Jambalaya, Spicy Swamp Soup Recipe

So I get a text from my daughter. Dad, what can I make with celery and carrots and green bell pepper? 

To a toddler, just add peanut butter and raisins to the celery, or just add ranch dressing for dip to both. 

To an adult daughter, knowing that there are probably other odds and ends in the kitchen, make some Jambalaya.  Ok, she could just make some chicken noodle soup or some kind of gravy base stew or some slaw type salad, but Jambalaya sounded like the best answer last night. So, here's a basic guide of a recipe for Jambalaya. 

There aren't really many rules.  Just mix things from the "swamp" or fridge and freezer,  leftover meats and vegetables, add some spice and tomato liquid, cook up some rice. (I like brown rice for this the best but others like white rice)

Try and remember the last good Jambalaya you had and what made it so good, then take this recipe and adapt it to what you liked the most about the one you loved.  Maybe it was the spicy heat, or tons of shrimp, or the unique road kill meat inside. Anyway, here's a beginning guide......

Nick's Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

A recipe in words of a kindergartner after helping dad make chicken noodle soup.  Yes opening a can is so much easier but then you have that weird artificial aftertaste and also the ever present allergen soy.  The canned chicken we have used is only available at Sam's Club around here but may have soy in the future. If soy is an issue, please always check for the words "broth" and "enhancer" and "flavoring" along with the many other hidden allergen words for soy.

Chili's knockoff Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe

OK, this is one of my wife's favorite soups on the soup and salad menu so a couple of years ago we went through trial and error of many recipes and adjustments to come up with this recipe that the family likes.  Soy free can be an issue with changing ingredients in the items listed so if soy free is your goal, then check all labels as always, and adapt as needed.  Velveeta surprised me as an ingredient that works the best.  We tried all real cheeses and it just didn't work the same so this is one instance of using an ingredient I never would otherwise.

April, 2015 Update: We just tried the Chicken Enchilada Soup at Claim Jumper last week and was it so awful, neither of us could stomach or handle more than two bites each. It was gritty and tasted like half cooded dry black beans with hard old carrots that were probably some sort of dried out corn or stale corn tortillas thrown in a food processor with enough spices to color it a dark brown.  The fried tortilla strips and few strands of chicken let me know it was indeed what I had ordered instead of a strange chili. The waiter looked at the unfinished soup and looked at us like he knew what was up. I quietly asked and he said with a knowing expression, "Yea, it's supposed to taste like that." He was a great guy and offered another bowl of a different soup to go but I didn't take him up on the offer.  I was full from lots of salad from their salad bar with lots of their hot sweet bacon dressing.  Lesson learned.

Nick's Chili Recipe - 2nd Grader Style

Cameron's Chili Recipe was made in Elementary School years ago, so it just goes to figure that Nick would want to come up with his own recipe.  He says that if you don't have enough hamburger then use some chicken you cook from the freezer or the canned kind from Sam's Club. ( the Sam's Club canned chicken has been soy-free in the past so that's why we have about 30 cans in the cupboard.)   A key to it is also to drain and rinse the green chili's or it will be too spicy for little brothers or sisters.  Corn bread crumbled over it can help tone down spiciness though if needed.

This is a great kid recipe because it pretty much involves opening cans and stirring.  Here is the raw hand scrawled version.

Split Pea Soup Recipe

Yes, this is the green yucky soup to some and the great soup from leftover ham for others.  Grandma and Grandpa gave us some ham last night and since Grandma is still sick, I thought making some Split Pea Soup for them would be a good idea.  I couldn't find the normal recipe Mom and Grandma use so I started with one recipe and then adjusted just a little with seasoning from the one Mom and Grandma use. So, here is the triple batch recipe I did that worked well. 

Below the triple batch adapted recipe, here's the recipe Mom and Grandma use that Uncle Ryan emailed Grandpa while they were in Boston on their mission.

Baked Potato Soup Recipe A.K.A. LOADED BAKED POTATO INSIDE OUT, SOUP STYLE

Halloween is almost always a big pot of Potato Soup and another of Chili.  Potato Soup is really just a soup version of funeral potatoes but somehow is different and besides being good, is very filling.  Our recipe is adapted from the same recipe that seems to be on recipe cards from friends all over.  Michelle Stevenson and Lanae Waldron independently gave us the same recipe years apart.  A triple batch which is what we do on Halloween is pretty huge but fills my favorite BIG pot.

Cameron's Vegetable Chili

Oh, the memories of living in China back in 1989.  This is the family recipe originated by Cameron when he was very young and helping in the kitchen.  So.... yes when we typed it up, we had to include the portrait of Cameron in the enamel painted and peeling iron tub in the bathroom of our Beijing apartment.  Next to the tub was the "throne" toilet up a step higher and directly across from the tub was a table that was our kitchen.

Greek Chicken Meal Recipes when Moussaka isn't available

Moussaka is my favorite but when I don't have eggplant, this meal really is a close tie.  I love this Greek meal as it is made up of the things I love most at greek restaurants tweeked to the taste of our family.  The Menu includes:
Avgolemono Lemon Soup, Greek Salad, Greek Chicken, Honey Rice, Pita Bread, and Tzatziki Sauce.
Start with  Lemon Soup if you like it.  I've had some that are kind of curdled eggy and sort of slimy but this recipe is just about right.  Sometimes we have it and sometimes we don't.

Greek Salad for our family is flexible with the ingredients but very hard to have without cucumber and if its just cucumber, that's fine.  I love the Greek Olives although the rest of the family doesn't so I add them to my salad afterwards.  The dressing is too strong and salty for some, so have it on the side to toss individual portions if you're unsure.

This recipe for Greek Chicken and Rice is so easy and I like to make double to make sure to have leftovers.  Everyone in the family also loves the Honey Rice that goes with it.

Pita Bread ( I make it from scratch but storebought works fine) is impossible for our family to have without Tzatziki Sauce similar to it being difficult to not have a good Balsamic vinegar and olive oil for Italian bread to dip in. The sauce recipe is adapted to the taste of our family and the supplies that we easily have on hand.  It tastes better as it sits and we put it on all kinds of things for the next few days until it is gone.

Leftover Chicken and salad and tzaziki sauce are wonderful the next day with feta cheese for Greek Pizza.