Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers

I don't really follow a recipe...and I don't make Stuffed Peppers all that often so when I DO, the ingredients vary a bit. But I'll share how I made them the other night, becuz they came out SO yummy!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef (or turkey)
jar of pasta sauce
4 peppers (I usually use green, but this time opted for red)
1/2-3/4 of another pepper
1/2 an onion
Shredded cheese (I used both mozzarella AND a cheddar mix for some variety)

Directions:
Chop up the onion and 1/2-3/4 of lone pepper and saute in a frying pan. Add ground beef and brown meat. Season as you wish (I pretty much just used salt and pepper). Sprinkle in some of the shredded cheeses and mix until blended and melted in meat mixture, over low heat.

Add about 1/2 the jar of sauce...enough so that the meat is not dry, but not too much so that it is soupy. Cut off the tops of the peppers and clean out the seeds and membranes inside so they are hollowed out. I set up the four peppers, standing, in a small casserole dish so that they would not fall over in the oven. Fill the stuffing into each pepper. Pour a bit of sauce over the top of each pepper and stuffing mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, covered over with tin foil. Remove the foil after 50 minutes, sprinkle cheese over each pepper, and bake for an additional ten minutes or so.

Serve and enjoy!!

P.S. I do not blanch my peppers ahead of time, becuz I like my peppers to have a little bit of crunch to them but if you want them softer, I'd advise boiling the empty peppers for about five minutes before stuffing.

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

(this is a Kraft recipe)
Prep Time: 15 min.
Total Time: 35 min.

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cooked small chicken breasts, shredded
1 cup salsa, divided
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz pkg) cream cheese, cubed
1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup Kraft shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheese, divided
8 flour tortillas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 2 min. Add chicken, 1/4 cup of salsa, the cream cheese, cilantro and cumin; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup of teh shredded cheese, mix well.

Spoon about 1/3 of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla; roll up. Place, seam-side down, in 13x9 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking oil; top with remaining 3/4 cup salsa and remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through. Makes 4 servings, 2 enchiladas each.

Cheddar Mac & Ham Casserole

Cheddar Mac & Ham Casserole
(Kraft)

Prep Time: 15 min.
Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients:
1 package (14 oz) Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 cup frozen peas, thawed, drained
1 cup chopped Oscar Mayer Smoked ham
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Kraft Shredded Mild cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare Mac Dinner as directed on the package. Add peas, ham and milk, mix well. Spoon into 9inch square baking dish; sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake 15 minutes or until heate4d through. Makes 4 servings.

Chili-Corn Bread Pie

This is another Weight Watchers recipe from their "5 Ingredient 15 Minute" Cook Book. Again, once I try it I will post a pic and my opinion! Enjoy!

Points Value per serving: 5
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
Cooking Spray
1 onion, chopped
1 (15-oz) can low-fat chili beef soup
1 (11-oz) can Mexican-style corn, drained
1 cup (4-oz) preshredded reduced-fat Mexican blend or Cheddar cheese
1 (6-oz) package buttermilk corn bread mix
2/3 cup water

Directions:
1. Preheat overn to 450 degrees.
2. Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion, and saute until tender.
3. Add soup and corn to skillet, stirring well; spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle cheese over soup mixture.
4. Combine corn bread mix and water, stirring just until smooth. Pour batter over mixture in baking dish; bake at 450 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden.

Creamed Chicken and Biscuits

This is a recipe from the Weight Watchers Cookbook, "Just Like Home". I haven't tried it out yet but I promise to update (and post a pic) after I do!

Points per serving: 8
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 (6-oz) can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (5 biscuits, such as Hungry Jack)
2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 (10 3/4-oz) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-salt cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (10-oz) package frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

Directions:
1. Bake biscuits according to package directions; set aside, and keep warm.
2. Combine chicken, milk, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, soup, and vegetables in saucepan. Place over medium heat, and cook 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently.
3. Split 4 biscuits in half, reserving remaining 1 biscuit for another use. Spoon 1 cup chicken mixture over each split biscuit.

Sugar Cookies

Mmmm...who doesn't love sugar cookies? This recipe is courtesy of Alton Brown from the Cooking Network. I pulled out my trusty heart-shaped cookie cutter and got to work for Valentine's Day. These cookies were DELISH...and I hate to admit just how many I (we!) ate. Needless to say, Daryl and I don't want to look at another cookie for quite some time. At least not until Easter. ;-)

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Powdered sugar, for rolling out doughSift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Ham, Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Calzones

I got this yummy recipe from Cookinglight.com. I made it yesterday for the first time and it was delicious! A couple of changes I would make in the future though...first of all the recipe says it yields 5 calzones but considering that my ball of dough did not look big enough, and the fact that I wanted a big one, almost the size of what you'd get in the restaurant, I decided to only make two calzones. But next time, now that I know how much filling there is, I'd probably try to roll out at least three or four calzones. ALSO, in my opinion the spinach over-powered the ham and sun-dried tomato taste a little bit, so I will not use as much spinach next time. Oh! And I did not use the fennel seeds either.

I served these with a bowl of sauce on the side, some fresh parmesan to sprinkle on top, and a tall glass of milk. Perfect!


Ham, Spinach, and Sun-Dried Tomato Calzones
Refrigerated pizza dough makes this easy to put together. Spoon warmed bottled marinara sauce over the calzones before serving, or serve sauce on the side.
Ingredients
1 cup part-skim ricotta
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
3 ounces lean ham, chopped
6 oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, drained and chopped
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°.
Combine first 9 ingredients.
Divide dough evenly into 5 pieces; pat each dough piece into a 5-inch circle. Spoon about 1/2 cup spinach mixture onto half of each circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Fold dough over filling until edges almost meet. Bring bottom edge over top edge; crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim. Place calzones on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 14 minutes or until browned.