Today’s Menu: Red Beans and Rice w/ Smoked Turkey Sausage and Baked Garlic Loaf Bread

For Breakfast I Scrambled a couple of Eggs, toasted 2 slices of Aunt Millie’s Light Whole Grain Bread (lightly buttered), and had a cup of Bigelow Decaf Green Tea. Cloudy and 55 degrees with rain in the afternoon. After Breakfast I went to Kroger for Mom and then stopped at McDonald’s and picked up Breakfast for her. Got the rake and leaf blower out. Cleaned off the deck and driveway areas. Then raked the front yard. Not a lot of leaves, just looking for stuff to do. For Dinner tonight I prepared Red Beans and Rice w/ Smoked Turkey Sausage and Baked Garlic Loaf Bread.

Well nothing better than Red Beans and Rice w/ Hardwood Smoked Turkey Sausage for this 2nd Day of 2020! For the Red Beans and Rice I used a box of…

Growing up, my Dad used to get us doughnuts from the bakery on Sundays. Boston cream and jelly. They’re still my favorite doughnuts.

I had no idea doughnuts were traditional for Hanukkah until we started celebrating with a friend – when asked what we could bring, that’s what she suggested. For the first few years, I was too afraid to actually attempt them myself – we just made a trip to the bakery.

This is my Great Grandmother Clara’s recipe, written in her handwriting. These are delicious, chewy, nostalgic, and very molasses-y.  My mom started making them for me at Christmastime and at first I was put off by the taste, but quickly found myself craving these.

Its a bit tough to decipher the recipe so I’ve done my best.  I also made a few changes.

1. I used blackstrap molasses. 2. I used 1 1/4 cup sugar-free swerve confectioners sugar, plus 1/4 cup light brown sugar.  3. I reduced the flour by a 1/2 cup and added 1 cup oats. 4.  I added 1/8 tsp each of the following: allspice, cinnamon, and baking powder, 5. I omitted the brandy and used 1 tbs apple cider vinegar and 2 tbs water.

Here is the recipe, feel free to make alterations like I did:

Ingredients

1 cup molasses

1 cup butter (2 sticks, unsalted)

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You can never go wrong with shrimp, Its a crowd pleasers, its incredibly versatile and can hold it own. Plus the six minute cooking time, what could be better than that? Now a lot of times you hear that seafood isn’t someone’s thing but shellfish they can deal with. I’m one of those people. In the past I used to dread seafood restaurants. I’m not at all the type to order a burger at a seafood restaurant but I for darn sure used to be close. My go-to was a classic shrimp po’boy, its safe and who can mess it up. Until I had some pretty traumatizingly bad po’boys I knew I had to change things up.

Now I’ve been making a lot of seafood lately and that is because my son has really taken to it and honestly, I much rather serve him fish and other seafood than the…