Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

I wasn't planning on writing a blog entry for these Southwestern Stuffed Peppers. It was more of a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing! Since I've started this blog, most of the posts that I've done have been pre-planned and pre-written; doing it this way has (at least when I pre-plan and pre-write haha) helped me stay motivated and a smidge more consistent in my blogging. But as I've been procrastinating on actually doing some of the projects and cooking that I've pre-written.....it's kinda hard to blog about them! So instead, I decided in the middle of my cooking to snap some pictures and write about my newest try-out recipe that turned out to be a smash hit. I know so since D. told me to say that they were "yummy!" Such a sweet, supporting husband I have. :)

Of course, I found this recipe via Pinterest. After scanning the recipe, I thought it looked intriguing enough to try. Good decision! Click here for the recipe. Something that I appreciated about the way this recipe was written is that it can be adapted for your eating preferences: meat, vegetarian, vegan. So while we enjoy the meaty version in our house, adapt as suits you! I also really like the southwestern flare; it adds a fun, different taste compared to what I'm used to in stuffed peppers.

Side note: I somehow managed to make far too much stuffing, plus I think my bell peppers were much smaller than hers due to it still being in the middle of winter here....oops! I added the extra to the bottom of the baking dish before putting it back into the oven. We'll have a lot more leftovers than I had planned for, but I'm not complaining; I can't wait to take them for lunch!

In other news, our family is adapting well to the new addition! Lucy still seems to be getting the balance on when we leave and when we're home, and I'm still getting used to her play time at 3 AM......sigh. But we're having so much fun with our little kitty; she's quite the entertainer!

Isn't she just so cute? :)

Beef and Barley Stew

Recently, my husband has been pestering, er, lovingly suggesting that I find a recipe to cook in the Dutch oven that we received as a Holiday present. Even though I was originally waiting to use it to bake some sort of bread (still planning on that), I decided to do as he asked and peruse the internet for a recipe for dinner this week. So I skipped on over to my trusty friend, Google, and came across a recipe for Beef and Barley Stew. It looked yummy and do-able without a terrible amount of work (always something I look at with new recipes); and since I would be done with work earlier than normal today and have some extra time for cooking, I picked it as our try-out recipe of the week.

It was a good choice! Although I believe that the original recipe was supposed to come out more as a soup, ours turned out as a stew and I'm glad, because it was de-lish! D. and I both agreed that this recipe was definitely going into the repertoire.

If you're inspired by this recipe and would like to make it but don't have a Dutch oven, you could easily whip this up in a large pot.

Gather the ingredients:

     8 oz. sirloin steak, cut into bit-size pieces
     1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
     4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
     1/2 to 1 whole onion, chopped
     1 large carrot, sliced
     2 tablespoons tomato paste
     1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
     3/4 cup barley
     4 cups (32 oz.) beef broth
     1 cup water
     1/4 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle steak with a 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add steak  and cook, stirring often, until browned on all sides. Transfer to a bowl. 

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, onion, and carrot to the pot and cook, stirring until beginning to soften. Add tomato paste and thyme and cook, stirring, until the veggies are coated with the tomato paste and beginning to brown.

Add barley, broth, water, salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain simmer; cook until barley is tender, about 40 minutes.  Return beef to pot and heat through. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Side note: my husband doesn't really pester me, but I have to tease him sometimes. ;)

Lasagna Roll-Ups

A while back, I posted about White Veggie Lasagna, and in that post, I mentioned that I don’t really like lasagna all that much. Now I’m blogging about lasagna again, and I don’t think people are going to believe that I don’t like lasagna haha. I suppose that a better statement would be that I don’t prefer traditional lasagna, but rather variations.

I’ve spent some time thinking over the years of making Lasagna Roll-Ups as to why I like them so much, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because they aren’t overly cheesy or saucy but have a good balance of meat and other flavors. Flavor is, to me, my favorite part about eating.

I originally found this recipe in one of my mother’s cookbooks. The first time I made it, I bought the wrong type of tomatoes and didn’t even realize it until the next time I made the recipe and used the right type of tomatoes. However, I liked the way the Lasagna Roll-Ups tasted the first time I made them better, with the “wrong” type of tomatoes, and so I decided to use those from there on out when I made this recipe.

Gather the ingredients:

     6 lasagna noodles, cooked

     1 lb ground beef

     2 tablespoons minced onions

     1 garlic clove, minced

     1 can diced tomatoes

     ½ teaspoon salt

     ½ teaspoon oregano

     1 to 1 ¼ cups small-curd cottage cheese

     1 egg, lightly beaten

     1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

     ¼ teaspoon onion powder

     ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

In a skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add tomatoes, salt, oregano; simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon half of the meat sauce into a greased 9-in. square baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, egg, parsley, and onion powder. Spread ¼ cupful of cheese mixture onto each noodle. Top with remaining meat sauce. Carefully roll up each noodle and place in baking dish.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Note: Serving size is approximately 2 roll-ups. This recipe is very easily doubled to make for more people. Enjoy!

