Tag Archives: delicious

#NationalGumboDay

Gumbo

#NationalGumboDay has arrived. What is gumbo you may ask?

Gumbo is a stew/soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It generally consists of primarily a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and veggies (celery, bell peppers, onions). Often times you’ll see gumbo made with okra as well. It’s traditionally served over rice or a heaty, warm, comforting dish.

There’s a lot of flexibility while making gumbo, so we’re in luck here at LiveCheapFeelRich. Not only can this be a crockpot meal, but it can also be a freezer meal – and depending on your family’s tastes, the recipe can be tweaked. Here’s a couple of recipes that I think our audience will particularly love.

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

Sometimes seafood can be pretty pricey if you are looking to get a quality buy. This recipe capitalizes on the fact that the ‘meat’ of this recipe is chicken and sausage only, which is far less expensive. This recipe is also said to freeze so well that the leftovers are even better than the fresh batch! Best perk yet, WearyChef.com promises that this recipe can be done in a mere hour.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo [http://wearychef.com/chicken-sausage-gumbo/]

You start out by seasoning and cooking your meat. While this is happening, all the veggie dicing occurs (there’s a lot of it!). Once the meat is done cooking, you make a roux with flour and oil and stir together until smooth. Then add in the diced vegetables and cook until tender. While this is happening, you can start the rice and shred the cooked chicken. Add chicken broth, spices, and garlic to the veggie/roux misture and stir until smooth – slowly add in water and additional spices + your cooked meat. Cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes.

To serve, simply ladle onto a generous portion of rice and enjoy! There’s a lot of steps and things going on during this recipe, but if you plan this right and capitalize on your time while things are cooking, this is a pretty simple recipe that’s sure to please!

Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo

All, this recipe couldn’t look any easier – praise the slow cooker! Here’s the lowdown:

Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo

Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo [http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/slow-cooker-chicken-gumbo-recipe.html]

Add the following into your slow cooker: 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces, 1 package frozen okra, thawed, 2 links andouille sausage, diced, 1 cup chopped onions, 2 celery stalks, chopper, 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, 2 cups reduced-sodium tomato juice. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Serve over rice.

A lot of the commentary on this recipe mentions that this isn’t ‘true gumbo’, but that it is a decent substitute and is a ‘healthier spin’ on the recipe. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Crockpot Gumbo

I had to include one recipe with the shrimp – I am a huuuuge seafood fan. Pro tip: don’t always say ‘no’ to frozen seafood! It’s generally flash frozen fresh and tastes just as awesome as fresh – usually cheaper too!

Crockpot Gumbo

Crockpot Gumbo [http://sagetrifle.blogspot.com/2010/01/crock-pot-gumbo.html]

This recipe, besides the addition to shrimp, is pretty similar to the one prior to this – crockpots make life just so, so easy. Here’s the lowdown: layer in the following ingredients to your crockpot, in this order, not stirring: 1 lb kielbasa sausage, 1 lb cooked chicken, torn into pieces, 1 large onion, chopped, 1 bell pepper, chopped, 3 stalks celery, chopped, 1 lb sliced okra (frozen works), 1/2 cup roux, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 quart tomatoes, undrained.

Cook on high for 1 hour, then lower the heat to low and continue cooking for 7 hours.

About 10-15 minutes before serving, add 1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1 tsp old bay seasoning, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce, 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, and 1 tsp. hot sauce and cook until the shrimp are done but not overcooked. Ladle into soup bowls with a scoop of fresh hot rice!

So enjoy, everyone! Happy #NationalGumboDay! Have any family recipes that are your favorite? Show us the way!

#NationalWaffleDay

national_waffle_day

As the great Leslie Knope said, “We have to remember what’s important in life: friends, waffles, and work. Or waffles, friends, work. But work has to come third.”

I thought I’d take a fun spin on #nationalwaffleday by pulling some of my favorite recipes that you can make IN a waffle iron, that aren’t waffles. Yeah, you heard me.

Being a bit more of a ‘savory’ breakfast person myself, these are tried, true, and delicious.

Without further ado…

Waffle Hash Browns

OneIngredientChef has an absolutely fabulous recipe for this ‘waffle’ and they sold me on it so well: “I love making homemade hash browns, but even in a non-stick pan, they always stick. Often, I would end up with more hash browns permanently affixed to the bottom of my pan than on my plate. Then the other day, I saw a picture online that showed how to make hash browns in a waffle iron and I immediately ran into my kitchen to try it. And… it worked! Not only did it work, but the hash browns were more perfectly cooked than in any other method I’ve tried, with virtually no oil, in 5 minutes, and nearly instant cleanup.” – umm, sounds to me like you simply can’t lose with this!

hash_brown_waffle

Hash Brown Waffle [http://www.oneingredientchef.com/waffle-hashbrowns/]

Stupid easy: grated potatoes (you can use frozen!), a can of black beans, a bell pepper, white onion, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper. What’s pretty wild is that you don’t even have to cook the pepper and onion before tossing this all together and adding it to the hot iron. Close the lid, cook for 5 minutes, and once you look brown and crisped, you are DONE. They did disclose that you can’t get it out in the beautiful waffle shape, but you can get it all out cleanly. I promise, you won’t care what this looks like. I love topping with a fried egg and some hot sauce. Easy, simple, delicious, complete meal!

