Homemade Jambalaya

Homemade Jambalaya

Ingredients
-2 chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
-1 cup shrimp, I only had pre-cooked shrimp
-2 hot link sausages, cut into 1" pieces
-1 onion, diced
-1 green pepper, diced
-2 celery stalks, diced
-1 can diced tomatoes w/ chiles
-3 cups vegetable stock
-1 cup rice
-jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
-3 tbsp. olive oil
-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
-Cajun seasoning
-1/4 tsp. cayenne
-fresh cilantro
-salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. cook 1 cup rice with 2 cups water in rice cooker. keep warm until ready to serve
2. heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in large skillet over median-high heat
3. saute celery, onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and garlic for about 5 minutes (veggies are mostly cooked)
4. add the last 1 tbsp. olive oil, chicken, and sausage to the skillet. saute for about 5 minutes (or until the chicken is no longer pink)
5. add the vegetable stock, shrimp, diced tomatoes, Cajun seasoning, cayenne, sale and pepper, and stir to combine
6. reduce heat to simmer & cover for about 20-25 minutes
7. scoop rice in a bowl & top with jambalaya mixture. garnish with fresh cilantro

My Homemade Jambalaya should yield about 6 servings. I would recommend adding more/less jalapeno and cayenne pepper depending on your taste. This recipe makes a great dinner and tastes even better left-over!

DIY No Sew Pillow

Easy No Sew Pillow Cover

you will need  one square pillow and one scarf or piece of fabric that is 4 times the size of the pillow.

start with the pillow in the middle of the scarf/fabric,

fold the fabric over parallel sides of the pillow so it meets in the middle. fold it over the pillow so there are no creases or extra fabric hanging off the pillow.

on one side of the pillow, fold the corners in so they kind of make a triangle. repeat on the other side. this should resemble wrapping a present.

lastly, gather the triangles of fabric and tie in a double knot in the middle of the pillow. 

This has to be one of the easiest ways to make a pillow cover! It takes very little time to complete this DIY no sew pillow. I hope my instructions for this quick DIY pillow cover will come in handy in your place! My scarf pillow cover works great with my couch pillows. I love that it adds some pattern to the boring colored pillows I had on it. 

National Ice Cream Day

Today might be my favorite national holiday. It's national ice cream day! I absolutely love ice cream. It's so great how sweet and flavorful ice cream is. All the new flavor combinations from Ben & Jerrys are wonderful. I love the tonight dough that I tried today! 

Banana Cookie Butter Cookies

Banana Cookie Butter Cookies

Ingredients

-package of sugar cookie dough

-Trader Joe's Cookie Butter

-bananas

Instructions

1. bake the cookies per the package instructions
2. after the cookies are cooled, spread Cookie Butter on them
3. slice up bananas and place on cookies

So I'm in love with Trader Joe's Cookie Butter. It does not last long in my pantry. Instead of always eating it right out of the container, I decided to find a way to let others enjoy the Cookie Butter, too. I was making cookies for another recipe and thought I should give this combination a try. It's really, really good! If you can stop yourself from eating the whole container of Cookie Butter- try this recipe!

Snickers Salad

Snickers Salad

Ingredients 

-2 green apples

-1 bunch of grapes

-1 container of Cool Whip

-snack size Snickers

Instructions

1. dice the apples, grapes, and Snickers into bite sized pieces
2. in a mixing bowl combine all ingredients
3. refrigerate for at least an hour before enjoying

This is my mom's famous Snicker's Salad recipe. It's a staple for family events and cookouts. Seriously, one of the easiest desserts to make that everyone enjoys. I brought this to a 4th of July cookout and everyone loved it!