Quick dinner delight

Last night I through together a quick dinner which I loved. It continues my love affair with the incredible edible egg and was done in 25 minutes. I am going to call it Grits with Louisiana sausage and eggs

Isn't it colorful? Here is the recipe:

Grits with Louisiana Sausage and Eggs (serves 4)

8 eggs

4 links Louisiana hot sausage or andouille, chopped

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 cup salsa

1 can diced tomatoes

4 green onions

2 TB parsley

salt and pepper

grits*

butter

1 cup Cheddar cheese

In large skillet heat a little olive oil. Add chopped sausage, cook med a few minutes, add diced onion. Saute a few minutes. Once onion starts to soften add bell pepper and garlic. Cook another minute. Add can of tomatoes, salsa, salt and pepper. Let simmer until sauce begins to thicken. Once sauce is simmering, prepare grits to package instructions. Once sauce begins to thicken heat butter in second skillet. Add parsley and green onions to tomato mixture. Fry eggs to desired doneness. While eggs are cooking add butter and salt and cheese to grits. Divide grits among four dinner plates. Top with tomato sausage mixture. Top each plate with two eggs. Serve with hot sauce.

I also wanted to share pictures of our goose gumbo.

As I said I wasn't crazy about the goose. It wasn't bad it just wasn't something I would really crave. The gumbo however I really liked. I think it would be fabulous with chicken. Here's my recipe which is adapted from an Emeril Lagesse recipe for wild duck gumbo.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

whole chicken cut into pieces

1 TB each: cayenne, paprika, thyme, oregano

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup flour

1 onion chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

4 links andouille sausage or Louisiana hot sausage

1 quart chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp Cayenne

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

mix the four spices and rub mixture all over chicken. bake in 350 oven for one hour, set aside. chop all veggies and sausage before you start.

heat gumbo pot to medium add both oil and flour. cook stirring constantly with wooden spoon until you have a medium roux. The roux should be the color of peanut butter. This took about ten minutes. add chopped onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. cook about 5 minutes more. add spices, bay leaves, sausage and chicken. cook a few more minutes. add broth, bring to boil and simmer 2 hours.

*We love grits. However, if you don't like grits this would be good over polenta or rice or even toast.

This and that

Right now I am loving all Asian food, particularly noodles: pad Thai, pad se ew, pad ki mao, cold sesame noodles, pho, ramen, chicken udon noodle soup, cold buckwheat noodles with dipping sauce, chow mien---all delicious!

I am going through Gossip Girl withdrawals. I am waiting for the third season from the library but nine people are ahead of me and there is only one copy. Instead I have been watching the Office. I am waiting for Jim to propose to Pam. I just love Jim and Pam.

I use the library a ton! It saves me so much money. I check out books, and lots of DVD's, TV shows and movies. Plus it is two blocks from my office so it is really convenient. I pre-order what I want online then walk over and pick them up.

Last week my husband shot a goose. So last weekend I cooked the goose. I made gumbo out of it. Goose is very similar to beef--who knew? I should have taken a picture of Chris with the Goose, it was giant, but I didn't.

I recently joined a gym and I kind of love it. I was very reluctant about joining, it was Chris' idea, but now I look forward to going. I am taking zumba classes--it is really fun.

I am loving this book. Really I can hardly put it down.

This and That

We had such a nice three day weekend. Yesterday was a model of productivity at our house. The rain finally stopped, it was sunny and we were able to get so much done, air out the house, work outside and so on. I tackled some big projects namely organizing our paperwork. Augh what a chore that was.

I had book club last night and we discussed:


This book was really interesting. Sometimes I am really not excited to read a particular book for my book club. Usually, I am wrong and once I start reading it I love it. That was not the case with this book. Sections of it were really fascinating but out of 600 some odd pages I think 100 were interesting and 500 were dull. But really, what do you expect when someone writes a biography of the Atlantic Ocean?!

Now I am reading:

I am really excited for this book because I love Anne Tyler. I have read two of her other books, An Amateur Marriage and Morgan's Passing. Both were really excellent. I love the way she describes America and American culture in her books. It is so different from other American authors but it is also very right on in so many ways. If you haven't read anything by her I would recommend starting with An Amateur Marriage.

Football is stressfull!!!

Yesterday was like a national holiday here in Eugene. Many offices, including mine, closed the doors at three pm to allow for the festivities to begin. People wore Duck gear to work, yellow and green beads were handed out, light poles downtown were decorated with duck colors, and similar to the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday, nobody was focused on work. Everyone ran around predicting the score, comparing quarter backs and counting down the minutes until we could all go home, and start watching the pre-game show.

Mr.P and I went to my Mom and step-fathers to watch the game. The Wilson's joined us and they said they could hear screaming and hollering coming from houses as they walked over. People were definitely excited! It was one of the most stressful football games I have watched. We just could not get our offensive game off the ground. It was painful to watch possession after possession end without a touchdown. I think the most painful point of the game (until the end) was after an 81 yard run and Auburn stopped us two yards from the goal. Then after scoring a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game with 2 minutes left we let them run the damn ball. Oh, to be so close to overtime and lose with one second on the clock to a field goal. It was so painful.