Stuffing Waffles

Holy. Moly. There is nothing in the world that looks better to me than this as a huuuuge stuffing/Thanksgiving food fiend. Here’s what’s up – get junky, use the stuffing from the box. Simply place the wet stuffing mixture into a waffle press and let it cook for a few cycles – they definitely need more time than your average waffle. You’ll know when they’re done, they’ll be golden and crispy!

stuffing_waffles

Stuffing Waffles [http://grilledcheesesocial.com/2013/11/27/the-modern-mayflower-muenster-mashed-potatoes-and-cranberry-stuffing-grilled-cheese/]

The recipe that I got this from, GrilledCheeseSocial.com, uses this in an outrageously drool-worthy Thanksgiving grilled cheese, with mashed potatoes, Muenster cheese, and cranberry sauce. Wow. Personally, I would LOVE to try that, but I think that this opens the doors for so much delicious potential. Keep it in the breakfast genre and top with an egg and some hot sauce (can you tell how much I love the incredible, edible egg?), top with fried or baked chicken for a savory meal – whatever you want! All I know is that this is a must-do in the waffle iron.

Waffle Iron Quesadillas

Doesn’t get ANY easier than this recipe for waffle iron quesadillas and plenty of ingredient wiggle room. At this point in your life, you know what you like in quesadillas, and you know what your family members like. You make individual quesadillas, so it’s super simple to appease anyone’s needs.

waffle_quesadillas

Waffle Quesadillas [http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/waffle-iron-quesadillas/2aaffaf5-4973-438f-b031-72e3a355d969?src=SH]

Prepare your quesadilla fillings (saute your veggies, fry up your chicken or choice of protein, and, most importantly, get your cheese ready. Heat up your waffle iron, and, if necessary, cut tortillas to fit in the waffle iron – for this, I recommend the small “taco” tortillas and using two for the top and bottom – makes this stress/work free! White, corn, wheat, makes no difference – totally go with your preference. add in your ingredients once you have the bottom tortilla down. You’ll know this is done when you’re golden brown and bubbly. Top with guac, sour cream, salsa – whatever! Delicious, easy, simply. Enjoy! Huge thank you to Tablespoon.com for this awesome idea.

So there you have it – top non-waffle recipes on #nationalwaffleday. Blasphemy? I think not.

#NationalChickenWingDay

It seems like every single day there is a new “national something day” – frankly, I’m not mad about it. Generally, so many people buy into it that there are TONS of deals, and, if nothing else, dinner inspiration for the family that night.

So here we are celebrating #nationalchickenwingday!

Time.com released an article today with all the best deals from restaurants around the country on chicken wings. Here they are! Hopefully one of these restaurants is in your area:

Black Angus Steakhouse: The National Chicken Wing Day deal, announced to those who signed up for this 45-location chain’s promotional emails, is $9 for a dozen wings and a 16-ounce draft beer.

Beef O’Brady’s: Order 10 wings, get an extra five for free; order 20 wings, get an extra 10 for free; and so on.

East Coast Wings: Get six free wings with every adult entrée purchase on Wednesday.

Glory Days Grill: This sports bar restaurant with franchises in Florida, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia is hosting a special of $5 for a half-dozen wings, any style.

Hooters: An all-you-can-eat wing deal is priced at $12.99 for boneless, $14.99 for traditional bone-in wings.

Hurricane Grill & Wings: All-you-can-eat wings for $12.99.

Ker’s Winghouse: Buy 10 wings, get five free at this wing specialty restaurant with roughly two dozen locations in Florida.

Wings-N-Things: Buy one traditional wing meal with a drink on Wednesday, and a second meal (with drink) is free at this wing chain clustered around San Diego.

Sidenote: I know that Hooters gets a bad rap, but frankly, I think their wings (and all food) is unbeatable among competitors. Don’t tell anyone my secret!

If none of these spots are near you, celebrate #nationalchickenwingday at home! They are crazy easy to make and very inexpensive. Sure to please! Here’s two favorites in my house:

Skinnymom.com Skinny Hot Wings:

skinny_hot_wings

Skinny Hot Wings [http://www.skinnymom.com/skinny-hot-wings/]

Don’t tell the rest of the family, but these ‘skinny’ hot wings are all the taste and none of the calories. Perfect guilty pleasure without any of the guilt!

You only use a little bit of flour and butter, and the rest is mostly spices and hot sauce – big flavor! They are baked, not fried, coming in at only 250 calories for 5 wings total. Not too shabby!

Not all kids (or people in general) love hot wings though, so I also wanted to include a more savory, less spicy wing recipe that is well-received in our home.

Carlsbadcraving.com’s Baked General Tso’s Sticky Wings

baked_sticky_general_tsos_chicken_wings

Baked Sticky General Tso’s Chicken Wings [http://www.carlsbadcravings.com/baked-sticky-general-tsos-chicken-wings/]

Who’s favorite meal from Chinese ISN’T General Tso’s Chicken? It is always a staple on Chinese takeout nights, but these flavors are so easy to get in your very own home. Like the hot wings, this recipe is baked, not fried. No guilt should be felt with this recipe! These are super tasty and very, very popular.

Heck, make them both tonight!

Enjoy yet another “day”, everyone with #nationalchickenwingday!

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