As you can imagine I cook A LOT! Growing up my family was all about food. They loved to eat. We had a small farm and then a larger family farm out of town so until I was a teen, the majority of my food was from there. Of course as all my old folks got too old to continue things changed but they all had small farms/gardens near their houses. We had a few acres of land and grew tomatoes, corn, squash, cucumbers, okra, collards and mustard greens, peas/beans of all kinds, eggplants, green peppers and more. We also had chickens and hogs. We ate three meals a day-and every meal usually had two meats. It was a bit overwhelming LOL I was very picky which probably saved me from being fat! But actually no one was over weight because even when they were older they all worked outside until they just couldn't anymore. My granny had a garden until she was in her 90's!
So with all that cooking, I didn't really learn how to cook. My aunts were afraid I'd get burned in the kitchen so they didn't want me in there. They knew a girl who had been burned by oil and they were afraid that would happen to me. So I just enjoyed the food. I did help pick clean up & take care of the animals. Then off to college to eat in a cafeteria for 4 years.... When I got married I couldn't cook anything but frozen pizzas LOL And I had a love/hate relationship with food anyhow. I had a fear of gaining weight like a family member (who didn't live on a farm) so I dealt with some food issues for a long time. But once I got married I started cooking. We already knew that heart disease ran in Jon's family so I tried to cook as healthy as possible for what I knew at the time. Looking back now I'm not so sure we were that healthy!
But over time I learned some basic meals. After becoming parents, I had to up my game, then as we added more kids I really had to up it! It's not that expensive to go out to eat with 2-3 folks especially if one is a kid but with 7 we almost need a loan at McDonald's Also about 12 years ago I started a garden. it was fun and a great punishment for the boys to have to weed if they got in trouble! To this day they fuss at me about it! LOL Both of them say they'll never have a garden... we shall see I said the SAME thing!
It's funny the smell of the garden makes me happy. Tomatoes are not my thing unlike my husband who will eat a whole one sliced up by itself. But the smell of a tomato plant or a fresh tomato off the vine just makes me so happy! My family grew massive collards which are so easy to grow it's a sin. I do not like them but I love the smell of them cooking...and my husband says I can cook them like they are supposed to be cooked but I won't touch them!
Just thinking about those summer days in the garden makes me miss all my old folks so much! If we could go back for just one day....early morning picking the veggies, playing outside, swinging under the massive grapevine, reading a book in the afternoon, snapping peas on the front porch after supper.... so thankful I had the privilege to experience that time.... At the time I probably didn't think it was much of a privilege.....but it was!
So several of my friends have asked me to post recipes because over the years I've learned short cuts and I cook for a bunch of folks. There's alot of modifying and exchanges in some recipes to make them more heart healthy but it turns out pretty good most of the time. I have about 20 go to meals & use the crockpot and air fryer to make life simpler . So now I'm going to add recipes to my blog along with my 'Native Florida trips"
Today is one of the most easiest recipes in the world! You absolutely can not go wrong!
SHRIMP GUMBO
Use Zatarain's Gumbo mix! Add it to a deep pot with 6 cups of broth and stir it. Bring to a boil then simmer for 25 minutes. You can add veggies to it, I usually add at least a cup of frozen okra. Then cut up the chicken sausage but don't add yet (it's already cooked ) Then in a skillet cook a pound of deveined peeled shrimp with the tails OFF! Once the shrimp start to pink up, add a bag of seasoning blend. Cook the shrimp till it's all nice and pink. About 5 minutes before the mix is done add the shrimp & the cooked sausage It's so good!! (of course if you buy uncooked sausage it can be cooked right along with the shrimp) Sometimes I add the cooked sausage to the shrimp right before I add it to the gumbo to crisp it up just a little bit.
With my family I have doubled the recipe and cooked two boxes of the gumbo mix together and it was fine. This is also something I can puree for Sarah.
Usually I make corn bread and a salad with this meal. Tomatoes seem to go good with this too. For the sake of time I usually just use a corn bread mix but ALWAYS heat the pan in the oven to make it crispy! Spray the cooking pan with oil heat for 10 minutes at 375 degrees then pour the mix in and cook it. Often I cut up jalapeno peppers into the cornbread. We like spicy! I prefer the mix on the left for some reason but I use them all. BTW my granny would probably whip my tail for using a mix but she did not have 5 kids! LOL
For the mixes that call for milk or an egg- I use fat free milk and egg whites. That's a way to modify and cut fat and cholesterol. As much as I love this gumbo I do not cook it but a couple of times a year because shrimp have lots of cholesterol even though they are fat free. When I cook the shrimp/sausage I do not use any oils. But I do use oil to spray the cornbread pan. But just a quick spray.
Play around with it-add veggies you like to it. Try okra! I know folks who aren't southern think okra is yucky but it's good in stews and its wonderful FRIED -but isn't everything????
