Sausage & Rice Casserole

I used to make this dish more often, but for some reason, I hadn't made it in years. John doesn't remember ever having it, nor do the younger kids. So when I made it this week, the whole family fell in love, and Elayna requested this as her birthday dish next month!

It's easy and delicious!

It contains the Holy Trinity of Southern Cooking - bell peppers, onions, and celery. So you know it's gonna be good.

Sausage & Rice Casserole

2 lbs. ground sausage (mild or spicy)

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped bell pepper

1 cup chopped onion

2 cups rice

2 cups water

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used the kind that contains roasted garlic too)

1 can french onion soup

Brown sausage, celery, onion, and bell pepper in a large sauce pan. Drain grease. In a medium bowl, mix soups, water, and (uncooked) rice until smooth. Add sausage mixture. Pour into a large, lightly greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 for one hour, stirring halfway through.

It's off the chain!

A Little Random

I posted a while back, maybe here, maybe on my main blog, I don't know, about making my own laundry soap. (awesome run-on sentence, no?)
When I started, I made the liquid version. I threw the whole first batch away because it didn't reach the right consistency (too watery). The second batch turned out the same way, so I did some research and found out that sometimes it doesn't thicken up, and that's ok. So I continued using it and it did seem to work fine. But, I kept wanting to try making powdered laundry soap. I found this blog post with the instructions and beautiful pictures, so I decided I was going to try it.
I will never make the liquid kind again! To make the powdered version, you basically just do a few of the same steps as making the liquid, and then you're done! Much easier, and it works better. Win!
Another win? You can employ child labor. (Shh...they think it's FUN!)

Elayna grating soap

Elayna & her friend Emma

This weekend I made Cabbage & Sausage and Shelbie informed that it's her favorite meal. =)
It sure is yummy!



I made peanut butter cookies from scratch last night and they turned out "meh". Does anyone have a really yummy recipe? Mine was just the basic recipe, and they were a little dry and not peanut-buttery enough. Any suggestions?

Go forth and be random!
Visit The UnMom for more of this random stuff.
Oh and visit my main blog, Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional, too.
Please. And thank you.

Toad in the Hole

While surfing the internet the other night, I came across the mention of a dish called "Toad in the Hole". I saw that it was a traditional English dish, which caught my attention, so I decided to search for a recipe. I found this recipe on Simply Recipes, and made it last night.

Classic English Toad-in-the-Hole Recipe

Preparation time: 1 hour.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup of plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb of good-quality sausage (pork, turkey)
• salt and pepper

Method

1 Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Sift flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Make a well in the center of the flour. Whisk the eggs and the milk into the center of the well in the flour, gradually to smooth out lumps. Cover and let stand 30 minutes.

2 Brown the sausages in a little olive oil and cook through, about 10 minutes

3 Put sausages in a roasting pan, pour the batter over the sausages and place in oven. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the batter is risen and golden. Serve at once.

Serves 4-6

I didn't have any traditional UK sausage on hand, so I used Hillshire Farms smoked turkey sausage cut into small pieces. Also, I intended to double the recipe, but I didn't have enough flour. I did double the sausage.

Here are a few pictures:

{mmm, fresh corn on the cob from the produce stand!}

{please ignore the stupid hard water stains on my pan
from the dishwasher of the old house...grrr!}

I will definitely be sure to have enough flour to double it next time because there wasn't enough of the biscuit mixture, but it was still very good! The kids enjoyed it.
Nobody seems to know why it's called "Toad in the Hole", but next time I make it, I I think I'm going to make it in a muffin tin, with smaller chunks of sausage. Then it will really look like a toad, popping its head out of a hole!

Cabbage & Sausage

I think cabbage gets a bad rap. So many people don't like it. Many times I've read in books about a place smelling like "cabbage and stale body odor" or something equally unpleasant.
I don't get it! I love cabbage!
And one of my very favorite things to do with cabbage is to make cabbage & sausage.
We got a head of cabbage and some big white onions from a local grower this weekend and I couldn't wait to make cabbage and sausage.
It's so easy! All you need is:

1 head of cabbage
1 white onion
1 pound of smoked sausage
butter, salt, seasoning

Chop up your veggies and sausage. Put them in a big pot and cover them with water. I add salt and Nature's Seasons. Bring it to a boil, then cook on med-high for about 15 minutes. Add a little butter and serve!
I always make Jiffy cornbread to go with mine.
Enjoy!