Black Bean Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Randomly today I decided to try making stuffed green peppers. They were on sale, and I was feeling a bit daring. I made them vegetarian with black beans instead of meat but you could easily use ground beef or chicken in addition. They turned out amazing, and I will keep this in my pile of make again recipes...

Black Bean Mexican Stuffed Peppers

4 green bell peppers

1 cup of brown rice

1/2 small onion

1 can rotel (drained)

1 can black beans (drained)

1 Tbs. taco seasoning

1 cup grated sharp cheddar

Sour Cream (optional garnish)

Cook brown rice according to directions on package. Saute onion. Mix together brown rice, onion, rotel, black beans, taco seasoning, and 2/3 cup of cheese. Cut tops off peppers and remove insides. Fill peppers with rice mixture. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The peppers will remain crunchy so if you prefer them to be a bit softer consider baking the peppers for a bit before you fill them. Enjoy!

bbq bacon sliders

I made these this weekend. Another great Pioneer Woman recipe! Although, I used cheddar cheese, turkey bacon, and added caramelized onions. I think regular bacon would have made them amazing since it gets crispier than turkey bacon, but I went with the slightly healthier option. I think these would be great for a dinner party. They are just small enough for those people who don't want a gigantic burger or if you are really hungry you can eat a few. Plus you can customize them with toppings!

Chicken Caesar Pitas

I like Chili's. Glen, however, does not. He has good reason though. A few years ago we went there on his birthday, and he got food poisoning. He was the sickest he had ever been. He hasn't been back. I have gone back several times since, and I always get the same thing- a Chicken Caesar Pita. The past 2 times I have been there I discovered that they took it off the menu. However, they were nice enough to still make it for me! Now I don't have to go to Chili's to get my Chicken Caesar Pita because we made them ourselves, and they were quite tasty if I do say so myself. Nothing better than grilling out on a friday night, relaxing with the friends especially when you go out to Nonnah's for dessert afterwards!

Chicken Fried Steak

I love the pioneer woman. If I am in search of something to cook I always go to her site first. Recently we made this recipe. Good ole southern cooking. Yum!

White Chicken Enchiladas

This past Monday I tried a new recipe, the Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchiladas. This is the first time that I have ever made enchiladas, and it was super easy. It would be a good dish to make for company and it would be easy enough to make 2 cassarole pans for a large crowd. Since I am not loving red sauce foods right now, these really hit the spot with the white sauce. My only complaint would be that they were a bit too saucy, but putting them on a bed of rice or just using less sauce would fix the problem. Next time I think I am going to try adding black beans to the chicken mixture so we won't have to use as much meat.

Orange Roasted Chicken

Orange Roasted Chicken

1 3 lb fryer

1 orange

orange zest

1 tsp salt

4 Tbs. Olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp thyme

2 Tbs. butter

Mix orange zest, salt, minced garlic, thyme, and olive oil. Loosen skin from breast and put mixture under skin. Cut up orange and stuff into chicken. Place leftover orange slices in bottom of cassarole dish. Dry skin of chicken and place breast side up in cassarole dish. Bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes. 20 minutes into bake time baste with butter.

Hot Rueben Dip

I tried this dip this weekend to bring to a SuperBowl get together. It was a winner in my book, but as my friend Elizabeth said, "You had me at rueben". So if you are a rueben lover, you should try it!

{Photo Credit Brown Eyed Baker}

Buffalo Chicken Calzones...kind of

Last night I made calzones for the first time. I decided on Buffalo Chicken, not your regular calzone, simply because I plan to make Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese later this week and had all the ingredients. I guess I am on a buffalo chicken kick. I used regular pizza dough and stuffed it with mozzarella cheese, shredded chicken, and buffalo wing sauce with ranch for the dipping sauce. I read directions on how to make a calzone and then proceeded not to follow them. Although it turned out tasting good (other than I loaded on a bit too much buffalo sauce), it looked like this...

I guess that teaches me that I really need to follow directions...

Jambalaya-ish

I can't say that I have ever made jambalaya, and after last night I probably still can't say I have made jambalaya, just something jambalaya-ish.

Brown rice topped with tomatos, onions, green peppers, celery, garlic, chicken sausage and seasoned with worsteshire and hot sauce.

Chicken Pot Pie

I haven't been doing too much from scratch cooking lately. I think its the time change. It just makes you tired and unmotivated when it turns dark at 5:00 everyday. However, I had a craving for homemade chicken pot pie. It really hit the spot! Yum!

Drumsticks and Salad Dressing

It was nice to not have to cook for an entire week while we were on vacation. Plus, it was all "free" being all-inclusive! I should really say it was nice not to have to plan and clean up. I really love to cook but I don't like having to run to the grocery store for ingredients we don't have and even more I hate to clean up afterwards especially since I have a tendency to use every pot, pan, and bowl in the kitchen. Well we are back to reality where no one cooks our meals or cleans up after us.

So we tried 2 new recipes this weekend. First we tried these Hot & Sweet Drumsticks. These were quite yummy. However, we like things pretty hot so I added double the called for hot sauce and it still needed something. I think next time we might try adding some fresh jalapenos to the sauce. We also grilled them instead of putting them in the oven!

Second, I whipped up this Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette for our spinach salad. It was awesome! I love vinaigrettes and this one has super simple ingredients. It's officially my new favorite salad topper. I would love to try it on green beans too.

Chicken Chili

One of my favorite things to make in Fall, Winter, whenever its cold is chicken chili. I fell in love with it at Atlanta Bread Company. I could eat it for days, even weeks. Actually its what we are eating almost everyday this week! The best thing is its a little different everytime I make it! I have a general guideline of what I put in the chili but I never measure it so I couldn't write down a true recipe. That way everyone can make the chili to their own liking!