But to be fair their defense was better. They were able to stop us from running the ball, they blocked LeMichael James over and over again, and they kept us from getting to first down. They played like number 1 so I suppose they deserve to win.

But what I cannot support is the comments made by Auburn's coach at the end of the game. I don't remember the exact wording but the jest of it was, "God was on our side". "No--You did not just say that!" Was our reaction. I'm sorry but God did not determine Auburn the more worthy football team to win the game. God did not decide given the high percentage of Christians rooting for Auburn* or living in Alabama that they deserve to win the game. Nor did God decide given the Conservative dress* of their cheerleaders that they should win. They played better end of story. Now was God a big part of the quarterbacks life, and did that relationship help him to get to where he is today? Perhaps, and that would be a fine thing to say. But God is on our side as opposed to Oregon's? I think not!

And that is all I have to say about that. So until next season...

*Eugene has a very low percentage of church goers. I think it is something like only 10% of the population attend church
*the Auburn cheerleaders wore turtle necks while Oregon's were wearing sports bras.

Yay for Friday

It is almost the weekend and I am so happy. I had a crazy busy week at work and I am off to Seattle in just a few hours. My sister and I are heading to visit our cousin Lauren. There will be shopping at J Crew, eating yummy food, drinking cocktails and maybe seeing a movie.

Monday our Ducks play Auburn in the BSC! We are very excited. Happy weekend to all and Go DUCKS!

wholesome winter soup

It's been quite a while since I blogged about food. Last night I made a wonderful simple vegetable minestrone for dinner. It was the perfect dinner for a chilly night. We ate this with toast and homemade bread and butter pickles and pickled beets.

Vegetable Minestrone Soup

1 large onion, diced
3 leeks (white and light green parts only), rinsed and chopped
5 carrots, peeled and diced
5 stalks celery, peeled and diced
2 TB fresh rosemary chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes with liquid
1 quart homemade chicken stock
2 cups water
1 head green cabbage cored and roughly chopped
4 cups cooked white beans* or canned and rinsed white beans
2 hand fulls fresh basil shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in large soup pot. Add diced onion, carrot, celery, and leek, cook ten minutes stirring occasionally. Add garlic and rosemary cook another 5 minutes or so till veggies are somewhat tender and onion is translucent. Add stock, water and canned tomatoes with juice. Bring to boil, reduce and simmer 15 minutes. Add cabbage place a lid on the pot and cook 10 minutes. Add white beans and basil. cook another five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. This soup needs kind of a lot of salt so keep adding and tasting until it tastes really bright and fresh. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

*soak 2 1/2-3 cups dried white beans in water all day. when you get home rinse beans, add to pot, cover with water, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook 1-1.5 hours until tender
*adapted from Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef, minestrone soup

Auuugghh...Morning Again....

I don't know about you all but mornings are a bit of a nightmare around here. My goal* is to be at work by 7:30 or 7:45; often I have to be at work by 6:45 or 7am for early meetings. I am a big fan of the snooze and I have a lot of hair to fix. This combination alone is a recipe for disaster. But when you add in a husband who has lost his glasses, needs a breakfast/lunch, needs x form signed before you leave, its simply beyond disaster. Something must be cut and usually for me that's breakfast. But inevitably if I skip breakfast I'm starving by 10 am and since I can't eat wheat running down to the coffee shop for a muffin is not an option. Do you all have this problem? Well lately I have found some creative ways to still make it to work on time and not skip breakfast all together.

If money and time allow there are some really good grab and go options that are much better than the usual scone, muffin and bagel you usually see. Both Starbucks and Jamba Juice have hot oatmeal for just a few bucks. The Jamba Juice oatmeal is a lot better than the Starbucks but our Jamba is sans drive through. Also I usually ride the bus downtown and our Jamba is not downtown. However if you can make it to a Jamba try the oatmeal. They slow cook steel cut oats with soy milk and then top it with brown sugar, bananas and pecans. Its wonderful. Paired with fresh squeezed orange juice its even better. Starbucks also has yogurt/granola parfaits with fruit. In Eugene we have a wonderful local coffee shop called Full City, they serve homemade granola with yogurt or steamed milk, toast with butter and jam, and even gluten free quiche. This quiche is made with a brown rice crust rather than the standard pie shell making it lighter, healthier morning meal.

As convenient as it is to stop and grab breakfast it is not really in our budget. So I'm a fan of breakfasts I can pack and take. Yogurt and granola is great for this, a dish of yogurt and a Ziploc full of granola and you are good to go. I take toast and peanut butter to the bus stop many days. But if I have time my favorite is polenta or grits to go. Polenta and grits can both be cooked in 5 minutes. Pour hot creamy polenta or grits into a pint mason jar, top with butter, cheese and some salt, throw in your bag and at work you have a hot, wholesome breakfast to eat at your desk. Best of all both polenta and grits are dirt cheap which is always a plus!

*the last couple of weeks i have been failing miserably at this goal but there is always tomorrow, right...