Stuffed Green Peppers

When I first met my husband, I was only 23 years old and although I loved to cook, I didn't have a big arsenal of great recipes yet to wow him.  He always raved about his mother's cooking, so I decided to try to recreate some of those favorite meals that he grew up with.  My first attempt was Stuffed Green Peppers.  I had never heard of it before and had no idea how it was supposed to look or taste.  After some prodding, Terry gave me a basic idea of what went into them.  So I then got online and looked at countless recipes for my first attempt. 

I was surprised and excited to hear that Terry loved them and that I had succeeded in recreating a childhood favorite for him!  Wow, first time was a charm!  I hope you like them as much as we do :)


Ingredients

4 Green Bell Peppers
11 oz. ground sirloin
3 TB plus 1 3/4 tsp diced onion
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
3/4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/3 c. uncooked rice
1/2 c. water
2/3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can tomato soup
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cut the tops off of the peppers and remove the seeds. Cook the peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. 

Note: Once you add the peppers to the boiling water, the water will cool down and stop boiling.  You will need to wait for the water to boil again and then set the timer for 5 minutes.

Remove peppers and drain in a colander over the sink.  I like to drain the peppers upside down in the colander, otherwise the water will just sit in the bottom of the pepper and not drain out. 

Place the drained peppers in your baking dish and sprinkle salt inside of each pepper and set aside.

In a large skillet, saute the beef and onions for 5 minutes or until browned.  Drain the fat (or soak up with paper towels) and season with salt and pepper. 

Stir in the tomatoes, rice, water and worchestershire sauce.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.

Empty the tomato sauce into bowl.  Thin with enough water to a gravy consistency.

Stuff each pepper with the beef mixture. 

Pour the thinned tomato soup over the peppers.

Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes.

I like to serve these Stuffed Green Peppers over mashed potatoes.

I found the recipe years ago online and never saved the website.  If this is your recipe, please let me know and I will give full credit!

Gina's Farm

This week, I have had the fun job of feeding one of my neighbors animals.  Now these are not just your run of the mill pets....Gina literally has a small farm in the middle of town!  In Southern California!

Check them out...

How adorable are these little guys?! 

Bevin - the horse that Gina boards...and that I get to hopefully  ride on with Gina for a trail ride soon!

The pooches...they have a mini tire tug toy that they like to throw at me so I will play with them :)

Gigi - Gina's beautiful horse.  Gigi likes to kick the metal fencing if I take too long to feed her!

more chickens....

fresh eggs for me to gather!!

these eggs were still warm when I grabbed them!

She also has a sheep and two little goats.  I think that these guys are my favorites!  They are playing in this picture and head butting each other.  Just a minute later, I was in the pen feeding them and one of the little guys headbutted my leg....I wonder if she would notice if I took one home with me??

Time for breakfast!!

Here are some of the recipes that I made today with the eggs:

Cynthia's Crustless Quiche

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Tonight I made a great recipe for Fish Tacos from Bobby Flay.  It was the perfect, light meal for these hot summer days!  Along with his Fish Taco recipe, he included this recipe for Fresh Tomato Salsa to use as a garnish.  So far, the flavor is great and I can't wait to taste how it is tomorrow after all of the flavors have had time to marry! 

This recipe has a bit of heat to it because I left all of the chile and pepper seeds in.  It is not "knock your socks off" spicy, it just has a nice kick to it!

Ingredients
2 tablespoon peanut oil
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 serrano chile, sliced
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano (I used 1/2 tsp. regular dried oregano instead)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 lime, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oil in medium saucepan, add onions and garlic and cook until soft.

Add tomatoes, serrano chile and jalapeno pepper and cook until tomatoes are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Puree the mixture with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Note: I just ladled the hot mixture into my blender and pulsed it to a smooth consistency. If you like your salsa more chunky, just pulse fewer times. Be careful, because it will be hot!

Add the hot sauce, oregano, cilantro and lime juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Recipe from Bobby Flay

Grilled Fish Tacos

The first time I ever heard of Fish Tacos was about 8 years ago when I first moved to Southern California.  I wrinkled my nose and said "Ewww! That just sounds disgusting!".  It took me a few years before I was brave enough (with the help of more than a few cervezas) to give them a try in Costa Rica on our honeymoon.  We found a local taco shop called Bubba's in the little surfer town of Jaco Beach.  I think they were made with Mahi Mahi and I was hooked! 

I decided to revisit our fish taco experience and thought it would be a perfect lighter meal for these hot summer months.  So, I headed to my trusted FoodNetwork.com in search of a good recipe.  Sure enough, Bobby Flay came through with another keeper!  His recipe is not only for some really great fish tacos, but also a made-from-scratch salsa on the side.  You can make the salsa ahead of time to let the flavors really develop. 


Ingredients:

Tacos

1 pound white flaky fish, such as mahi mahi or tilapia
1/4 cup canola oil

1 lime, juiced

1 tablespoons ancho chili powder

1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

8 flour or corn tortillas (I prefer corn for this recipe)

Garnish

Shredded white cabbage

Hot sauce

Mexican Crema or sour cream

Thinly sliced red onion

Thinly sliced green onion

Chopped cilantro leaves

Pureed Tomato Salsa, recipe below

Directions

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place fish in a medium size dish. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, ancho chili powder, jalapeno, and cilantro and pour over the fish. Let marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.

Note: Prepare the grill by first heating it.  This will make it much easier to clean using a wire grill brush.  After you brush it down, wipe the grates with a vegetable oil-soaked paper towel.  This helps to keep whatever you are grilling from sticking.  Don't expect it to be completely "non-stick", but it does help!

Remove the fish from the marinade place onto a hot grill, flesh side down. Grill the fish for 4 minutes on the first side and then flip for 30 seconds and remove. Let rest for 5 minutes then flake the fish with a fork.

Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for 20 seconds.

Divide the fish among the tortillas and garnish with any or all of the garnishes.

Pureed Tomato Salsa:

2 tablespoon peanut oil

1 small red onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 serrano chile, sliced

1 jalapeno, sliced

1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano (I used 1/2 tsp. regular dried oregano instead)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 lime, juiced

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oil in medium saucepan, add onions and garlic and cook until soft.

Add tomatoes, serrano chile and jalapeno pepper and cook until tomatoes are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Puree the mixture with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Note: I just ladled the hot mixture into my blender and pulsed it to a smooth consistency.  If you like your salsa more chunky, just pulse fewer times.  Be careful, because it will be hot!

Add the hot sauce, oregano, cilantro and lime juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Recipe from Bobby Flay


Fish Taco recipe can also be seen at:

Whatcha Got Weekend
Savory Sunday
Simply Delish Saturday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Mangia Mondays
Make a Food "e" Friend Monday
Made from Scratch Tuesday
Tempt my Tummy Tuesday
Tasty Tuesdays
Tuesdays at the Table
Whats Cooking Wednesday
Cast Party Wednesday
It's a Keeper Thursday
Full Plate Thursday

My first "guest blog"

A month or so ago, one of my favorite food/recipe blogs invited me to do a "Guest Post" for her blog.  I was super excited and shared my granola bar recipe with her readers.

Check out my guest post and her blog at:

http://thesweetdetail.blogspot.com/2011/06/guest-writer-allison-from-no-carb-left.html

Thanks again Amanda!