Great stuff--Ham and Sausage Jambalaya

Ham and Sausage Jambalaya
Louisiana Cookin', Tabasco Brand Pepper Sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 package (about 20 oz.) kielbasa, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 large onions, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
1 can (16 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, undrained I used tomato sauce - an accident!
1/2 pound cooked ham, cut into cubes
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco pepper sauce I used a milder hot sauce so I added more
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

In large saucepot or Dutch oven, heat oil. Add kielbasa, onions, green pepper, celery and garlic; cook 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, ham, bay leaf, Tabasco sauce, thyme and allspice; simmer uncovered 15 minutes. Add rice. Cover; simmer 15 minutes. If necessary, add more broth or water and simmer until rice is tender. Remove bay leaf. Serve with additional Tabasco sauce, if desired. 6 servings.
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This came out very nicely even though I messed up. I thought I had opened up a can of petite diced tomatoes (I prefer those to the whole tomatoes) but what I had opened was a can of tomato sauce! Oh well, I didn't really my mistake until I had dumped the sauce in the pot. No harm done as far as I'm concerned. The sauce added a richer tomato flavor than the tomatoes probably would have added.

This was fast to make too since I used my mini-chopper for all of the veggies. If you chopped everything ahead of time, you could have this on the table in under 45 minutes.

Why don't I make jambalaya more often? It's so good and not difficult or time consuming either. I even love the leftovers.

I was so excited yesterday. I ran out to pick up a few necessities and I saw that Linens 'n Things was having their going out of business sale. They even had one of those poor fellows holding up a sign on the side of the road. 10% off! A lousy 10% off! A few things were 20% and 30% off but the kitchen stuff was only 10%. That's not a sale. Yet people were leaving with loaded bags. Go figure.

I did see something that I found rather amusing - Rachael Ray bath towels. Bath towels??? What the heck does Rachael Ray have to do with bath towels??? Is she the new Martha or does she just think she's the new Martha? I didn't realize that she had branched out so much but I don't watch her talk show.

Question of the Day: Would you buy a Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl? The garbage bowl is a great idea, but would you really spend $15 or more on a bowl specifically for garbage???