It has been such a long 2 weeks moving into our new place. You don’t realize how much you can accumulate just by sitting in one place. When you have to pick up and move it makes you evaluate what’s necessary and what is not.
The hardest part was letting go…
Although I’d like to think of myself as a minimalist I did have a bunch of things that I had saved from the boys. I realize that babies make you more sentimental and I found all types of art and memorabilia. I wanted to keep all the things but I just couldn’t, if you want to fly high you have to let go of the things that are weighing you down.
This made the move so much easier because I only brought the things that I needed. In the old house I was always distracted by clutter and I wanted to eliminate that in the new space. Although there is still organization to be done it doesn’t feel like so much clutter.
I was hard pressed to make Gumbo in the new kitchen but I didn’t have the time this weekend. We had Juneteenth, Noah’s First Birthday, and Father’s Day all in the same weekend. Let’s just say we were all celebrated out.
After a good night of rest I woke up inspired to get my house in order and cook our first official meal.
Shrimp Etouffe…
Now I have been making smothered shrimp and grits for a while and this is similar so I decided to switch it up a little bit for a different flavor and texture.
Shrimp Etoufeé
Ingredients:
- 1.5lbs Shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 3 strips of bacon
- 1/2 cup andouille sausage, chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup of flour
- 1tbsp chicken bouillon
- 2c water
- 2tbs of Worcestershire
- 2tbsp creole seasoning
- 1tbsp Herbs De Provence
- 2tbsp parsley
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed
- 1/2c half and half, (maybe a little bit more)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Cooked White Rice, (prepared by package instructions)
Directions
- Render bacon fat from bacon until bacon is crispy, then remove
- Cook sausage until done and crispy, then remove
- Saute garlic, onion, pepper, and celery in bacon fat until translucent and fragrant, about 4-5min
- Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir for about 3-5 min giving the flour time to cook.
- Sprinkle one tbsp of chicken bouillon over mixture and then slowly stir in water. Be careful because mixture will get thick.
- Once you’ve mixed well then add the can of fire roasted tomatoes.
- Now is time to season. Add creole (or cajun) seasoning, herbs de Provence, salt and pepper to taste. If you like you can add cayenne pepper or more dried herbs.
- Add Heavy Cream, Lemon, juice, Worcestershire and sausage, mix well
- Let this simmer for about 10-15 minutes allowing the flavors to mix.
- Add in your chopped parsley
- Then add in your Shrimp and let them cook until they turn pink.
- Chop and add your bacon.
- Give it a taste and make sure there is enough salt for your liking.
- Serve over hot white rice and Enjoy!
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