Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers

The other night we had our good friends Doug and Emily over for dinner at our apartment for the first time.  Chris suggested I make stuffed peppers since we bought 6 peppers with our new Costco Membership which we are slightly obsessed yet reasonable with.  Main rule of thumb with Costco is to only get items that can be stored for a long time or fresh foods which you know you will use relatively quickly.  And only get what you need though they are so tempting with all those free samples!

I really wanted to impress our guests since Doug is an excellent cook.  We usually go to their place just because we know we are going to eat what I would consider gourmet food but we wanted to give them a break this time. Though we did make them bring dessert with the requirement of his homemade whipped cream. Yummy!

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
6 Peppers (I like multi colored ones)
1/2 medium onion
1 tbspn olive oil
1 pd ground beef or turkey
1 cup cooked white or brown rice
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 pinch of paprika
2 pinches of salt
Sprinkle of pepper
1 heaping tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro
Sprigs of cilantro for garnish
Grated Mexican cheese

*I'll note I completely forgot about the rice this meal so it is optional if you are trying to make this carb free meal. But I am adding it in the recipe because I usually prefer to add rice.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees
Cook rice
While rice is cooking cut the tops off of the peppers (save the tops) and clean out. Soak in water while rice is cooking. Some people boil the peppers to make them softer, I personally like them crispy.
Chop up tops of the peppers (minus the stems)
Chop up onion (I always like to chop an entire onion and save half of it in the refrigerator because it is usually guaranteed ill need chopped onion again later in the week.)
Saute' onion in a tablespoon of Olive Oil until onion is slightly transparent
Add meat and simmer until almost completely cooked
Add chopped pepper and mix in
Add chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper and mix until meat is will coated
Add tomato sauce and rice, mix together
Add chopped cilantro and let simmer for 5 minutes (if things start getting a little dry just add a little bit of water)
While simmering line up peppers in a deep casserole dish. Make sure it is coated in olive oil or Pam. (I try to use a dish small enough to where the peppers lean against one another to help them stand up)
Take meat mixture and fill each pepper halfway
Sprinkle a layer of cheese over the meat filling
Fill the rest of peppers to the top with the meat mixture
If there is extra filling put it around the peppers in the bottom of the casserole dish
Bake for 10 minutes and then add cheese on top of the filled peppers
Make for 10 more minutes
Take out of oven and  garnish with cilantro

Everyone cleaned their plates so I consider that a win!! Enjoy!!

Comfort Food

Last night we had what my husband calls comfort food.  Homemade chicken tenders and boxed macaroni and cheese. It was delicious.  I was going to makes some broccoli to try to make it healthier but at the last minute decided not to.  We can save the green stuff for another day!

Here is the recipe I used for the chicken fingers:

Baked Chicken Fingers

1 lb of Chicken Breasts
2 cups of Panko Bread Crumbs
3 Eggs
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic

Heat oven to 450 degrees
Take you chicken breasts and slice them into long 1 inch pieces
Crack eggs into small bowl and beat together with a fork
Combine bread crumbs, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic in a medium bowl
Coat chicken pieces in egg and then roll in bread crumb mixture and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
Repeat with the remainder of the chicken
Bake for 20 minutes.

Also, do you want to know the secret to the perfect boxed mac and cheese?  I learned this from a friend I met years ago and though I didn't know her for long before she moved and we haven't kept in touch I will be forever grateful for this tip that has made my favorite comfort food even more awesome!

Add some (not too much) pepper to the macaroni and cheese after mixing the cheese, butter and milk. Try it, you wont regret it! It's revolutionary!!! I take my boxed mac and cheese seriously.

Chris may have called it comfort food but I felt like a kid again! It was a fun and yummy meal.