Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Recipe

You guys, I'm so behind on all the entertaining things I need to post about...like pictures of my old house...and my new house. Maybe that will happen eventually but this is definitely more important! Yesterday, I fed the missionaries. Slap hands! We have sisters here, which is super lucky because sisters are awesome! :) One of them could have been Allison's hair and complexion twin--it was weird. Anyway...I took the opportunity to make my all time favorite meal from when I was a missionary (which was AGES ago, for those who are counting)...GUMBO. Oh gumbo...the most delicious soup served with rice and (if you are lucky and know about it) potato salad! YUM! And as a bonus...it rained most of the day so it was totally cold enough to justify making soup! I'm not sure if I have fed this to any of you, and if not I am so sorry...you have suffered in ignorance far too long. So I thought I would prepare a little picturized guide to making this most delicious meal (with the recipe posted first of course...you all know how much I despise having to scroll to the bottom of a post for a recipe)!

So yesterday when I made this, I definitely timed myself to see how long it took - a little over 2 hours. Yikes. That is kind of a long time...but keep in mind that I wasn't only cooking...I was finding songs for the kids to dance to on Spotify and fetching toys and snacks and keeping the baby from lapping up the rainwater that had pooled on the back patio. Sans distractions you could probably do this in an hour and a half- maybe less if you crock pot it. Either way, it's so worth it. 

I usually make the potato salad first...usually a couple hours in advance. I like to refrigerate it for a bit. So first, put some water on to boil and while you are waiting...peel and chop those potatoes. 1 inch chunks are good. You can also start some water for the hard-boiled eggs. And just so you don't have to look up how to do it: put 3 eggs in saucepan with water covering the eggs by 1 inch. Put the lid on and bring to a boil; then reduce the heat to low (so the water is kind of simmering) and time it for 15 minutes. Drain the water immediately and add some cold water to cool them off...I usually add ice to the cold water and let it sit for a bit. Anyway...back to the potatoes...

Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes. Test one to see if its soft...no? Boil a little more...it's better for these potatoes to be overcooked...definitely don't under cook! Once the potatoes are done, drain them in a colander and let 'em sit for a bit to cool. While you're waiting, chop 2 or 3 green onions and make the dressing for the potato salad. 

Here's the stuff you need. And although I have a picture of Vlasic relish...use Heinz if you can find it...it's the best. Jeff was the one doing the shopping that day I guess...otherwise this stuff would not have been brought home from the store. So mix the mayo, miracle whip, relish and mustard together. Put the now (hopefully) cool-ish potatoes in a big bowl. Add the green onions and chopped hard-boiled eggs. Pour the dressing on and stir. A lot. This should end up like thick mashed potatoes with chunks in it. Not happening? Get out your potato masher and mash it up a little. It should look kind of like this when it is done:

So now throw some water and chicken in a pot to boil. Or if you can score a good sized rotisserie chicken, that will save you some time. I sure tried that, but here's a tip- grocery stores apparently don't stock those little gems at 9 in the morning...which is when I went to the store. Anyway. Boil the chicken. While the chicken is boiling, chop all of these veggies:

That's right, just start chopping...

...until you have this. Set it aside for a minute. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and set it aside to cool. Meanwhile, strain the chicken water to get rid of any floaties (you don't have to do this, but I usually do). Then add more water to the pot - you want the pot just a little bit more than half full. Put it back on the stove and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, make the Roux. (pronounced roo) I used to think you had to use special Roux mix or pre-made roux that you buy at the store, but one time I couldn't get my hands on it so I just used brown gravy mix. And guess what? It works just fine. Some would probably say that my gumbo is not authentic because of this...but I can't say that I care. :)

So mix 1 cup of gravy mix with two cups of cool water and whisk it into the boiling water in the pot...stir quickly so you don't get lumps. 

Now you have a decision to make...you can either put everything in a crock pot and let it slow cook on low for 3-4 hours (which is what I did) or finish it in the pot on the stove. If you do it on the stove, put in all the veggies, the 1 tsp. of Tony's, bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are cooked. Add the sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices...

This is the sausage I use...it's pretty good. 

Should look something like this.

Shred the chicken and add it to the pot. Let it simmer a bit longer...and make some white rice while you're at it...

Then it's time to eat!! ;) First put some rice in a bowl. Top it with a liberal amount of gumbo. Sprinkle some Tony's on top. Put some potato salad in a separate bowl. Then get a little spoon full of potato salad, dip it in the gumbo and eat. Repeat until you are full! Then get seconds because it's delicious :) 

One final note about Tony's Chachere's...you must have this or the gumbo won't taste good! You can get this at walmart in the spice aisle for a couple bucks. Totally worth it. Enjoy!

Boom, crash the sound of my...door.

So as most of us know, my house is for sale. Oh what fun. But really though...it is fun. Would you believe that my house has been spotless for 2 straight weeks? Ah-mazing! I kind of love it. We've had about 10 showings now but no offers yet...still waiting for the right buyer to come along. I will post some pics of the house at some point, but that is not what this post is about. So here's the story...
The other day we had 2 showings scheduled for the same day...one at 11 and one at 12:30. So we decided to pack a lunch and go hang out at the park for a couple of hours. Fun right? Yes, it was fun. So Audri, Lydia and I went to the park. Good times were had by all and then at about 12:50 I got a phone call from my real estate agent. She said she had just been on the phone with an agent who was at the house and he had called to make her aware of a little problem with the house. At this point I started imagining a burst pipe flooding the house, so I was happy when she told me that one of the panes on our back door was broken. Whew! Just a broken window pane...curious since it had been fine when we left, but not that big of deal, right? Well here is what greeted me when I got home:

Fun, right? Well The best part is that when my agent called the first agent to find out what happened he pretended he didn't know anything about it! And my agent came over and we investigated and found out what had happened...

I was the one who finally figured it out… I was feeling a little bit like Veronica Mars... Glass door on a windy day… Meet the light fixture! Yes that is what broke it! Luckily we got it fixed that night and even more luckily the dishonest agent called my agent back and finally confessed that one of his clients had helped break it somehow! (He claims a 4 year old was the last one thru the door when they came inside and he didn't shut it all the way. Wind. Crash. You get the idea). His conscience must have gotten the better of him...And so he paid for it! yeah. That is all.