it shouldn’t be too dreadful.  I’ve gotta save up my leg energy this week.  Perhaps I’ll tell you why tomorrow!