Spicy Sausage Jambalaya

it must be wrong that the title of this recipe makes me giggle, right? spicy sausage… *snicker* yes, I’m actually 12 years old, I forgot to mention that! hehehe

Anyways, my next new recipe is this one for Spicy Sausage Jambalaya.  I am modifying it by making it slightly less healthy, I’m using merguez sausage instead of turkey.  I scoured every section of my grocery store for turkey sausage and it was nowhere to be found (although this was at my discount grocery store, Super C at Atwater Market, instead of my usual Metro in Westmount).  I also figured that I really wanted the recipe to be as spicy as possible, so I went with the spiciest possible sausage.  I also used regular white rice instead of instead brown rice.

My husband was a little leery when I first suggested this recipe because he automatically assumes that any cajun recipe must necessarily include seafood.  Once reassured that chicken and pork were involved, he was okay with the recipe!

The recipe was ridiculously easy to make and didn’t take very long to make from fridge to plate.  I thought that using regular rice as opposed to instant would have make the cooking time much longer, but it didn’t seem to.  My husband thought the rice might actually be a bit overcooked and my own taste buds are not sensitive enough to tell the difference.  I ended up putting quite a bit of hot sauce on mine and I felt that that really made the dish even better.  If I had put the hot sauce directly in the dish though, my brother-in-law probably wouldn’t have stayed for dinner, since he can’t handle spice.  This dish got a thumbs up from both me and my brother-in-law and a maybe from my husband.

Estimated calories: 440, way more than the 265 that appears on the recipe page, but still reasonable for a dinner that includes sausage!

soon!

My husband and I will be taking many pictures like this within the next 11 months.  We can’t wait to start seeing some cranes and bulldozers on the vacant lot than houses our future condo!

(you’ll just have to trust me that behind that sign there’s a vacant lot full of weeds, junk and… possibility!)

bedroom inspiration (of the design variety!)

so, as previously mentionned, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to decorate my future condo and I keep coming back to practical considerations related to maintaining order in a relatively small space.  Our master suite includes a bathroom with glassed-in shower, soaker tub and double vanities and a bedroom that measures basically 10 by 12 feet.  (I will eventually feature the floorplan, but that will be a whole other post) 

My googling skills have unearthed the fact that a 10’x12′ bedroom is considered medium-small (whatever that means).  This doesn’t bother me much because I basically consider that a bedroom only needs a bed, nightstands, storage for clothes and a full length mirror for getting dressed.  Since the wall opposite the bed is basically a built-in unit, I feel confident that clothes storage should not be too much of an issue.  I actually can’t wait to go to Ikea and buy all of the things I need to organise the built-ins into very functional clothes storage spaces (shoe organisers, hanging drawers, etc.) 

Here’s the architect’s rendition of our built-ins, though ours will be charcoal grey and we haven’t yet decided if we really want a television in our bedroom:

Anyhoo, I’ve been thinking that it would be nice to maybe use full-size dressers as our nightstands instead of traditional small and narrow nightstands.  I know that this will be making the room feel bulkier, but I think that if we choose the right dresser, it could work quite well and be very functional.  Let’s face it, no matter how well organised a space is, there’s always a need for roomy drawers in which to hide things away!

Here‘s one of the dressers I’m considering, from Ikea (let’s face it, they have great design and their price tags usually make me smile):

I like that dresser, its design is simple and modern, its price tag is acceptable (100$) and it is fairly small.  Its height is pretty much flush with the height of my mattress.

Another nightstand I like is this one, although it’s more like a typical nightstand than anything else.

I love it.  I find it very glamourous and decorative.  I’m not sure that it would appeal to my husband, though: is an all-mirror nightstand too girly?  Also, I have to think of all the fingerprints that would get left behind on it (particularly when little hands get involved)!  But I’m still keeping that dresser on my shortlist.  It’s from Pier 1 and it costs roughly 200$.

I can’t wait to go furniture shopping! (roughly 11 months to go!)

