Stuffed Green Peppers

The boyfriend found this recipe at allrecipes.com and since he's braver than I, immediately made a couple of changes. Since I never cared for stuffed green peppers all that much when I was younger, but think these come out pretty darn well, I keep those changes. Instead of the whole-peeled tomatoes, we use Hunt's Fire-Roasted Diced. And for the tomato soup, we use the Tomato Bisque. Also, we like cheese, so added another cup of shredded cheddar on top. This time, I covered and baked for 25 minutes, and then sprinkled the cheese and baked for another 5 uncovered. I love the sweetness that the soup gives the stuffing and the peppers.

Ingredients

* 6 green bell peppers
* salt to taste
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1/3 cup chopped onion
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1/2 cup uncooked rice
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
* 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup
* water as needed

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour over the peppers.
4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Basic Crepes

This is a simple recipe for basic crepes that can be filled with savory or sweet fillings.  It comes from the April/May issue of Taste of Home.

Basic Crepes

1 1/2 cups 2% milk
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
butter for cooking (I don't use butter -- my crepe pan is super nonstick)

Whisk milk and eggs in small bowl.  Combine flour, sugar and salt; add to milk and eggs and mix well.  Refrigerate ONE HOUR.

Melt 1 tsp butter in an 8 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Pour 2 Tbsp batter into center of skillet.  Lift and tilt pan to coat bottom evenly.  Cook until top appears dry (about 15-20 seconds).  Turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer.  Remove to a plate lined with wax paper.

Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter as needed.  Stack waxed paper in between each crepe.

Chicken and Mushroom Crepes with a Sherry Cream Sauce

I got a crepe pan for Christmas and expected to spend hours perfecting my technique.  As it turns out, making crepes really isn't that hard!  Make enough batter to throw a few away that don't come out pretty enough, and you're good to go.

The filling in this recipe is simply divine.  It is sophisticated and delicious!

I got the recipe from the April/May 2011 issue of Taste of Home.  (I renamed it though -- "Hubby's Favorite Crepes" is just a ridiculous name)

Chicken and Mushroom Crepes with a Sherry Cream Sauce

1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
3 Tbsp sherry
2 cups cooked chicken
minced fresh parsley
15 hot crepes (click here for Basic Crepes recipe)

Cook mushrooms and onions in melted butter.  Stir in flour.  Add milk, bouillon, Italian seasoning, and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in sour cream and sherry.  Set aside 1 cup of the sauce.

Add chicken and parsley to the remaining sauce.  Spoon filling into hot crepes.  Roll or fold and drizzle with sauce.  Top with parsley sprigs.

Serves 5

Sage Pork Chops

This recipe is from allrecipes.com. We found it a couple of years ago and have made it a number of times. We have always taken the suggestions that were posted, and use beef stock instead of bouillon cubes, as well as adding a sliced onion and a package of sliced mushrooms. Pictured with the pork chop, with some of the onion and mushroom on top, is Stove Top sage stuffing, and Birdseye steamfresh corn. Also, I use the scaling feature, and scale to whatever number of pork chops I can find in a package, generally four.

Ingredients

* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon dried sage
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 6 center cut bone-in pork chops
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 cup water
* 2 cubes beef bouillon

Directions

1. Combine the salt, sage and black pepper in a small bowl and rub on both sides of the chops. Melt the butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium high heat and saute the chops for 5 minutes per side, or until well browned.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate small saucepan over high heat, combine the water and the bouillon and stir until bouillon dissolves. Add this to the chops, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer chops for 45 minutes.

Mini Boston Cream Pies

I saw a recipe for something similar on Kraft's Facebook page last week.  I simplified the recipe and the results were fantastic!!

Mini Boston Cream Pies

1 package yellow cake mix
1 tub chocolate frosting (I used the kind with little chocolate chips in it)
1 package of french vanilla instant pudding (you could skip this step and just buy pudding cups)
PLUS ingredients listed on box to make cake and pudding

Make 24 cupcakes according to the directions on the yellow cake mix box.  Allow them to completely cool.

Make instant pudding using 1 1/2 cups of WHOLE milk instead of the 2 cups listed on the box.

Cut the cupcakes in half -- it is easier if you cut the tops off about 1/3 down.  Top bottom half with one spoonful of pudding.  Frost the top half of the cupcake.  Place top back onto the bottom.  Voila!  Mini Boston cream pies!

Oven Baked Fish and Chips

I am feverishly cleaning out my house and ridding it of clutter.  I'm giving away boxes and boxes of books and wanted to pare down my cookbook collection.  I was about to get rid of this one when I decided to check what I had bookmarked. 

One recipe was an old favorite I had forgotten about.  So I thought I would list it here and also give away the cookbook!

This is a tasty and healthier version of your classic fish and chips.  The secret ingredient is paprika -- who knew? 

