Okay, so I am going to start this post with the caveat that this is not a true gumbo. Being from the American south, with family roots in Louisiana, I cannot, in good conscience, call this a gumbo because I did not start with a traditional rue. I will, however, say that it was gumbo inspired, with ingredients and flavor profiles pulled from the delicious dish!
I decided to make this meal because it is a simple way to bring some comfort food to your weeknight. With the crock pot, it is truly a dump it and forget it until it is time to enjoy! Here is the recipe!
Recipe
Ingredients and Equipment
Chicken Thighs 4
Shrimp 1 bag frozen uncooked
Okra 12 oz cut and frozen
Diced Sundried Tomatoes 1 Jar
Tomato Sauce 1 can 15 oz
Diced Tomatoes 1 can 14.5 oz
Minced Garlic 2 tbs
Paprika 1/2 tsp
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne adjust depending on spice tolerance
Oregano 1 tsp
Thyme 1 tsp
Bay Leaves 3
Slow Cooker
Step 1: Put Everything in the Slow Cooker
Put everything in the slow cooker EXCEPT the shrimp! The only thing that matters is that you put the chicken in first and pile everything on the top. Sausage is also an option if you would like to add it.
Step 2: Cook
Turn the slow cooker on low and cook for 6 hours. After 6 hours, put the shrimp in and cook for another 30 minutes. Your chicken’s internal temperature should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit (73.9 degrees Celsius).
Step 3: Enjoy
Yes, I promise, it is that easy! Now you get to eat it! I like to put mine over rice!
Thank you!!
As usual, I would like to extend my thanks! I feel truly honored that you invited me into your kitchen and your life! Don’t forget to love yourself and make Everydaylicious!
My goal when eating is to not require a recovery after each meal. For me, that means my usual diet doesn’t include dairy or bread, but the occasional indulgence is a must! This is why, on Valentine’s day, I decided to splurge and make this lobster grilled cheese. It was AMAZING. My fiancé took one bite and said, “I knew you loved me.” That is when I knew I had to share it with you. Whether your occasion is a birthday, anniversary, or just making it through the day (because sometimes it be like that). Here is the perfect recipe for celebrating and making dinner extra special!
Recipe
Ingredients and Equipment
Lobster tails (the amount varies on size of both the lobster and portion of grilled cheese)
Sour dough bread or a baguette
Gruyere cheese
Gouda Cheese
Salted butter
Thyme
Oregano
Minced Garlic
Salt
Making the Grilled Cheese
Step 1: Boil the Lobster
Add water to a medium/ large pot. The amount of water and size of the pot will depend on the size and amount of your lobster tails. You want to make sure that the water completely covers the lobster.
Salt the water and bring it to a boil.
Once boiling, add your lobster tail(s)
You will know that the lobster tail is done when the internal temperature is between 135-140 degrees Fahrenheit (57-60 degrees Celsius). The lobster will turn red as a hint!
Take the lobster out and let it cool!
Step 2: Assemble the Sandwich
Remove the lobster meat by cutting down the middle of the lobster tail with kitchen sheers. Roughly chop the lobster meat do your desired size. I like mine to be thiccc!
Place the lobster meat, gruyere cheese, and gouda cheese between two slices of bread. I used Trader Joe’s baguette, but you can also use any sour dough bread you please.
Step 3: Grill the grilled cheese!
Option 1
in a small bowl or ramekin, soften a couple table spoons of butter (the amount of butter does not need to be exact).
Next combine the softened butter with thyme, oregano, and minced garlic.
Then, spread the now garlic butter on each side of your sandwich.
Finally, Place the sandwich in a skillet on low-medium heat and cook until the bread has browned and cheese is melty goodness!
Option 2
Melt a couple of table spoons of butter in a medium saucepan on low heat.
Add thyme, oregano, and minced garlic to the skillet. Wait to add the minced garlic until the last possible second. Garlic will burn easily!
Finally, Place the sandwich in a skillet on low-medium heat and cook until the bread has browned and cheese is melty goodness!
Thank you!
There you go! A decadent, yet approachable, fancy pants celebration meal! I absolutely loved making and eating this dish. It helped to make my Valentine’s day special and I hope it can bring something special to your next celebration, even if that celebration is simply being alive because you are a gift and worth celebrating!
Thank you for reading, and I really hope this helps. I mean it when I say that being intentional about rest and fun has changed my perspective and outlook on life. I am hoping the same for you. You deserve to have joy and peace in your life. Until next time remember, mind, body, and…
Let’s expand this vendetta against lunch to meals in general because let’s face it, eating is a challenge. When you get home the last thing you want to do is cook a meal. You’re exhausted mentally and physically. Sunday meal preps seem like an impossible feat when you must also create a lesson plan for…
I attribute my healthy habits to why I am able to maintain a positive mindset while tackling significant challenges like teaching 9th graders and convincing them over and over again that they should read! I mean have you ever tried to convince a teenager to read, it is exhausting and it takes the utmost self…
This is a decadent way for you to prepare your brussels sprouts. A perfect addition to any meal to make it feel special and fancy pantsy! These were inspired by the brussels sprouts I got at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. I wanted to bring that luxury to my dinner table, and I think that I succeeded! Here is the recipe, so you can bring some deliciousness to yours!
