Stuffed Green Peppers with Sausage

1 C Rice

4 large green bell peppers

1 large onion, diced

2 tsp.  olive oil

1 (16 oz) Sausage (I usually use Jimmy Dean's Sage or regular sausage.)

1/2 tsp. Oregano

1/2 C Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 C Grated Mozzarella Cheese

Cook rice according to package. Preheat oven to 375.

Trim the bottom of the bell peppers so they can sit flat in a pan. Cut off the tops and remove the seeds. (You can chop up the excess pepper from the top if desired. Put it with the onions.)Place hallowed peppers in a baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.

Heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet. Add onions and diced peppers. Let cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove onions and peppers and set aside. Add sausage to the skillet. Cook fully until lightly browned. Put the onion mixture back into the skillet with the sausage. Then add the spices. Let cook for 2-3 minutes. Next add the rice and parmesan cheese. Add your salt and pepper to taste. Cook so the mixture is warm. Stuff the peppers with the mixture. Tightly pack the mixture in the pepper with the back of your spoon. If you have extra filling put it in the dish around the peppers.

Bake peppers for 30 minutes. Remove and add mozzarella on top of the peppers. Put them back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

*You can cook the peppers before stuffing them so they are softer. It is totally a preference thing.*

Chicken Pillows

2 C cooked chicken, shredded (I often just use the cans of chicken)

4 oz. Cream Cheese softened

1 Tbsp. Butter softened

1/2 Tbsp. Dried Chives

1/2 Tbsp. Dried Minced Onion

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 (8 oz) can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (I often buy 2 of these just in case I have extra filling)

1/4 C Butter, melted

1 C Italian Breadcrumbs

Gravy

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 Packet Chicken Gravy mix

3/4 C water

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside. In a bowl, mix the softened cream cheese and 1 Tbsp butter. Then add in the chicken, chives, onion, salt, and pepper. Unroll your crescent rolls on the pan. You can either make small pockets using one triangle or you can push together two triangles of the rolls to make a bigger pocket. 

Spoon a heaping spoonful of chicken mixture into the center of the roll. (Or however much you'd like, but not too much so it doesn't close.) Fold over the corners of the roll to cover the chicken mixture. Press together the edges, it will almost appear as a ball. Scoop the rest of the filling onto the remaining rolls. Once they are all in ball shapes, dip them in the melted butter and then pour on the breadcrumbs. Put the chicken pillow on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Make the gravy while the pillows are cooking. In small saucepan, mix together the cream of chicken soup, gravy mix, and water. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer. It should thicken, then remove from heat.

Pour the gravy over the chicken pillows and enjoy!

Pepe Le Pesto

Dexter and I loved a place called The Crepery up in Logan, but it was a little too pricey for us. So we just made our own version at home.

Make Swedish pancakes. (This is already a recipe on the blog.)
http://wegirlseat.blogspot.com/2017/12/swedish-pancakes.html

Deli Smoked Turkey
Mozzarella Cheese
Pesto
Red Pepper
Oil

Cut up red pepper into thin slices. Add some oil in a small saucepan. Then add the red peppers. Let them cook until they are soft. Drain oil. Place turkey slices in pan, just to make them warm. Then remove.

 Place your Swedish pancake in a clean pan on medium-low heat. In the middle of the pancake spread a thin layer of pesto. Then put some mozzarella cheese down. One top of that add the warmed turkey and a few red pepper slices. Fold the sides of the Swedish pancake over to cover the ingredients in the middle. Cover the saucepan. Let cook for 1 minute then flip the pancake. The cheese should be melted when ready to eat.

Swedish Pancakes

This is our family's recipe. They are the same as crepes.

2 Eggs
1 1/2 C Milk
1 C Flour
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Oil

Mix together all ingredients very well. Heat up a medium saucepan and spray with nonstick spray. Add a ladle full of pancake mix to saucepan. Lift and turn the pan so mix is evenly spread on saucepan. These are very thin. Let cook and then flip. Take off heat when pancake is light brown. Continue to make thin pancakes until mixture is all gone. You will need to whisk the batter again to get rid of lumps.

When finished, you can eat the Swedish pancakes with literally anything. We always sprinkled powdered sugar and cinnamon on them. Then we rolled them up and drizzled on syrup.

Lettuce Wraps

Seriously these are so delicious! I got this recipe from my friend and I always want to make them! I didn't have a few of the ingredients, but it was so worth it for me to go buy them! Also the recipe is pretty easy.

3 C Shredded Chicken, cooked
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 Green onions chopped
1/2 C Shredded carrots
2 C Shredded cabbage
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1/2 C Hoisin Sauce
1/2 C Plum Sauce
1/2 C Pine Nuts
Optional: 1/2 tsp. Ginger
Lettuce Leaves

Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic, ginger (optional), pepper flakes, and green onions to skillet. Cook for 1 minute. Add carrots, cabbage, cooked chicken, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, plum sauce, and pine nuts. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Serve in cold lettuce leaves.

Broccoli Beef in the Crock Pot

I made this for book club and it turned out pretty good! It was super easy!

1-1.5 lbs steak (flank or skirt steak is best, I just used what I had on hand)
1 C Beef Broth
2/3 C Soy Sauce
1/3 C Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. Oil
4 C Broccoli
Optional: Red Pepper Flakes
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
4 Tbsp. Beef Broth

Cut steak into very thin pieces. Put steak, 1 C beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes (optional) in the crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.