Instead of spraying the potatoes with nonstick spray and tossing them with paprika on the baking sheet, I always put them in a plastic bag and add a little vegetable oil and the paprika and shake the bag.  WAY easier.

The recipe comes from Prevention's Low-Fat, Low-Cost Cookbook.  (Not sure where this one came from -- I typically cook with heavy cream and butter!  HA!)

Oven Baked Fish and Chips

2 large baking potatoes, cut into 1/4" lengthwise slices (basically, cut them however you like them!!)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup fine bread crumbs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup skim milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 catfish fillets, 4 oz each (or whatever kind of fish you prefer)

Preheat oven to 350.  Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray.  Arrange potatoes on baking sheet.  Coat them lightly with nonstick spray.  Sprinkle them with paprika.  Toss to combine.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender but not browned.  Remove from the oven.  Move the potatoes so they cover one half of the baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs, baking powder, thyme, basil, black pepper, red pepper, and salt.  Add the milk and egg, mix well.  Pat the fish dry with paper towels.  Dip the fish into the batter and place it next to the potatoes on the baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until potatoes are crisp and golden brown and the fish is opaque in the center.

Easy Chocolate Lover's Cheesepie

This recipe is so delicious, Chris has requested it many times for his birthday cake!  And it's super easy.  It is very, very rich, so you can only eat a small piece.  It's much more intense than cheesecake.

It came from a recipe card from Hershey's.

Easy Chocolate Lover's Cheesepie

3 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 9oz graham cracker crumb crust (the bigger size)
2 Tbsp whipping cream

Heat oven to 450.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.  Stir in 1 2/3 cups of the chocolate chips.  Pour into crust.

Bake 10 minutes.  WITHOUT OPENING THE OVEN DOOR reduce heat to 250.  Continue baking for 30 minutes or until just set.  Remove from oven to wire rack.  Cool completely.  Cover, refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Place remaing 1/3 cups chocolate chips and whipping cream in microwave safe bow.  Microwave on high 20-30 seconds or until chips are just melted (stir half way through and check frequently -- chocolate retains it shape when melting and can burn very easily!).  Mixture should be smooth when stirred.  Cool slightly.  Spread over cheesepie.  Refrigerate 15 minutes or until topping is set.  Serve cold.

Lemon Sage Chicken

I saw this while flipping through the new issue of Taste of Home and it sounded fantastic!  And you know what?  It WAS!

Yes, you really do need 3 eggs for the egg wash.  Because you dip the chicken in flour first, a lot of the egg sticks to the chicken.  I thought it was too much, but I actually could have used a little more.

One tip -- make sure the oil is HOT.  If you don't, the coating will not stick like you want it to.

Lemon Sage Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup Parmesean
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced (I used 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 Tbsp olive oil

For the sauce:

2 Tbsp chopped shallot
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
4 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced (I used 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp sage
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp cold butter, cubed

1.  Flatten chicken to 1/2 inch thick.  In shallow bowl, combine eggs, cheese and seasonings.  Place flour in another shallow bowl.  Coat chicken with flour, then dip in egg mixture.

2.  In large skillet, brown chicken in oil in batches (don't cook it completely -- you will bake it).  Transfer chicken to greased 13 x 9 inch pan.  Bake, uncovered, at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until done.  (Our oven may be off a bit -- I had to cook it for about 25 minutes)

3.  In another skillet, sautee shallot until tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Add wine, lemon juice, herbs and lemon peel.  Cook over medium heat until liquid is reduced by half.  Add cream.  Cook until thickened, stirring ocassionally.  Stir in butter until melted.  Serve sauce over the chicken.

Potato Basil Frittata

I first saw this on Ina Garten's show "Barefoot Contessa" on the Food Network.  I immediately looked it up online and made for breakfast the next weekend.

It is unbelievably good!  Probably the BEST frittata I have ever had.

Don't subsitute another cheese.  The gruyere is key to this recipe.

I half the recipe for just me and Chris.  The whole recipe would easily feed eight.  Serve it with fresh squeezed orange juice and grapes for an extra special touch.

Potato Basil Frittata

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided

2 cups peeled and 1/2-inch diced boiling potatoes (4 potatoes)

8 extra-large eggs

15 ounces ricotta cheese

3/4 pound Gruyere cheese, grated

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch ovenproof omelet pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and fry them until cooked through, turning often, about 10 to 15 minutes. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small dish in the microwave.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, then stir in the ricotta, Gruyere, melted butter, salt, pepper, and basil. Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and stir into the egg mixture.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake the frittata until it is browned and puffed, 50 minutes to 1 hour. It will be rounded and firm in the middle and a knife inserted in the frittata should come out clean. Serve hot.

Pasta Primavera

This recipe is fresh and delicous!  HOWEVER, it takes tons of time to chop the vegetables into thin strips.  But it is definitely worth the effort!