Recipe
Ingredients and Equipment
Brussels Sprouts (I used 1 16 oz bag from Walmart)
1 lemon
Butter 1 stick (salted or unsalted)
Olive oil
Minced Garlic 2 tbs
Bacon 4 strips
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste (optional)
Baking pan
Skillet
Cast Iron Skillet
Making the Brussels Sprouts
Step 1: Bake the Brussels Sprouts
First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit..
While the oven is heating, cut each brussels sprout in half, and spread them out on a metal baking sheet. Next, drizzle olive oil onto the brussels sprouts and make sure they are evenly coated. Then season the brussels sprouts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. The garlic power is optional. I like garlic an awful lot, so the extra seasoning is my jam!
After seasoning, place in the oven for about 15 minutes. They do not have to be cooked all the way through because we are going to finish them off in the skillet!
Step 2: Create the Sauce
In a regular skillet, cook 4 slices of bacon until crispy then set them aside on a paper towel to drain. I used 4 slices, but if you would like more bacon in your brussel sprouts, you can adjust it to your desired bacon level. I mean, who doesn’t like more bacon?
In a separate cast iron skillet, melt butter, on low heat, until the bottom of the skillet is evenly covered. The amount of butter you use will depend on the width and depth of your skillet. I used about half a stick.
Once your butter is melted, add 2 tbs of minced garlic
Step 3: Combine
By now, your brussels sprouts should be ready to come out of the oven. Place them into your cast iron skillet.
Chop the bacon into small pieces and add them to the skillet. You can use a knife, but I tore off the pieces with my hands!
Next, cover and cook on low-medium heat until the brussel sprouts soften and begin to brown! (tip, if your butter starts to smoke, you have the heat too high. Also, you can always add more butter to the pan while cooking to make sure your mixture doesn’t burn.)
Lastly, squeeze lemon juice onto the brussels sprouts at the last minute before taking the brussels sprouts out of the pan. This is very important! The acidity brings brightness to the rich buttery flavor. I used about half a lemon, but it is really to taste!
Thank you!
And there you go! A delicious and easy way to cook brussels sprouts. I paired my brussels sprouts with lamb chops and mashed potatoes for a delicious Christmas dinner! As usual, thank you so much for reading. It means so much to me that people take the time to read and try my recipes. Don’t forget to make Everydaylicious!
One of my all-time favorite memories is going to Paris for the first time with my best friend. For years, we swooned when Carrie Bradshaw was wondered around Paris shoe shoping and dining in fashionable restaurants. As we watched we fantasized about one day galivanting down those same streets. This was finally our time to go to our dream city and what better way to spend our time than EATING our way through Paris. We ate nonstop for a week, and through the food-drunken haze of French cuisine, one memory cuts through all of them, and that was going to Ladurée for the first time! The store was a pastel dream, and the macarons were perfect, soft, fluffy, and a beautiful balance of flavors.
This year, I was not able to go abroad, so I decided to bring Paris to me and thus began my journey to the perfect macaron! It took many tries, falling down several “YouTube macaron rabbit holes”, and a lot of courage to finally get the perfect cookie. I am here to encourage you on your journey by sharing mine! Maybe watching me face my fears can help you with yours ❤ Here’s the recipe, and don’t forget to make every-daylicious!
Recipe
Ingredients and equiptment
For the cookies
white sugar 100g
powdered sugar 130g
almond flour 140g
egg whites 100g
salt 1/4 tspn
vanilla extract (or extract of your choice) 1/4 tspn
cream of tartar 1/4 tspn
gel food coloring (optional)
For the icing
butter 2 sticks (1 cup)
powdered sugar 2 cups
vanilla extract 1/4 tspn (or any flavor you want! You can even juice some berries and use that!)
milk 1 tbs
Food coloring (optional)
Equiptment
Mixer (it can be a hand mixer, but it will be an arm workout!)
food processor
sieve
scale (I tried to skip the scale and use a measuring cup. It didn’t work for me.)
spatula
bowl
flat baking sheet
macaron mat (you can use parchment paper but it will be MUCH harder to get them perfect!)
piping bag
round piping tip
Now Let’s do This: Making the Cookies!
Step 1: Dry ingredients
Add 140g of almond flour and 130 grams of powdered sugar to the food processor and pulse it several times. You want it to be really fine, but be careful because if you pulse it too long, you will make almond butter! Run this mixture through a sieve, discarding the big almond bits caught in the sieve. Do not force the bits through. Repeat this twice more (I tried to skip this, but I got cracks and an uneven texture.) Set aside the mixture for later.
Step 2: The Meringue!
