Jambalaya and Blueberry Salad

Hey guys!

It's me, Jack... my mommy is busy today so I am writing this one for her!

I wanted to tell you about the funnest night that we had about a week ago! My mom's friend, Haleigh, came over to eat dinner with us and she brought her son (with fur, like me!) over too! His name is Bentley and I have been playing with him since I was a baby so we are very good friends!! It was SO much fun... too bad my mom forgot to take a picture of us! Anyway, Miss Haleigh brought treats for Bentley and Me and dessert for the grownups and my mommy made Jambalaya and Blueberry Salad... that was for the grownups too! Here are the recipes and a few pictures of the food... because even though mommy forgot to take a picture of Bentley and me, she sure didn't forget about the food! ha!

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

2 smoked sausage links, sliced

2 chicken breasts, finely chopped

(you can either choose between the above two ingredients or use both)

3 cups converted rice

1 cup celery, chopped finely

3 t. salt

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup oil

1/2 t. black pepper

all-purpose cajun seasoning to taste

water as needed

Directions:

Place oil in the bottom of pot; saute onions, garlic, celery and meat until dark brown. Add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add seasonings and about five more cups of water (may substitute chicken broth if desired). Bring water to rolling boil. Add rice and stir. Let rice and water boil until water thickens and rice absorbs the liquid, stirring as little as possible. When the liquid is absorbed, cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.

Blueberry Salad

Ingredients:

Lettuce

Avocados

Red Onion

White (shoepeg) corn

Cashews

Tomatoes

Dressing Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1 pkg. frozen blueberries

1 cup oil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 T. dry mustard

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup poppy seeds

Directions for dressing:

Heat two cups of vinegar. Add one package of frozen blueberries to hot vinegar. Let vinegar stand for as long as possible. Strain berries and use 1/2 cup blueberry vinegar in making dressing. (Sprinkle the blueberries over the salad). Mix the 1/2 cup of blueberry vinegar in with all the remaining dressing ingredients and pour over salad.

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Hope you guys enjoy what the grownups ate!! They sure seemed to like it!! Oh! I almost forgot to show you a picture of the pretty cupcakes that Miss Haleigh brought!!

Aren't they pretty? I sure wish I could have tasted one!! Thanks Miss Haleigh for being such a good friend to my mommy and for bringing Bentley over to play with me!!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Love, Jack

Pray For Us Friday

Today we are praying for...

My sweet and beautiful friend, Haleigh

Haleigh and I have been friends for a very long time. We went to middle school and high school together, we were college roommates and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding.

A few weeks ago, (you may have heard about this on the news) she was attacked in her home, severely beaten and almost kidnapped. Her bruises are almost gone now but she still has a lot of emotional scars to deal with. Please pray for Haleigh in her healing process but also thank the LORD that she is alive and able to heal.

*****For your peace of mind, I would like to add that the man that attacked Haleigh has been caught. Also, Haleigh would like for her story to be an example for women everywhere to be very careful about who you trust and especially who you let into your home.*****

Last night, Haleigh cooked dinner for the first time since her attack and she wants to share that meal plan with us because she said it's very easy and delicious. It's great for an easy night at home or for entertaining!!

On her menu: Baked potato bar, salad with a sweet vinaigrette and an ice cream dessert.

For the potato bar, she rubbed the outside of several baking potatoes with olive oil and sea salt, wrapped them in foil and baked them for 2 hours at 400 degrees. Then she prepared the following toppings: chopped broccoli, shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, butter, sour cream and chives. Sounds delicious!!

Then she made a salad with romaine lettuce, mixed greens, pitted cherries, blackberries, cucumbers and sugared slivered almonds. She topped the salad with a sweet vinaigrette. Here's the vinaigrette recipe:

Mix the following ingredients together and shake well:

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 T. apple cider vinegar

2 T. sugar

1/4 t. parsley

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. chopped garlic

dash of Louisiana hot sauce

lemon pepper (a few shakes)

Then for dessert, she placed a Pilsbury pie crust out on a cookie sheet and cut it into 2 in. strips and baked it (according to package instructions). Then she broke the strips into several bowls and topped with ice cream and fresh strawberries.

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A special thanks to Haleigh for being so open with us and also for sharing these delicious ideas!! Please join me in praying for her on her journey of healing!!

Have a GREAT weekend!! :)

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

This is potentially a VERY hot meal!!!!

But don't worry... I will give you tips to make it less spicy if you prefer it that way! :)

First, I'm going to give you the recipes for the Buffalo Sauce and the Blue Cheese Dressing and then we'll put it all together...

Buffalo Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup Louisiana hot sauce

2 T. butter (1/2 cup butter for a mild sauce and 1/4 cup butter for a medium sauce)

Directions:

Heat the hot sauce and butter and whisk them together to for a sauce.

Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. crumbled Blue Cheese

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup milk

1/2 t. course black pepper

2 T. lemon juice

1 t. garlic salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and chill until ready to serve.

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts

buffalo sauce

tortillas

Blue Cheese Dressing

sliced tomatoes

baby arugula

directions:

Cut the raw chicken breasts into 1" cubes and toss in 1/2 of the Buffalo sauce. Saute the chicken in a skillet until fully cooked and toss cooked chicken in the second half of the Buffalo sauce. Heat tortillas. In the center of the tortilla, put a fairly large portion of the dressing, then the chicken, topped with sliced tomatoes and arugula. Roll up and serve!

***Note: If you don't like Blue Cheese, you can substitute Ranch Dressing and add mozzarella cheese.***

We had our wraps with a side of watermelon... which helped to cool our mouths! :)

And, just for fun, a picture of my sweet boy in his new polo shirt...