15-20 minutes before serving, uncover crock pot. In a small bowl whisk together corn starch and 4 Tbsp. Beef Broth. Add it to the crock pot. Chop up broccoli pieces to your desire. Add them to the crock pot as well. Stir together the ingredients. Let finish cooking for 15-20 minutes. Broccoli should be soft and then it is ready to eat. Serve over rice.

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Use any kind of dough you like. I use Amelia's recipe which is already on the blog.
http://wegirlseat.blogspot.com/2014/12/pizza-dough.html

This sauce recipe is for one medium size pizza.

Sauce:

1 Tbsp. Butter

2 Cloves of garlic minced

1 Tbsp. Flour

1/2 C Milk

1/4 C Half and Half

Pinches of Salt & Pepper

1 oz Cream Cheese

2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese

Optional: Pinch of red pepper flakes

Toppings:

8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese

3 C Spinach, coarsely chopped and wilted

1 (6 oz) Jar marinate artichokes, drained and chopped*

1/4 C Shredded Parmesan Cheese

*I wilt my spinach in the microwave. Just add a little bit of water to a bowl with the spinach and cook for a minute or so. 

Make dough according to recipe's directions and set aside. Preheat oven to 450.

In medium saucepan add butter, garlic, and red pepper flakes (optional). Cook on medium-low and stir for about 1 minute. Whisk in flour and cook for another minute. Gradually whisk in milk, half and half, pepper, and salt. As sauce begins to thicken, turn up heat to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the cream cheese and paremsan until melted. Remove from heat.

Roll out dough on preferred pizza pan. Using a fork, poke holes in the pizza dough to prevent big bubbles. Spread the warm sauce over the dough. Add half of the mozzarella cheese. Then add the spinach and artichokes. Then add the rest of the mozzarella. Cook in the oven for 7-10 minutes or until crust is starting to get golden brown. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with paremsan cheese. Cut and enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1/2 Onion chopped
1/4 C Butter
1/4 C Flour
2 C Chicken Broth
2 Bunches broccoli
2 Carrots
8 oz Cheddar Cheese
2 C Half and Half

Put 1 Tablespoon of butter in a pot and saute the onion in the butter. Cut carrots into small strips. I often just use a potato peeler. Chop the broccoli into small pieces. Make a roux using the remainder of melted butter and flour. Put in pot and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add half and half stirring constantly. Then add chicken broth and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add vegetables and cook for 20 minutes over low heat or until vegetables are cooked to your desire. Add cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Eat with some bread!

Quinoa, spinach, and fruit salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Quinoa, spinach, and fruit salad with balsamic vinaigrette 

6 oz package of baby spinach, roughly chopped

2 cups sliced strawberries

1 cup blueberries

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1 cup peaches, diced

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup feta, crumbled

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup chicken broth

In a small pan combine chicken broth and quinoa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover, cooking for about 15 mins or until all the liquid is absorbed. Allow to cool. You can cool for 5 mins and serve warm, or cool longer and serve room temp, or refrigerate and sever cold.

Combine cooked quinoa with remaining salad ingredients. Toss with balsamic vinaigrette and serve immediately. 

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

4 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Garlic powder

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or dressing shaker and whisk/shake well. Chill for 30 mins before serving.

Chicken Curry

I had chicken thawed out and Greek yogurt in the fridge. I never have Greek yogurt and didn't know if I would be able to eat it all just as it, so I google chicken and Greek yogurt recipes and made this one. We loved it! My kids at it all. I served it with rice. I think the kids liked it so much because it had the flavor of chicken top ramen... and they love that.


Servings: 4 (I think it makes more than this because we ate it with rice.)
Total time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1-1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4" strips (I had 2 chicken breasts I used, I could've used more, but it did the job.)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-1/2 tsp curry powder, divided
3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 C low sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sugar
1 C frozen peas (no need to thaw)
1/4 C plain low fat (2%) or whole Greek yogurt (She said not to use nonfat, but that's all I had)
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sprinkle the chicken evenly with 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon curry powder. Heat 1-1/2 tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned but still pink in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.
2. Add the remaining 1-1/2 tablespoons oil to the skillet and set heat to medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger and remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons curry powder and cook until fragrant, about a minute more.
3. Whisk the chicken broth and cornstarch together to dissolve the cornstarch, then add to the skillet along with the sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sauce is nicely thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the peas and partially cooked chicken to the skillet, turn the heat down to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, a few minutes. Off the heat, stir in the yogurt and cilantro; then season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with basmati rice.

Shout out to the original recipe found HERE.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

This recipe is more of a rough guideline, rather than an exact recipe. This salad came about because I had random things left in my pantry and fridge before our move and a friend told me this salad would use up some of that stuff. She only told me the ingredient list, no measurements. So here is what I did.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad 

1 box Couscous (I use the Near East brand, typically either the Parmesan or toasted pine nut flavor.) or pearled couscous cooker per package direction, typically makes approx 3 cups cooked.

1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1-2 Tbsp. red onion, diced

2 Roma tomato, diced

1/2 can (15 oz) olives, sliced (either black or kalamata)

1/2+/- cup Greek or Italian dressing

1/4+/- cup Feta cheese

Cook couscous according to package directions. 

Allow couscous to cool before adding remaining ingredients.

Add cucumber, tomatoes, onion, olives, and dressing. Toss to combine. You can add more dressing if desired. 

Let the salad sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving, allowing the couscous to soak up some of the dressing. If the salad is too dry you can always add more dressing right before you serve it. Add the feta right before serving and toss to combine.

You could also add grilled chicken and make this a complete meal.

Enjoy!