Tonight's planned supper was homemade pastalaya! If you have no clue, it's pasta jambalaya. I have made it using Zatarains' mix before, but never from scratch. It came out really good.
Pastalaya
1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 can tomato paste
2 cups water
3 shakes Worcestershire sauce
2 chicken bouillon cubes
Crystal hot sauce
Chili powder
Thyme
Black Pepper
1/2 box whole wheat pasta
Brown the sausage, add chicken to skillet, cooking til browned. Add veggies, cook until dark and soft, stirring often. Remove chicken and veggies from skillet. Return skillet to heat, add tomato paste and brown over medium heat. Stir in the water, Worchestershire and Crystal. Stir in bouillon cubes until dissolved. Season.
Boil pasta. Drain well and return to hot pot to dry it out a bit. Pour the hot sauce over the pasta and stir well. Let set about 5 mins, covered, for pasta to absorb the sauce.
Now that my 21 days are almost out, I want to focus more on meal planning. In the end, it really pays to plan ahead and shop according to sales. It also cuts down on the impulse buys when you run to the store for that one crucial ingredient and leave with $50 worth of stuff that looked good.
Some impulse shopping is great. On Friday, I got lots of meat marked down at Winn-Dixie in Hammond, much of it cheaper than the good sales. While I had my list and menu, I was able to be flexible, Instead of getting the split breasts for Buy One, Get One Free, I opted for a pack of boneless thighs and a package of leg quarters. I can still stick to my planned menu, but I spent HALF of what the "good deal" split breasts would have cost. SCORE!
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