January 23: Corn Bread Stuffing with Sausage and Green Apples

Funny story. So, you remember I sprained my ankle yesterday. I spent today resting and going to the doctor and doing what was absolutely necessary. So I didn't do anything like washing dishes or cleaning house. I had every intention of making this recipe, so much so that I went to the effort of making the corn bread for the stuffing early this morning. But then my ankle started hurting and I ran out of time. After I picked up the girls from their schools, I found that my daughter had gotten into the cornbread and spread half of if all over the bathroom.

I never did get around to cooking the dinner, so we had leftover ham and half-eaten cornbread for dinner. Here is a picture of it:

 

Tomorrow is grocery day. I'd like to say that my ankle will be healed enough for me to get all the ingredients for the next week's crock-pot meals, wash up all the dishes, and prepare the meal (chicken stew with herb dumplings). My husband told me to go to WalMart (because they have a riding buggy), buy some stuff for sandwiches and paper plates, and eat that for the next few days. I'd like to stick to my plan, but we'll have to see what tomorrow holds. Maybe I'll feel excellent tomorrow. I'm praying I will.

 

About the stuffing, I do have all the ingredients, so I'll make it sometime, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. We'll have to see. I'll update this post when I do eventually make it.

 

ETA: 1/31/13

 

I made the stuffing today. It was about 3:00 when I started making it. I gathered up the ingredients:

 

I spread cubed French bread and cubed corn bread on a baking sheet and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes, until dry:

 

While that was baking, I cooked the sausage in a medium skillet and transferred it to the crockpot with a slotted spatula:

 

I put the chopped onion, apple and celery into the skillet and cooked it for 5 minutes:

To that I added sage, rosemary, thyme, and pepper (1/4 tsp of each), and 1/2 tsp salt. Then I transferred it to the crockpot. I added the dried bread cubes and stirred it up. Then I poured 3 cups of chicken broth over top:

 

I cooked it on high for 4 hours while we went to my Mops marriage meeting:

 

I ate this tonight as a midnight snack:

 

I really liked this stuffing, and the funny thing is that my husband liked it too. He has NEVER liked stuffing. He doesn't like soggy bread, he doesn't like celery, and he doesn't like sage. Now, I must admit, the small amount of French bread I put in this recipe turned into slime, and it wasn't good. But the cornbread burned out absolutely delicious. Not soggy at all, just pleasantly moist. And he loved the sausage! I couldn't taste the apples, but maybe it's because I used a red one instead of a green one (someone ate all my green ones). So maybe it's just his mama's super eggy, mushy cornbread stuffing and stovetop that he doesn't like. So far, he has liked all the crockpot bread recipes I've made (French toast, English bread pudding, and this one).