Ginger Soy Chicken

I have known success this time with my Rachael Ray cookbook!  Yesterday, I made Ginger Soy Chicken.  I can’t find a copy of the recipe anywhere online, so you’ll just have to imagine chicken tenders served with a sauce made of green onions, garlic, lots of ginger, soy sauce and honey.  I served the chicken over green lettuce (as per the recipe) rather than over rice.  This made it nicely low carb, which is not specifically one of the objectives of my diet, yet I must admit to feeling a twinge of guilt anytime I have simple cooked white rice (I can hear my mother’s voice: it becomes pure sugar in your bloodstream… ooooooh!)  I was worried that the meal would not be filling enough when served over lettuce, but it was actually nice, it made the meal more interesting than usual stirfries. 

My husband was particularly in love with this recipe since he’s been trying to make the perfect asian chicken salad for a while now.  We went for dinner a few weeks ago at Elixor with friends and everyone sitting at the table ordered a salad as a meal.  Their salads are simply spectacular.  My husband had the Asian Chicken Salad and I had the Maui Salad.  Mmmmm…  (also, their dessert menu is awesome.  Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. mmmmm…)  Anyways, my husband said that this recipe was the closest he’s found to the flavours of that memorable salad.  I suspect the massive amounts of ginger had a lot to do with it.

The recipe took me much less than 30 minutes to make and will definitely be making a reappearance in my kitchen in the future! (estimated calories: 300, estimated calories in Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake: 6500)

Review of the apricot chicken

I was quite happy with how my cooking went.  I was even so relaxed at one point that I was able to attend to some dishes while keeping an eye on the stove.  I don’t really see though how the recipe could truly have been made in 30 minutes.  I know that the 30 minute thing is Rachel Ray’s trademark, but I took closer to 45 minutes making the meal since there was some prep work involved (cutting up shallots and apricots) and because I do not believe that chicken breasts can really be adequately cooked in 10-12 minutes.  My husband likes any meat that he eats to be well done to the point of being rubber-like, so he would have flipped at any trace of pink in his chicken breast.

He didn’t like the meal.  He felt that the couscous was bland, that the meat was bland and he didn’t like the combination of fruit and meat.  He did mention though that his issue was with the recipe itself and not with the way I cooked it.  This made me feel infinitely better because I know that my culinary skills leave to be desired and my husband is quick to point out issues when they arise!  As such, receiving his seal of approval on my cooking techniques is even better than receiving his seal of approval on the recipe.  I personally liked the recipe although I will admit that the couscous was bland.

Oh well, I can’t get perfect recipes every time.  The whole point of my cooking experiment is to discover recipes we both like that I can file away for future use.  This will simply not be one of them!

Apricot chicken

So I’m still on track with the goal I have set myself of cooking a new recipe for dinner at least twice every week (which effectively covers most of my cooking for the week since I always make a meal that will last at least two days… the Ropa Vieja lasted 3)  My waistline and my wallet are heaving sighs of relief for the massive amount of home cooking that’s being going on in our appartment for the past few months.  My husband and I probably only go eat at the restaurant once a week these days and when we do, it’s always to socialise not just because we don’t feel like cooking.  I can’t even remember the last time we ordered food delivered at home (although I’ve been craving General Tao Chicken for a while now, so that might soon change.  I can only resist for so long!)

I digress.

Tonight, I’m making my first recipe from Rachel Ray’s 365: No Repeats–A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook) .  The recipe is called Chicken with Sweet Raisins & Apricots over Toasted Almond Couscous.  You can find the recipe here.  The only alterations I’ll be making are using only dried apricots instead of raisins AND apricots (since raisins scare both my husband and I) and reducing the amount of couscous used (waistline needing to be guarded closely).  I estimate that the meal includes approximately 625 calories. 

