New Orleans Jambalaya

Note: I started this post over a week ago but never completed it until now, mostly because I had no time with hubby still home and because I never got a chance to transfer the pic from the camera to computer until now. More info after the picture.

This is one of Jeff Novick's simple meals that for some reason isn't included on the Facebook page. He does have an Okra Jambalya there, but I'm really not a fan of that slimy vegetable, so made that version only once and vowed to never make it again. This particular version I've only seen posted in his forum on the McDougall web site.

The recipe:

New Orleans Jambalaya

1) 2 28oz can Whole Tomatoes (No Salt Added)
2) 2 cans 14oz can red beans or kidney beans (No Salt Added)
3) 2 lbs frozen Vegetables, corn, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash (equal parts)
4) Success Quick Cooking Brown rice (1 large bag)
5) Spice mix

Cook Brown Rice (Success Quick Cooking). While rice is cooking, place tomatoes, and veggies in pot and heat. Add in 4 cloves garlic, diced, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp thyme, 4 tsp paprika, .25 to .5 tsp cayenne pepper. And heat.

When rice is done, place in a bowl and serve tomato vegetable mix on top.


Since cans of name brand whole tomatoes are getting harder and harder to find in our city, either due to rust, dents, or high sodium content, I was very happy to see that the local Stop and Shop recently expanded their own line of no-sodium added tomato products to include the 15 ounce cans of these beauties. The quality may be a small step down from some of the more expensive name brands, but just as good as some others. They do contain a bit more juicy liquid, the only drawback. I used one can of the Cento that I had left and 2 of the Stop and Shop ones.


I used the dark red kidney beans, and half a bag each of the frozen vegetables listed.

OK, maybe I tossed in a bit more corn and the whole bag of zucchini. :)

Instead of Success rice I cooked up some of the whole grain mix I got from the local Asian food store. I has brown rice, wild rice, barley, and a few other grains. This stuff is as tasty as any Lundburg mix at a fraction of the cost.

For the spices, I've had this jar of Cajun Spice Mix from Penzey Spices that I got free with a coupon for a few years now and never had the chance to use. I used 2 tablespoons and although it was perfect for me, my husband wanted more kick so added his sriracha sauce to his bowls.

See how great it turned out:

This made 2 large servings and 2 smaller servings the first day, and we had enough for 4 of my 3-cup Pyrex containers in leftovers that we had for lunches later that week.

This meal is now was going into my SNAP Foods rotation schedule. I (did) plan on making 3 or 4 of those meals a week for the next few "weeks, months, years, who knows?" to quote Eeyore.




Written today:
I had a whole big paragraph about why I'm going to stick with Jeff's SNAP meals for the time being because they 1) were helping me lose weight at a pretty decent clip there for a while and 2) are great for controlling cholesterol and, more importantly in this house, triglycerides. I had all intentions of doing that, until life once again interfered.

Now my husband has gout.

But I'll save that saga for another blog post.