Baked Chicken With Creamy Mushroom Sauce

A lot of my cooking repertoire comes from my mother’s recipes. There’s just something about a mom’s cooking! But I’d have to say, one of my favorite recipes of my mother’s to make is her Baked Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce. Not only is it an extremely easy dish to prepare, but it’s also extremely yummy!

This recipe has quickly become one of my husband’s and my favorite meals to make. One of the reasons that I love to make it is that every time that I cook it, the chicken always turns out perfectly done and delicious. It’s one of those fail-safe recipes that you can’t go wrong with.

So, grab the ingredients, mix and bake, and enjoy yourself some yummy chicken!

Gather the ingredients:

     4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

     4 pieces uncooked bacon

     1 can cream of mushroom soup

     1 Cup sour cream

     1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

     ½ teaspoon garlic salt

     ½ teaspoon black pepper

Wrap chicken breasts with bacon strips and place in a baking dish. 

In a small mixing bowl, combine cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, and black pepper. 

Spoon sauce over chicken and spread until evenly covered. 

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours. Enjoy!

It's a Sweet Potato Thing

One of my favorite seasonal dishes is sweet potato casserole. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Whether it’s chunks of yams or whipped potatoes, it all tastes yummy! Thinking on this, I decided to do a search for a sweet potato casserole recipe. And, of course, the best way to find what you’re looking for is to search Google Images haha! If it looks good, then it should probably taste good, right?

I looked at a few different recipes before deciding on one that looked doable. The only problem was that the recipe would make quite a lot—more than D. and I would eat, even with leftovers. But I didn’t want to wait until Thanksgiving to try it out. So I decided to half the recipe and do a test run. If it turned out good, I’d make the full recipe for Thanksgiving with the In-Laws.

Oh boy, was it ever a great test! Pretty easy to make, and it was delicious! D. commented that the casserole almost tasted like dessert. It’s a go for Thanksgiving for sure!

Gather the Ingredients:

     For the sweet potatoes:

     2 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 4 potatoes of medium size)

     3/4 Cup sugar

     1/4 Cup evaporated milk

     3 tablespoons butter, melted

     1/2 teaspoon salt

     1 teaspoon vanilla extract

     2 eggs

     For the topping:

     1/3 Cup flour

     2/3 Cup packed brown sugar

     1/8 teaspoon salt

     2 tablespoons butter, melted

     1/2 to 1 Cup chopped pecans

Place sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool about 5 minutes.

Place the cooked sweet potatoes in a large bowl; add sugar, evaporated milk, butter, salt, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth (I didn’t feel like getting out my mixer, so I just beat it together with a wooden spoon). Add eggs; beat well. Pour sweet potato mixture into a greased cooking dish.

For the topping, combine flour, brown sugar, and salt; mix thoroughly with a fork until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in butter and mix well. Sprinkle topping evenly over sweet potatoes and then top with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden. Savor the sweetness!

White Veggie Lasagna

When I was a kid, there was a veggie lasagna that we would eat sometimes at my parent’s work. It was so good; my mouth still waters thinking about it. Now, I don’t really like lasagna (apparently I take after my father, who also doesn’t like lasagna; my mother thinks we’re both crazy). In fact, the only recipe that I’ve made that I’ve enjoyed was for Lasagna Roll-Ups.

Until recently, that is.

I kept thinking about that veggie lasagna from my childhood, and so I set up a campaign to find a recipe that would mirror what I remembered. It took some time of searching online as I was pretty particular: must have carrots, no red sauce or mushrooms, easy to make….I’m only a little demanding haha. But I finally found the one! It looked perfect in the picture. And so, I bought the ingredients, fired up the stove and oven, mixed, boiled, simmered, compiled, and baked. And out came perfection. I know you can only judge by the pictures; but let me assure you, there was a house-rockin’ party goin’ on in my mouth. Yum!

Gather the ingredients:

     9 lasagna noodles
     2 eggs, beaten
     2 cups cottage cheese
     1 15 oz. carton ricotta cheese
     2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning (or similar)
     4 cloves garlic, minced
     2 tablespoons olive oil
     2 tablespoons flour
     1 teaspoon black pepper
     1-1/4 cups milk
     1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
     1 10 oz. package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
     1 cup shredded carrot
     1 8 oz. package shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and Italian seasoning; set aside.

In a large skillet, cook garlic in hot oil for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and pepper; add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly (about 3-5 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in the spinach, broccoli, and carrot.

To assemble, in a greased baking dish, layer 3 noodles. Spread with 1/3 of the cheese mixture, then 1/3 of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers twice. 

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes before eating.

The finished product! It also makes great leftovers! For make-ahead directions (which I did), prepare as above through assembly; cover and chill for up to 48 hours. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through. Enjoy as before! :-)