Orzo Stuffed Bell Peppers ... A NEWLYWED ALL TIME FAVORITE!

Eating Well nailed it on this recipe! Wow was it ever good! I mean, I could have JUST eaten the orzo filling, but the peppers were great too. And the best part .... MICROWAVE AND STOVE TOP. Skip the oven with this recipe. Oh, you don't want to breeze past this one. Its meatless- but you won't miss the meat! I PROMISE!

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers of your choice (Red was cheapest- so we had red!)

1/2 cup whole wheat orzo 

15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 T Olive Oil

1 medium onion, chopped

6 oz baby spinach roughly chopped

1 t dried oregano

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed), chopped

1 T Sherry Vinegar or red-wine vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

So the first thing you want to do is slice your peppers in half LENGTHWISE straight through the stem. De-seed the peppers and remove white membrane. You can leave the stem attached for easy pick up, or remove it (I removed them). Place them face down in a baking dish and fill with 1/2 inch of water. Put in the MICROWAVE for about 9 minutes or until softened. (You are basically steaming them.) 

When they come out, drain the water out and flip them over.

Meanwhile, toast up your orzo in a medium sauce pan for about 1 minute. Add 1 cup of boiling water (or really hot water). Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 8 minutes. Drain and rinse in cool water.

Mash chickpeas into a thick paste (leaving some whole) and set aside. 

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook 4 minutes until soft. Add oregano and spinach and cook 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted

Add sun-dried tomatoes, chick peas, orzo, vinegar, and salt. Cook until heated through.

This in and of itself could be a meal or side dish. SO good! Add 1/2 cup of your feta cheese and cook 1 minute more and remove from heat.

Stuff your peppers! Sprinkle remaining feta cheese over top each pepper.

Cover pan with foil until ready to serve. They will stay pretty warm for awhile! We, of course, served ours alongside the TJ's green beans, but chose any veggie you like!

We WILL be having the leftovers tonight. These were phenomenal!

Enjoy :) It'll be a favorite!

Red Curry Vegetable Bowls!

Ingredients:

10 oz frozen corn

1 1/2 cup frozen bell pepper stir fry mix

1 1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame

1-15 oz can of Coconut Milk (I always use reduced fat)

1 T Red Curry Paste

2 t Soy Sauce

Optional: Basil for serving

Rice or Couscous for serving

Were I to make this again, I would add:

1- 15 oz can chick peas

1 sweet potato diced up, and pre-cooked

Directions:

Bring half the can of coconut milk to a boil. It should thicken up and bubble around the edges.

Whisk in curry paste and stir for 2 minutes, constantly.

Add in 1/2 cup water and remaining coconut milk. Cook 2 more minutes and bring to a steady, low boil.

Add the corn. Cook 2 minutes.

Add edamame. Cook 2 more minutes

Add Stir Fry Mix and soy sauce. Cook about 6 more minutes until veggies are tender and flavors are distributed. If you opt for chick peas and potatoes, add them in as well.

Serve over rice or couscous. I used couscous because I had a lot on hand. WE LOVED IT! Make sure to ladle curry sauce overtop dish so it soaks into the rice. I also chose to slice up some fresh basil to top it off. TOTALLY optional. 

This meal was cheap for us because I happened to have edamame and corn in the freezer and intentionally wanted to use them up. Obviously had soy sauce, so the grocery list was slim (that being the goal this week).

I was aiming for a "Meatless Meal" for both budget and for the nutritious benefits of some of the veggies. We were both FULL afterwards. Its healthy. Its easy. Its quick. Minimal cooking time. 

Enjoy :)

White Chicken Chili - A la Mama!

So, this is a recipe I'll keep forever. You know this dishes your mom makes growing up that just TASTES like home and all those memories you have of it? This is it for me. Nick loves it and grew up with a similar recipe from his mom- so its a sentimental dish for both of us. And what better way to kick off the season premiere of 24???!!!

The List:

- It calls for 4 cups of cooked chicken, i buy about 1.5 pounds and boil, then shred it

- 4 cans of canellini beans rinsed and rained, or 1 lb dried

- 6 cups of chicken stock

-2 onions, chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 bag of white frozen corn

- 1 tsp Olive Oil

- 2 4oz cans of diced green chiles

- 2 tsp Cumin

- 1.5 tsp Oregano

- The juice of 2 limes

- Shredded jack or cheddar cheese for sprinkling

- We like to add oyster crackers, but you could do cornbread or any dipper you like!

So, there are many ways to approach this. You could slow cook, but it isn't necessary. If you are using dried beans, go ahead and soak them overnight. In the morning, drain them, cover with new water in a soup pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 40-50 minutes until beans are soft.

If you are going to boil your own chicken- here is the "Technical" method- but do whatever you like! I cover mine in about 2 inches of water, or more. I bring them to a boil, then reduce the heat, and allow to simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and allow them to cool before shredding. You don't have to let them cool, but your asking for a chicken steam facial if you don't.

With all that aside, here's what you do!

The Process

1. Combine broth, beans, and ONE of the chopped onions in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2-3 hours until beans are very soft. Monitor the soup, you may need to add some chicken broth if it starts drying out.

