What's For Dinner: Paula Deen's Ragin' Cajun Pasta

Please accept my apology for the growing number of iPhone pictures, and the depleting number of pictures taken in good light with the good camera. Convenience is a sucker like that sometimes.

I have finally gotten back into the cooking kick! Getting ready for the move, the actual move, and the settling into our new place really killed my drive to cook. Now, lookout! I'm baaack.

I have to share this Paula Deen recipe I made last week because it was AMAZING (as most things Paula Deen are!)

Paula Deen's Ragin' Cajun Pasta*

*Note: I substituted spaghetti noodles for fettuccini because that's what we had in the pantry.

*Another note: same logic applies for the meats - I had shrimp and chicken, so we did that, not crawfish.

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1/2 cup half-and-half

1 (8 oz) package pasteurized prepared cheese product with jalapenos, cubed

2 (14 oz) packages frozen, cooked, peeled and devined crawfish tails (thawed)

*Or in my case, 2 lbs chicken, 1 lb shrimp (I sauteed the chicken with olive oil, and steamed the shrimp with Old Bay)

1 (16 oz) box fettuccini cooked according to package directions and kept warm

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat, add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic; saute' for 5-8 minutes, stirring. Add flour and Cajun seasoning, cook for 2 mins. Stir frequently. Stir in half-and-half; cook for 5-6 mins., until slightly thickened. Add cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. Add crawfish (or chicken/shrimp) until warmed through. Serve over fettuccini (or spaghetti!)

Sit on the couch and feel like a lump. You can make that even worse by also cooking apple crisp, which I did the next night, another Paula Deen "Best Dish."

It was also easy to make. I'm pretty sure you can google this recipe, so I won't type it all out here. The point is, if you don't already buy Paula Deen's Best Dishes magazines, what's wrong with you?

Funny thing about making this apple crisp. It calls for oats. All I had was pre-packaged oatmeal. I made it with cinnamon roll oatmeal. It was extra sweet! Then, later in the week, I re-organized my pantry because after I made this, I found my bag of... you guessed it, oats.