Add 100g of ROOM TEMPERATURE egg whites to your mixer. If you do not use room temperature eggs, your meringue will not whip! With the whisk attachment, begin to whip your egg whites on a medium speed until it begins to froth. Then add 1/4 tspn of cream of tartar and 1/4 tspn of salt. Next, continue to whisk the mixture on high until it is white. Once white, drizzle in the 100 grams of white sugar while the mixer is still running. Do this very slowly as to not pop the air bubbles and deflate your meringue! After the sugar is fully incorporated, continue to whip on high until you see a soft peak (That is when your meringue forms a peak, but it isn’t stiff enough to stand on its own. See picture to the right.
Once you have reached the soft peak stage, now is time to start adding your flavoring and coloring. You can use any extract of your choice. I used vanilla in mine! For coloring, make sure you use gel food coloring. Liquid coloring can change the consistency of your meringue.
Once you have added your flavor and color, whip your mixture on high until you get hard peaks. That is when your batter can stand on its own, and you can turn your bowl upside down without anything falling out!
Step 3: Macoronage (The fancy name for mixing the batter!)
Now that we have both part of our mixtures ready, it is time combine them! Transfer the meringue to a mixing bowl and grab your spatula. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of the almond flour powdered sugar mix from step one onto your meringue. FOLD the dry ingredients into the meringue until fully incorporated. Then add in the rest of the batter and begin to fold the mixture. This is where you need to take your time and pay close attention. You should mix until the consistency is like flowing lava. If you are like me and have never seen lava before, you can use the figure 8 test. Once you can drip the batter off your spatula and create a figure 8 without your batter breaking, it is ready. DO NOT MIX ANYMORE! If you under mix your mixture you can get cracks or hollow cookies. If you over mix, you will not get the lovely macaron feet (the bubbles at the bottom of the cookie that characterize a macaron). It is easier to judge consistency after seeing it, so I included a video bellow. Once the mixture is ready, transfer your batter to a piping bag with a round piping tip.
Figure 8 test
Step 4: Pipe, Drop, and Wait
On top of your flat baking sheet, place your macaron mat (or parchment paper.) With your tip straight up and down, pipe an oval filling the smaller circle of the template (if you are using parchment paper, that is about 1.5 inches across). After you have piped all your macarons, it is time to drop the tray (literally!). Pick up the tray and bang it on the counter a couple of times! Seriously, don’t skip this step. This brings all the air bubbles from the bottom of the tray to the top, so they don’t crack your cookies. If you are feeling extra type A today, you can grab a toothpick and pop any of the smaller air bubbles you see. After you drop the tray, you must wait! Let the cookies rest until a skin forms on top and you can rub your finger over the top of your cookies without indenting them. This will help your cookies rise vertically, and get those signature feet we were talking about earlier.
Once your cookies have formed a skin, preheat your oven to 320 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees Celsius). Bake your cookies for 13-15 minutes. Be sure that you only put in one tray at a time. Macarons are selfish and want their own space. They are the diva of cookies; they don’t share a dressing room hunty! Once fully baked, take them out of the oven, let them cool, and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Making the filling!
Now its time to work on the filling. Macarons are traditionally filled with all types of things. The possibility is endless. I favor a tart filling to balance out the sweetness of a macaron. My favorite is a Lemon curd, but for the purpose of this recipe, because we are focusing on perfecting the cookie, I am including the recipe to a simple American buttercream. You can always add raspberry sauce that has been ran through a sieve, or lemon juice in place of vanilla extract for a better contrast of flavor!
Step one: Cream the Butter
Put two sticks (1 cup) of room temperature butter into your mixer (you can also use a hand mixer). I have used both salted and unsalted butter, and it didn’t make much of a difference to me. Beat the butter on high until it turns lighter in color.
Step 2: Add Powdered Sugar
Pause the mixer and add int 1 cup of powdered sugar, beat until sugar is fully incorporated. (HINT: start on low so that the powdered sugar doesn’t explode all over your kitchen.) Pause the mixer again and add the second cup of powdered sugar. Whip until everything is fully incorporated and the batter is a pale white!
Step 3: Add in all the fixins!
Add in the 1/4 tspn of vanilla extract (Here is also where you can add juices, flavoring, sprinkles, or any other cool stuff you can come up with!). Add milk in 1tbs increments until you reach a silky consistency. And there you have it, buttercream! Add it to a piping bag to fill your cookies!
Assembly
Take one of your cookies, and pipe on your butter cream to the flat bottom of the cookie! You can have as much or as little icing as you like! Take another cookie and place it on top of the piped buttercream to create a sandwich! There you go, you have macarons.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for reading! I really loved facing my fears and bringing a little piece of French fabulousness to my everyday life. I especially loved sharing it with you. Please share if you try the recipe! Remember, persistence is key with these cookies, and remember to make everydaylicious!
My first try is the one in the blue! Keep working, you will get there!!
Mind Body Classroom 