I can’t wait to cook this meal.  Recently, I find that I’ve been drawn to any recipe that features dried fruit in its ingredients (but as a complement to a savoury meal, not like fruitcake or anything like that… bleurgh).  I’ll let you know how it turns out and whether it receives my husband’s seal of approval (much more difficult to attain than my seal of approval!).

preparing the condo walls for art

I’ve already come to the realisation that my husband and I’s future condo, with its 922 square feet (plus 100 square feet of terrace), is not going to include tons of wall space.  I also have to concentrate on being oh-so-very functional when I plan the space because I think that the key to creating a well designed look for the space will mainly reside in clutter control.  I’m already preparing many clutter reducing maneuvers such as under bed storage and using dressers as night stands to maximise storage.  More on that later.

So far as wall art is concerned, I would like to use mirrors more than I do in our current home, especially since I want to maximise the amount of light entering the condo and I know that mirrors bounce light around.  Also, my husband is a wonderful photographer and we’ve already discussed creating a gallery wall featuring his photos.

But, I am also determined to feature this print somewhere in the condo:

I would have it framed and matted similarly to the way it’s shown in the picture.  Maybe it will help my neurotic self calm down? (unlikely, but still cool to look at!)

first cooking experiment

let me tell you, out of the many appliances that we received as wedding gifts, the one that has probably had the biggest impact on my cooking would be my slow cooker.  Look at its snazzy appearance:

(As a side note, I have the slightly older model that doesn’t have a digital screen.  And also, my wedding gifts will always translate the fact that I was a bride of the 2000s: stainless steel is featured quite prominently in all of our small appliances and, soon, in our actual kitchen appliances once we’ll have our condo)

I love cooking with my slow cooker.  The only aspect I don’t like is the fact that I always seem to come back to the same type of recipe to cook in it: stews, chili and the like.  But that negative aspect is amply compensated by my pleasure of walking into an appartment where dinner is ready and smelling great.  I love that my large slow cooker (6 quarts) means that I always make big batches of my recipes and that it will provide dinner for up to 3 days.

So, I often find myself making Latin inspired dishes in my slow cooker.  I love making pulled pork and chili.  When I saw this recipe, I decided to give it a try. It’s a Cuban dish called Ropa Vieja.

I think I’ll mark this recipe down as one that I would make again.  Both my husband and I liked it (which is already a strong point going for it!), although we both felt the meat was a little flavourless.  This was not such a problem considering that the meat was in such a flavourful broth, but I don’t quite inderstand why the broth didn’t infuse the meat more.  I also found the recipe a little bit watery, but that might be my fault since I added some water to the pot before turning it on since I was worried that the meat would be uncovered and dry out.  Why can’t I just learn to follow a recipe?  I served this over rice and estimate that it clocks in at around 500 calories.  Not bad!

Let’s try this again!

I’ve had a blog before.  Yes, it was emo, it was hosted by livejournal, it included interesting tidbits on my personnal life such as what i ate for lunch.  Actually, come to think about it, that blog is probably still out there, in the vast world of cyberspace.  It fizzled out because even I was getting bored with writing about my life and reading about its inane details.

But…

my life is so much more interesting now that I figured it could be worth writing about once more.  So, let’s give this thing a try!  This will not be a diary-like blog, I have a few specific idea of what I’ll include in it (not least of which is not capitalising my I’s… a few i’s might sneak in there… also, a tendancy to trail off at the end of sentences…)

– style inspiration:  my husband and I have purchased a condo that we’ll be moving into next July (2010. *sigh* how far away it seems) and I am absolutely teeming with ideas on what to do with my roughly 1000 square feet of brand spanking new property.  I’ll post inspiration pictures and ideas of what to do with my new space.  It should be interesting to see how to make the maximum amount of impact design-wise while spending roughly zero dollars!

– cooking experiments: I have decided to expand my culinary horizons.  I will fully admit that I am not the best cook in the world and that I have a tendancy to overheat just about anything I’m cooking in order to get food on my plate as quickly as possible.  But this is all about to change!  Since saving is the name of the game in my household these days and eating well is also a huge concern, I’m going to be exploring the interwebs and my abandonned cookbooks in order to find recipes I want to try my hand at making.  I already have a list of about 50 recipes to try out, so I’ll review some of my cooking experiments for your reading pleasure.

I also have a few more ideas in mind, but I’ll expand more on those later!

Welcome to my blog!