2. Add lime juice and corn to the pot after it has cooked for the amount of time above.

3. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and cook the onions until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.

4. Add chile peppers to the skillet as well as the cumin and salt. Mix well.

5. Add chile and onions to the main pot as well as the shredded boiled chicken (or your pre-cooked diced chicken!)

6. Stir them in well, and allow the chili to cook/simmer for another hour to combine flavors.

It should cook down to something like this!

You can either top with cheese, or just grind some salt and pepper over the top to serve!

Taco Soup and Homemade Corn Bread Muffins :)

This is an EASY, CHEAP, and delicious combination! Healthy cornbread, and healthy taco soup! PERFECT for a cold and rainy day! (Or foggy like today!)

First, the Taco Soup

Nick got this recipe from Brittany at his office. Brittany, if you're reading this, thank you!!

Whatcha need:

1 lb ground turkey (Yes, you could use beef or chicken!)

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet dry ranch seasoning (Hidden Valley)

1 can Original Rotel

1 can Petite Diced Tomatoes, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can chicken broth

1 can yellow corn, rinsed and drained

Optionals:

Any kind of cheese for sprinkling

You could get sour cream if you want

Tortilla tips to crush over the top

Really, there isn't much to the instructions.

Brown your meat in some olive oil (I seasoned the meat with cumin, chili powder in salt, but you don't have to)

Then, add your taco mix and ranch seasoning:

Now, add everything else!

Let this simmer as long as you'd like. Meanwhile.... why don't you make some cornbread!?

Healthy Whole Wheat Honey Corn Bread

Whatcha need:

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 t Olive Oil

2 t Honey

1 egg

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix your batter JUST until all is combined, don't over-mix or you risk dry bread!

Heap about 2 spoonfulls of mix into muffin tins (or a bread pan if you rather)

Pop in the oven at 450 degrees

In they go.....

Cook them about 12-15 minutes (watching them constantly after the 10 minute mark) until they are done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Try to get them out of the pan/muffin tins as soon as possible to prevent them from continuing to cook.

Immediately wrap them in foil and keep warm for up to 3 hours until ready to serve with the soup.

Thats it! Dress up your soup, add a cornbread muffin, and enjoy :)

We sure did!

Bean Stew, Stuffed Tomatoes.... and THEY'RE BACK! 3 ingredient cookies GO MUFFIN!

Yes, so much to blog here. It's been awhile, huh? Yesterday I made some really good burgers and sweet potato fries, but.... we ate all of it and I took ZERO pictures. Nick and Kelsie can attest to the fact that it was indeed delicious though! I used my new kitchen aid slicer to make sweet potato chip shapes, but i didn't cook them long enough to be qualified as chips. I'd call them round fries.

BESIDES THE POINT. Here we go. I made an older recipe, but changed it up a bit. Lean turkey sausage was on sale 2 for 5 dollars, so i wanted to get sausage. You're supposed to also add chicken to the dish, but I didn't want to buy double meat at the store, so i skimped. It didn't hurt the taste though, rest assured!

Easy! Here it is:

2 kielbasa lean turkey sausages (Usually one pack)

Technically, 1/2 lb chicken, diced and cooked (I left this out today!)

1 can Northern Beans

1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans

1 can diced tomatoes with oil, basil, and oregano (Del Monte makes it)

1 T brown sugar

THATS IT GUYS!

1. Slice up your sausage, throw in a PAM sprayed skillet. Brown it up. (You would also brown up your chicken, all the way cooked through, if you add chicken here.)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer on medium-low for 8-10 minutes until flavors have combined

3. Serve- you can also slice up some green onions for garnish if you have them (I didn't!)

CHEAP MEAL! GO FOR IT!

I also made stuffed tomatoes. Easy as well, if you have a food processor! Here's all I used:

- 4 firm red tomatoes

- 1 clove of garlic

- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

- 3-4 T chopped onion

1 T dried parsley

- 1 t olive oil

-1/4 cup bread crumbs (made my own out of sandwich bread)

Salt and Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

1. Cut the tops off of your tomatoes, scoop out the pulp and place in food processor.

2. Place your tomato shells in a baking dish

3. Add to food processor all ingredients EXCEPT the parmesan cheese

4. Pulse ingredients until combined (not until pureed!)

5. Stuff tomato shells with filling

6. Top with Parmesan Cheese

7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or longer until cheese is browned.

There were ZERO leftovers of this meal. Have i ever blogged that there WERE leftovers, I mean seriously!?

Okay, lastly, this past weekend, I had to scramble to get a dish together fast for a party that we went to. My awesome sister-in-law told me to make the 3 ingredient cookies, only, instead of like 3 batches of cookies, just make 12 muffins. Well- I only had white cake mix, so i added some famous spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, and then added the pumpkin and chocolate chips. THEY TURNED OUT AMAZING! Take a look at these guys!

Oh yeah.... you know you're going to try it! So i packed them up, and off we went. Ready in under 2 hours notice!

I still dare someone to try this with chocolate cake mix. I had brownie mix, and I'm a little angry I didn't think to use that!!!