Every year my office dresses up for Halloween.  In 2009 I went as Julia Child. I walked around our office saying “Bon Appetit!”  In 2010 I went as Paula Dean.  I handed out goodie bags and I said “love and best wishes from my kitchen to yours!”

This year?  I am going as:

Yep!  Guy Fieri.  We are grilling out and I am making thai burgers – you’ll just have to come back tomorrow for my costume and the recipe for this burger which is out of this world!

I was bizzy in my kitchen yesterday as usual.  I have to show you the size of the .99 cent a pound chicken breasts I got – I put an 8 x 11 sheet of paper behind these chicken boobs so you can see how big they are!

I’ve never made gumbo before and decided to make that for dinner last night.  Can I just say that I had no idea some recipes called for up to 1/2 cup of oil to make a roux out of?  So I combined several healthier recipes and came up with my version.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo with Rice (4 servings without the rice: 268 calories, 6 fat, 20 carbs, 2.2 fiber and 32 protein – or 7 Points). 

  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
  • 6 ounces diced smoked kielbasa
  • 1 cup new potatoes
  • 1 cup carrots
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt over chicken.  Heat oil over medium heat and stir in flour.  Cook, stirring constantly until the flour begins to brown.  Slowly stir in all the broth and using a whisk, cook for 2 minutes.  There shouldn’t be any lumps (I did have to remove a few lumps of flour that just never incorporated).

Throw everything but the kielbasa in the pot, and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the sausage and simmer for 20 minutes more.  Serve over white rice.

My broth never really thickened up as much as I would have liked – Tony and I both considered this more of a gumbo soup, but we liked it.  I’ll have to try again on another gumbo recipe – if you have one to share, please do!

With 3/4 of a cup of rice, dinner came in at 10 points.

In case you missed it – BSI is back!  I chose Pumpkin!  Just leave your pumpkin recipes in the comments section – winner will get a $10 Starbucks gift card. šŸ˜€

Alright, off to finish putting my costume together – have a wonderful Halloween!  What were you the last time you dressed up?