Gumbo, homemade

The best way I can use left overs when I have a variety of meats in the refrigerator. So I had left over, roast chicken, pork roast and pot roast. So go grab your left overs and we will get started.

  I diced up onion,garlic,green pepper and carrots and extra virgin olive oil, placed the in a saute pan over low to medium heat until nicely caramelized. When they are done add them into the bottom of your crock pot, or stock pan on the stove. Next I cut up my left over meats and placed them in the same saute pan and just got them warmed through, added them to the crock pot as well. Make sure you get everything out of your saute pan, scrape the bottom with a spoon, theres a lot of flavor in the bottom of the pan. Okay so next I added a box of beef broth and a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce (use store bought if thats what you have) Stir it all together in the crock pot and add your salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, soy sauce about 2 tbs and Worcestershire sauce about 2 tbs and a bit of A1 about 2 tbs. Make sure you mix it together well. Put the lid on the crock pot and slow cook on low for 8 hours. This is a meal you want to start early in the morning and let it cook all day. You want to give time to allow for all the flavors to blend and marinate together, the longer it cooks the better it tastes.
  So after the 8 hours is up you want to make your white rice. Make as much as you want, I usually do about 1/2 cup of rice to a bowl of gumbo. After the rice is cooked put it in your bowl then add the gumbo. Garnish with green onion. Now some add shrimp in their gumbo I do not because no one in my house likes fish. I will however add sausage into the gumbo along with the other meats when I have it on hand (meaning my kids did not already eat it all) Sit back and enjoy, no one in your house will think you used left overs to make this and it is a good way to not waste food. If it made to much you can always freeze the rest for another day.

Chicken riggies

This is what the finished product looks like, this meals has some prep work and things you may want to do through out the day. It is a bit time consuming, but so worth it. I bring to you my adaption of chicken riggies, it's a Utica thing.

So here we go. I baked up boneless, skinless chicken breast. With salt, pepper, chili powder, crushed red pepper and a bit of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan. Bake it till its cooked, when it is done place it off to the side and allow it to cool before cubing it up. I had mine in the oven in the morning so I could cube it by lunch time. Okay so cube it in to bite sized pieces. Set it off to the side. Next we want to start chopping our peppers and onions and garlic. I used yellow, red and green peppers. Put all my chopped veggies in to a saute pan with extra virgin olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook them until soft.

 Okay next step is making our sauce. We are going to begin like making a roue for Mac and Cheese. equal part of olive oil, or butter to flour, we use rice flour. Add your milk (we can't use heavy creme) Salt, pepper, A bit of hot sauce(the hotter you  like the more you add), nutmeg, cinnamon, spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning, I also add a block of shredded cheese into my sauce. Let it cook till it thickens. Don't forget to get a pot of water going for your noodles (of course we use gluten free.) Once noodles and sauce are all done combine everything together (veggies and chicken, sauce and noodles) and place into a baking dish. Top with more cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 mins. Make a tossed salad and dinner is ready. This has so much flavor in it, it is worth all the different things you had to do to make it come together. It is great for get together's one dish and a side salad and your all set, it is also very filling. Let me know what you think.

lemon garlic chicken

Well my kids love this and are always asking me to make it. It really is not that difficult. You may not have all the items you need in the kitchen so make yourself a list as you read down through the recipe.
-I use a roasting chicken but you can use any kind you have
-you need to clean the chicken inside and out..yep that means removing the neck and gizzards.
-after hes been washed pat him dry with a paper towel
-put him off to the side as we get the sauce together for inside the roasting pan.
-you’ll need a pretty good sauce pan or deep skillet, you want enough sauce left to drizzle over the chicken after it is done cooking.
-you need chicken broth or stock at least a box I use two. Dump in in the sauce pan
-take a lemon roll it on the cutting board then cut in half. Holding the cut side up squeeze the juice from both half’s into the pan.
-green onions, fresh parsley and basil, salt and pepper to your taste
-also at least 4 cloves of garlic chopped and put into sauce.
-let everything sit in there and simmer a few mins together before transferring the sauce to the bottom of your roaster
-once the sauce and chicken are in the roaster it is time to give the chicken a massage.
-I rub my chicken down with extra virgin olive oil, cover all parts of skin.
-salt, pepper, basil, oregano, garlic salt and paprika are to be sprinkled on him next
-Take another lemon roll it on the cutting board and cut it in half. With the cut side up squeeze the lemon juice of both half’s on the chicken
-now for the rear of the chicken. Cut a lemon, orange and onion in half and put them in his rear. yep where you would put the stuffing. Also put in a few cloves of garlic
-its ready to go in a 350 degree oven. how long it cooks depends on how big he is.
-usually I do an hour in a half at 350 then i cover him up with foil and slow cook him at 200 to 250 for the remainder of the time in the oven
-I do warn you your house will smell wonderful while he is cooking and it may increase your and your kids appetite for the day.
It takes a bit to get him going but it is so worth it. When i serve this not only to I put sauce over the chicken on the platter I also have a dish of sauce at the table for extra dipping fun.