Crock Pot Meals-Jambalaya

So no I'm not starting a foodie blog...yet. But here's the most recent crock pot recipe that I've tried. This one is for Jambalaya which is something I really like whenever I buy it in a restaurant but I've never made it myself.

The recipe I used was from Women's Health from way back and its a healthy version so do what you want. You can switch up the brown rice from white, turkey sausage for pork, you know the deal.





Makes 6 Servings. Cook time approximately 8-9 hours (on low)

1 large onion, peeled and diced (yes, these will make you cry)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 medium size sweet red peppers
1 can (15 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 C long grain brown rice
1 package of spicy italian turkey or chicken sausage
1 tsp hot sauce
2 tbsp fresh thyme, minced (or 2 tsp dried)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 C water
3 tbsp fresh parsley, minced (I didn't use any)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (aka skinless and the tails are off)

Directions

1. Place onion, garlic, celery, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, rice, and sausage in the crockpot in that order.
2. Add hot sauce, thyme, salt, pepper, and water.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours.
4. One hour before it's finished cooking, toss in parsley and shrimp. Stir until well combined, adding more water if needed.

Check out the full recipe here

Overall it was not too bad. I was at work for the whole day and may have left it on too long. I'm not a chef here. The taste was good anyways and I ended up with a bunch of leftovers.
I would definitely suggest trying this one out, it's got a nice kick to it (you can add more hot sauce or red pepper flakes if you want).

Also if you didn't see my previous crock pot post check out Crock Pot Meals-Mac and Cheese

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Crock Pot Meals-Mac and Cheese

So I recently became obsessed with crock pot recipes. I'm sure you're wondering, what does this have to do with Cheap Students? And it's one of those things that indirectly relates to the theme here, which is, making food in a crock pot is easy, and can be made in large quantities which will lead to you spending less at fast-food restaurants and the meals can be frozen and heated up another day. What could students not like about cheap and easy meals?

Pinterest has been the source of most of my inspiration when it comes to interesting food ideas. Some looked absolutely disgusting and I stayed far far away from those.

Here's the first recipe I tried. It was actually pretty good, I'm not usually a fan of homemade mac and cheese but this one was good.

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
Makes 4-6 Servings
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 eggs (I omitted the eggs)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:

1 Boil the macaroni in water for six minutes. Drain.
2 In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
3 In slow cooker, combine cheese mixture and add the eggs (I omitted the eggs), sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper. Add the drained macaroni and stir again.
4 Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
 So I mostly followed this recipe except for a few things

• Cooked noodles (I used rice pasta instead) for 6minutes and then drained
• Sprayed the pot lightly with spray oil
• Turned my 3-qt Crock Pot on High & melted the butter &cheese 
• Was not completely melted when other ingredients were added
• Turned the pot to Low. 
• Whisked all the other ingredients in a separate bowl first before adding them to the pot. 
• In this order: 1 beaten egg, sour cream, spices (mustard, salt, pepper), cheddar soup, 1% milk. 
• Added the noodles last.
• Was definitely ready to eat in 1 1/2 hours. 
• Stirred it often. 

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