I had never saved pasta water before to use in a recipe.  It is an interesting concept, and perfect for this dish.

This recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis's cookbook Everyday Italian. 

Pasta Primavera

3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips

2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips

2 yellow squash, cut into thin strips

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup olive oil

salt freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs

1 pound farfalle 

15 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain,reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.

Vegetables roasting in the oven

One tray of roasted veggies

Creamy Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

This is from the Philly Cooking Creme page. The flavor was tasty, but another time I'd add some pasta into it, or serve it over rice. Also, some of my chicken looked decidedly uncooked at 25 minutes, so I gave it extra time. The picture is the official picture from the website. Also, I used chicken tenders to simplify the cutting into bite size pieces (and it was a better price!).


Prep Time 10 mins
Total Time 45 mins
6 servings, about 1 cup each


Ingredients

1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pkg. (14 oz.)frozen broccoli florets, thawed, drained
1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 tub (10 oz.)PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme
1/2 cup milk
24 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1 cup)
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in 13x9-inch baking dish; cover.
3. Bake 25 min. Meanwhile, mix cracker crumbs and butter.
4. Stir chicken mixture; top with crumbs. Bake, uncovered, 10 min. or until topping is golden brown.

Kraft Kitchen Tips

* Serving SuggestionServe with a mixed green salad and your favorite fresh fruit.
* SubstituteSubstitute 1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen green beans for the frozen broccoli.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad

Words cannot describe how delicious this recipe is! With grilling season right around the corner, we will be making this A LOT. (We like to grill the chicken -- it is tastier that way!)

It comes from Simple & Delicious. Chris hates Gorgonzola, so I pile it on mine separately. :-)

Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad

3 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
4 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water; transfer to a large bowl. Add the chicken, tomatoes, onion, bacon and Gorgonzola cheese.

In a small bowl, whisk the oil, basil, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Pet Pill Pockets

For about the last 3 years I've spent at least one day a week at Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue and Sanctuary. This rescue helps 200-300 golden retrievers, flat coat retrievers and their bonded friends find medical care and furever homes every year. We adopted Loki from Homeward Bound when she was just three months old. Isn't she cute?

Anyway, I'm on the evening feeding crew where we dole out food, water and medicine to 20-45 dogs every day, twice a day. We're kind of like lunch ladies for dogs. As you can imagine we go through a lot of pill pockets. Cases and cases in fact! So when I read an email newsletter article from Dr. Jon from Pet Place about homemade pill pockets, I knew I had to try them.

Homemade Liverwurst Pill Pockets
Ingredients:

3/4 cup plain shredded wheat cereal

3 ounces Liverwurst (room temperature)

2 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)

Instructions:

Place shredded wheat in a bag and crush by using a rolling pin

Mix liverwurst and cream cheese together until smooth

Mix with shredded wheat

Roll into small balls (the size of gum drops)

Store in the refrigerator in a re-sealable plastic bag or container

Treats will last about 7 to 10 days

When it's time for your dog to take his medicine, simply take a "dough" ball and hide the pill in the center. Then offer it to your dog like a treat.

I emailed the owners/operators of the rescue and got the OK to use the dogs as pill pocket guinea pigs. So the night before my scheduled volunteer shift, I made up a triple batch of homemade pill pockets. Loki was already in bed for the night but the aroma of liverwurst lured our lazy cat all the way from an upstairs bedroom. I have a feeling these puppies will work for kitties, too. They were super easy to make as I wore gloves to keep my hands clean. I rolled them out onto a parchment-paper covered cookie sheet then stored them in the fridge for the night.

One of the sad realities of dog rescue is that more often than not, we take in dogs that have been used for breeding and not used to being around people. Golden retrievers are often called "velcro dogs" because of their close bonds with people. But dogs used by irresponsible breeders come to us shy, scared, and often hungry. They stay at the ranch long enough to get some TLC, a clean bill of health and enough social skills to find their furever home. Consider Rescue, it's the compassionate choice.

Anyway, one of these breeder rescue dogs was one of our first customers of the night. When my volunteer partner Bev (whom we refer to as OUR Dog Whisperer) called out for a stinky, yummy treat to lure out our beautiful but scared breeder dog, I grabbed a homemade pill pocket and handed it to her. The dog instantly picked up the scent and started to peek her nose out of her kennel. Three homemade pill pockets later and Pearl, our breeder dog, was happily walking on a leash. SUCCESS!

We used the pill pockets throughout the rest of the feeding and left the rest for the other feeding crews. When I went back the next week, there was a note waiting for me requesting more homemade pill pockets. Not only did they work great for pills, the other feeders found they worked miracles in helping teach shy and scared dogs that these people were worth trusting, if just to get another tasty liverwurst treat.

Sounds to me like a keeper. Just like Loki...my own golden retriever who's now grown up. She's looking forward to helping me make my next batch of pill pockets. She gives them four paws up.