Chicken Chili

1 can each Black Beans, White Beans, Kidney Beans (drained)

4 cans dice tomatos

1 small can tomato paste

chicken
chicken broth (if its too thick)

diced onions (3 small)

diced green peppers (2)

diced jalapeno peppers (1-2)

pickled jalapeno peppers (handful)

garlic

chili powder

cumin

red pepper flakes

hot sauce
Cheese (garnish)
Sour Cream (garnish)

Saute the onions, peppers, and garlic. Dump everything in a pot and simmer for a couple of hours. You don't have to let it cook that long but I think that it really makes everything good and blended that way!


p.s. This recipe makes a lot! But it can easily be frozen and saved for later. This is a very chunky (filling) chili so if you want more "soup" you'll have to add tomato sauce or more paste and broth.

Stuffed Zucchini

I am becoming more resourceful while couponing. I am trying new things, and learning new ways to cook. I bought some ground turkey this past week because it was on sale, and I have never made anything with ground turkey before. I know it is healthier than ground beef and have heard you can pretty much substitute it with many recipes. This past week I made dirty rice with ground turkey for Glen to take to work for lunch. I saved some to use for dinner this weekend, and I will cook the remainder in spaghetti next week. I saved some yet I had no clue what I was going to make. That's when I decided to use the Food Blog Search to find a recipe. I found this Stuffed Zucchini recipe and decided to go for it.

I also threw together this bread which turned out pretty tasty. I used leftover pizza dough and topped it with cheddar cheese and jalapenos. I think this would be great with some chicken chili which I am currently craving!

Beer Pot Roast

The Pioneer woman calls it Beer Braised Beef with Onions, but really its pot roast cooked with beer. I have not made pot roast ever before. I love pot roast, but we do not have a crock pot due to the lack of space in our less than 600 sq. ft. apartment when we got married. I found this recipe that is cooked in the oven. It was very good, and until I get a crock pot which I definitely do not have room for I will make this pot roast.

Corn Salad

A few weeks ago we had dinner with our small group at our friends Katy and Eric's house. Katy made this corn salad that was so good I decided to make it this past weekend for our labor day celebration with my side of the family.

Corn Salad

6 ears of corn

5 plum tomatos

2 avacados

1/2 red onion

2 limes

Cook corn and cut off the cob. Let corn cool. Then add dices tomatos, avacados, and onions. Salt and pepper to taste and add lime juice just before serving. Note: I like limes and thats why I use 2. You can definitely use less if you think the lime taste is overwhelming.

Garlic & Lime Roasted Chicken

So this is actually only the 2nd time I have actually roasted a whole chicken. This one was really easy and turned out great. Maybe I should do this more often...Anyways, here it is...

Garlic & Lime Roasted Chicken

1 3-4lb Chicken

1 Lime

5 Garlic cloves

1/4 Onion

Chicken Seasoning

Olive Oil

Roughly chop lime, garlic, and onion and stick inside the cavity of the chicken. Note: take out insides of the chicken first. Place in baking dish breast side up. Cut small slits in skin on the breast and stick then ends of the chicken legs through the holes. This will keep the legs from popping out and you won't have to tie them together with string. Cover chicken with chicken seasoning. You can really use any seasoning you want, but I think it is easier and just as good to use already made blends of chicken seasoning. drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 450 degrees for 1 hr 15 min. Check after 20-30 minutes. If skin begins to brown too much place aluminum foil losely over the top.

Chicken Spaghetti

Kind of a weird name. Not really appealing. I don't think that this recipe is catching anyone's attention with its name. That's why pictures are always needed. This is another Pioneer Woman Recipe. I am always looking for easy/good cassaroles. This one is definitely a keeper. I can imagine this will be a fantastic recipe for the Fall. You know when you are craving that warm comfort food and the air is a bit nippy. Oh, I can't wait for Fall. I already have a mile high list of things to cook/bake with pumpkin, apples, and cranberries. But for now, if you are looking for a new cassarole recipe, try this one!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Saturday night I was really craving some BBQ Chicken Pizza. We had all the ingredients except pizza dough which I would normally make from scratch, but I was lazy. Plus, I didn't want to get my freshly cleaned counters dirty again, and I make a HUGE mess any time I make any kind of dough. So I picked some up from the grocery store. If you are going to make your own use this recipe. If you are going to buy it then try Publix, Earth Fare, or the Fresh Market . They have bags of ready to go pizza dough. Don't buy the can dough. Its okay, but you will thank me if you use the freshly made dough. I promise.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Pizza Dough

Cornmeal

BBQ Sauce

1 Cooked Chicken breast cut up

1/4-1/2 onion sauted
Feta Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Roll out pizza dough on floured surface. Sprinkle Cornmeal on pan and place dough on top. If the dough is thick cook at 400 degrees for five minutes before topping. Otherwise, spread BBQ sauce on dough. If you like saucy pizza make it saucy if not then don't. It's all up to preference. Then top with mozzarella, chicken, and feta. Bake at 400 degrees (15-20 minutes) until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown.

Yum!

Crab Cakes

On Thursday night we treated ourselves. We had not spent a night at home together in 7 days. Plus I spent 2 1/2 hours that afternoon in an allergy clinic being used as a pin cushion to find out I was unreactive to skin tests. Awesome. 45 scratches and 12 shots too late.

I highly recommend these Crab Cakes.

To make your dinner extra fancy, try adding a spinach salad with goat cheese and green apples.

Comfort Meatballs

This is a recipe from the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, but it can also be found here. These were so yummy. They are kind of like mini meatloafs, but if you don't like meatloaf, don't count them out just yet. Please give them a try. We added in a little more tobasco then what it calls for. We like a little kick. I would DEFINITELY recommend these!