Potatoes with Sausage and Arugula Sauce

I love watching cooking shows (when I can!) and this recipe looked so good I had to try it for myself. It turned out pretty well and the husband liked it! The original recipe said to serve the sauce over baked potatoes, but we both thought it would be better over pasta so I'll try that next time.


What you need

- 4 baking potatoes, cooked
- 1/2 lb sweet or spicy turkey sausage with casings removed (I chose spicy)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar tomato sauce (whatever kind you like)
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 3 C baby arugula (or spinach)
- 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions

- Scrub, prick and cook the potatoes at 400 degrees for one hour

- Halfway through the potatoes cooking time, start on the sauce

- Heat up some oil in a large skillet or dutch oven

- Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions begin to sweat

- Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks

- When the sausage has cooked completely, add the tomato sauce and stir well

- Add in the arugula and cook until it wilts down. I know 3 cups seems like a lot but it does shrink considerably as it cooks

- Once the arugula has wilted, add in the cream cheese and stir

- When the cream cheese has completed melted, add in the grated parmesan

- Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary

- Serve on top of your baked potatoes and enjoy!

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables and Sausage

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since I've posted a recipe (mostly because these days I'm not trying anything new!) But I have a great one for you today! I made this the other night and the husband and I both really enjoyed it. This was originally a recipe that I found on Pinterest but I tweaked it a little. Thanks to the husband who went to the store (twice) for me to get things I'd forgotten in order to make this. And thanks to whoever decided to build a Publix right across the street. It's super convenient for my forgetful pregnancy brain these days! Here's the recipe!

What you need (adapted from KayoticKitchen)

- 4 sausages (funny story about what I used below)
- 4-5 potatoes (I used red)
- 1 C baby carrots
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 small onions
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 T oil
- 1/2 C chicken broth (or veg. broth)
- 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 4 T balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper

Directions

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees

- Cut all your vegetables however you like and place them in a roasting pan

 - In a small bowl, combine the oil, broth, vinegar and italian seasoning

- Pour the vinegar and spice mixture over the vegetables and stir well

- Season liberally with salt (the potatoes need it!) and pepper

- Roast for 40 minutes

- When the vegetables have about 10 minutes remaining, cook your sausage.

*Story time: I had bought organic chicken sausage for another recipe that I didn't end up making so I froze the sausage until later. Once I thawed it out it was in the fridge for a couple days before I went to use it for this recipe. Now, I don't know if it was actually "bad" but it sure smelled kinda funny to me (thank you pregnancy super nose) so I threw it out. Thus my husband's 2nd trip to the grocery store to get some more. This time around we got beef kielbasa and it was delicious. But feel free to use whatever you like and whatever smells good to you! *End story time.

- Once the sausage is browned, add to the vegetables and roast for 3-4 minutes. This allows the sausage to soak up some of the vinegar sauce.

- Remove and let cool a bit before serving. Stir well to get all the juices up from the bottom. 

- You can easily add other vegetables to this. Broccoli, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash...whatever you like!

- Enjoy!

Easy Appetizers

Hey everyone! We've had a busy week over here at the Brown household! I'll be doing a baby update soon and share pictures from our visit with Jon's family. But until then here are two recipes for some easy and yummy appetizers, just in time for Easter!

I made these for Thanksgiving (when I was 4 weeks pregnant and didn't know yet by the way!) and everyone loved them!


Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Goat Cheese

What you need

- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 8 oz goat cheese, diced
- 4 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
- 4 oz parmesan cheese, grated
- 16 oz artichoke hearts, chopped fine
- 2, 10 oz packages of chopped spinach, drained
(this isn't in the picture because I'm a dummy)
- all purpose seasoning








Directions

- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, reserving about 4 oz of the goat cheese and a little of the parmesan cheese

- Taste for seasoning and add whatever you like (If you want it to have a little kick you could add some cayenne pepper!)

- Spread mixture into a baking dish (I used a 4 quart dish) and top with remaining goat cheese and parmesan cheese

- Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and bubbling

- Serve with GF crackers and corn chips!

Bacon Wrapped Brown Sugar Smokies

This recipe is SO easy and delicious. The guys huddled around the plate until they were all gone! I don't have an ingredient or directions picture because they were BEGGING for these!

What you need (you can easily cut this recipe in half if you need to)

- 2 packages beef little smokie sausages
- 1 package nitrate free bacon, cut crosswise into thirds
- 1 1/2 C brown sugar (you won't use it all)
- 4 T chili powder (trust me)

Directions

- Mix together the brown sugar and chili powder in a bowl

- Wrap each sausage in a piece of bacon and secure with toothpick

- Roll each sausage bundle liberally in the brown sugar mixture

- Bake on a baking sheet (or broiler pan and rack) at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until bacon is slightly crispy

- Serve and watch them disappear!

Have a great Thursday everyone and a very happy Easter! Our SAVIOR is RISEN!

Husband in the Kitchen!

