Our Unfiltered Life: Bringing Back Sunday Dinner

So I've wanted to make Gumbo for a while now, and almost all of the recipes I've looked at take at least two days to execute the perfect Gumbo. REALLY?! I was on the hunt for a recipe that didn't take nearly that long, was easy to make because with three kids, I won't lie, I'm pretty freakin' lazy in the kitchen when it comes to cooking. I'm trying to be better about the whole, "I don't like to cook," and embrace my inner cooking goddess, but somedays are better than others. Give me a recipe that I can whip together in like 30 minutes or less, and this mama is a happy camper. I can honestly say I didn't check how long this one took because it's Sunday, it snowed last night, and the kids were not underfoot.

I also got this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. Here's the link:

http://www.bhg.com/recipes

Ingredients:

8 oz. Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced

12 oz. okra, sliced or 2 cups frozen cut okra

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

2 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes, undrained

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 Tbsp smoked paprika

I was all excited about the okra! I love okra!

Go ahead and start chopping up all the veggies…

…and the meat.

If you have a poultry allergy you can omit the chicken part,
you can also substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth.

Once you've got everything chopped up and ready to go, cook the chorizo in a 4 to 6 qt Dutch oven over medium heat until a thin layer of fat forms. Transfer chorizo to a bowl.

The fat transfer really was instantaneous! This is not healthy!

Add okra, celery, green pepper, onion, and garlic; cook and stir 10 minutes. Place in bowl with chorizo.

It's really pretty!

Add canola oil to the pot. Whisk in flour until mixture thickens and turns a medium brown, about 6 minutes. (Mine took longer) Whisk in the broth.

First time attempting a roux.

Add tomatoes, reserved chorizo and vegetables, chicken, and paprika. Bring to a build. Simmer gently uncovered for 45 minutes.

This is what it looks like before the boil and the simmer.

So this is where I differ from the recipe for sure. The recipe says, ''remove chicken; cool. Shred with a fork, and return to pot. Heat through.'' I don't know about you, but that seems extraneous to me. I just cooked the chicken and "shredded" it in the pot. Figured I just saved at least 10 minutes.

Serve over prepared white rice. Serves 8.

Note to self: Next time add Cayenne Pepper (probably about 1-2 tsp), salt, pepper and maybe 3 more cloves of garlic! It was too bland for me.

While we wait for the awesomeness to simmer down, the girls decided that since we got a whopping 5'' of snow last night it was a good idea to go outside and partake in some serious snow time!