Mardi Gras - Jambalaya, King Cake, Crafts and more!

Happy Mardi Gras! 

I honestly never even knew what Mardi Gras was ... ok I still don't know much about it. However, my husband's family (mother's side) is from New Orleans and so there are a couple fun traditions that we wanted to make sure we shared with our children.

I had never attempted to make any kind of traditional New Orleans food - failure was a huge fear as my husband grandmother is an incredible cook.  After having her Jambalaya several years ago I just never could convince myself to give it a try in our kitchen. This year I dove right in! I just searched for a basic recipe that sounded like it had good flavor. It was a total hit! We all loved it and it made a tons so of course we had plenty of leftovers to freeze for another meal in a month or so.

We also celebrated by making Jester hats in the traditional Mardi Gras colors - purple, yellow and green. Pandora provided a great New Orleans Jazz station to jam to. Finally we enjoyed a store bought King Cake - it will take a while to find that baby but it is always fun to see who will be the lucky winner!

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

• 1 (16-ounce) package spicy hickory-smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 pound unpeeled medium-size fresh shrimp
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 
  
• Directions:
• Brown sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons drippings in pan. Add onion and bell pepper, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 more minute.
• Add rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and next 3 ingredients.
• Peel shrimp, and devein, if desired.
• Stir in shrimp and green onions; cook 2 to 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.
• 
  
• Kitchen Notes:
• * I used "hot" smoked sausage from Hillshire Farms
• * Subbed green pepper for diced red pepper
• * Used 1.5 cups brown rice instead of white
• * Used Trader Joe's Mixed Seafood (calamari, shrimp, scallops - frozen) 
• * Omitted green onion
• * Makes a Large pot - enough to freeze for 2-4 meals later