The husband and I try to have a date night every week. Sometimes we go out and sometimes we stay in, but we always try to schedule out time for each other each week. Our hope is that by making it a habit now, early on in our marriage, that it will be something that we continue to do in the years ahead. A while ago my husband mentioned that he wanted to be responsible for cooking dinner at least one date night per month. Well I wasn't about to turn down that offer! The first time he made dinner he did an awesome job following my jambalaya recipe (you can find it here). I had to talk him through a couple of things, but for the most part I got to sit and relax...score! This time around he made what I ended up calling Red Beans & Rice with Sausage. It was yummy and he did it all on his own! I was allowed to take pictures and brag about him on the blog. Can't wait to see what he makes next!

What you need

- 1 lb chicken sausage (spicy is good!)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 C cooked brown rice
- vegetable, chicken or beef broth
- salt and pepper to taste
- cajun seasoning, or red pepper flakes





Directions

Having fun in the kitchen! Don't worry, I sat down and let him work after this!

- Slice sausage into rings

- Heat 1 T of coconut oil in a large pot. Add sausage and begin to brown

- While the sausage is cooking, dice up your vegetables

- When the sausage is browned add the vegetables and cook about 5 minutes

- Add a palmful of salt and pepper

- Add in the drained red beans and stir

- Add in 1/4 tsp cajun seasoning or red pepper flakes

- Add in the rice and a little bit of broth and stir well

- That's it! I topped mine with some sliced green onion

- It was great! Thanks honey!

Jambalaya

This recipe is one of the husband's favorites...and since it's one that I made up myself I can never remember the exact recipe! This time around I wrote everything down so that I could share it with you and the husband said it was the best version yet. Now, if you are looking for an authentic jambalaya recipe, I am pretty certain this isn't it. But...it's what I named it because I think it's close enough. You can easily adjust this recipe to include things that your family likes and can just as easily take out the things I use. I've substituted chicken for the sausage before and it turned out great and I usually only add shrimp if they are on sale. Hope you all enjoy!

What you need (serves 4)

- 1 T Cajun seasoning (recipe below)
- 1/2 lb sausage, sliced (I used turkey sausage)
- 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1/2 C green pepper, chopped
- 1/2 C red pepper, chopped
- 2 T chicken broth
- 1 T tomato paste
- 1 C cooked rice
- 2 green onions, sliced (optional)




Cajun Spice Recipe
You could certainly buy a cajun spice mix, but I had all these ingredients on hand anyway so I made my own. If you buy a spice mix, check the label for hidden gluten!

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1 1/4 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp chili powder

 Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until evenly blended. Store extra spice mix in an airtight container.

Directions


- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat a bit of oil over medium heat

- Add the sausage and start to brown

- Add 1/2 T of the cajun spice mixture and stir to coat the sausage pieces

- When the sausage is browned, remove to a plate and set aside

- In the same pot, add the white onion, celery and bell peppers. Cook 2-3 minutes

- Add 1/2 T of the cajun spice mixture and stir to coat

- Add in the shrimp and stir

- Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the shrimp start to turn pink. I put the lid on my pot so the steam could help them along.

- Add in 2 T chicken broth to deglaze the pot

- Add 1 T of tomato paste

- Add 1 C cooked rice (white or brown) and stir well. I like using white rice for this dish because it's easier to tell when the rice has soaked up all the flavor.

- Add in the cooked sausage and stir to combine

- Top with green onion (if using) and serve! This makes great leftovers too!

*NOTE: This is only mildly spicy. I can't take too much heat so the husband always adds hot sauce to his serving.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Zuppa Toscana Soup

I have a super delicious soup recipe for you all today! I made this the first time a few months ago, before I even know about my gluten issue and it just so happens that it's naturally gluten free! No substitutions needed (sigh of relief). This is a really easy and hearty soup with just the right amount of spice (although the husband always says it could use more...he has a spicy palette). If you've never cooked with kale before don't be scared. It's a wonderful vitamin packed leafy green and provides a great texture to this soup. If you can't find kale you could easily substitue spinach...just don't add it until the last few minutes because it wilts much faster than kale. Also, you could probably make a meatless version of this soup using vegetable broth and adding white beans in place of the sausage. Hope you all enjoy it!

What you need

- 1 lb chicken sausage, casings removed (I got sun dried tomato and basil flavored but anything would be good)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 C white wine
- 3 C chicken broth
- 2 1/2 C water
- 2 C chopped kale
- 5 small red potatoes, cut in bite sized pieces
- 1 C heavy cream
- Salt and pepper to taste

Directions


- Heat a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks

- When the sausage is cooked, remove it with a slotted spoon to a towel lined plate to drain

- Add 1 T olive oil to the pan and add the chopped onion. Cook 5-7 minutes

- Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook 1-2 minutes or until fragrant

- Add 1/2 C white wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up all the yummy browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Flavor, flavor, flavor!

- Add the chicken broth, water, potatoes, kale and the cooked sausage. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes

- After simmer, add 1 cup of heavy cream and stir to combine

- Add salt and pepper to taste. Start with a palmful and go from there. Don't be afraid of the salt, the potatoes need it! I added kosher salt and seasoned salt and fresh cracked pepper

- That's it! Sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top if you have it and enjoy!

The husband approves!

Jon and I are off to St. Augustine for the next couple of days. Hope you all have a wonderful gluten free weekend!