Stuffed Bell Peppers with Turkey

I found this lower calorie recipe on Pinterest after Nick requested I make stuffed peppers. I did make a few changes because I felt like the original might have lacked taste, and I was really pleased that I did. They came out great! The original recipe says to use reduced fat cheese and chicken broth...however...I do no do this. If you do a little research, you will learn that reduced fat options are usually worse for your body than the regular version (thank you high school chemistry teacher for that one).

Here is the original post Turkey Stuffed Peppers on Skinnytaste.com.

Ingredients:

• 1 package ground turkey...the recipe says 1 pound, but the packages are usually 1.3 pounds
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon cilantro
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• season salt, black pepper, and Mrs. Dash original to taste
• Couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 large sweet red bell peppers, washed, cut in half and seeds removed
• 1 cup chicken broth, divided
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
• Olive oil
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used a three cheese cheddar blend)

Preheat oven to 400.  Place bell pepper halves in a 13x9 inch baking dish and pour 1/2 cup of chicken broth in the bottom of the dish.

In a large skillet, spray or drip a little olive oil and set burner to medium high. Add onion, minced garlic, and cilantro and saute for about 2 minutes. Add ground turkey and break it up. Sprinkle on season salt, cumin, garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, black pepper and splash on Worcestershire sauce. Brown the meat until cooked completely. Add in 1/2 cup of chicken broth and tomato sauce, mix and simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Add in rice and remove from heat.

Spoon meat and rice mixture into the pepper halves. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve.

Cheers!
CC

Orange Roughy Dijon

I am not a big fish eater...but I do enjoy the light taste of Orange Roughy. I did have to go to four different stores to find it here in Louisiana. Again...Albertson's to the rescue!

This recipe came from Southern Living cookbook. I did change a couple things and I had to increase the cook time a bit. I served it with some rice and a salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 Orange Roughy fillets
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
•  1 tablespoon dijon mustard (I used honey dijon which gave it a little sweet taste)
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 cup butter softened
• 1 clove minced garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place fish in a lightly greased baking dish (I sprayed it with a little olive oil). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix butter, mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and cloves in a small bowl then spread over fish. Top with bread crumbs and bake 10-15 minutes. Fish should flake apart with a fork.

Enjoy!
Cheers!
CC

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions, Scalloped Potatoes and Chicken

Okay...to be honest...the best part of this meal was the green beans. The Chicken is my own recipe and its not bad either. The potatoes did not turn out too well...I will be searching for another recipe for those.

A few Christmases ago, my grandma gave me a Southern Living cookbook...she had no idea I would be living in the South at that point. Their recipe for Caramelized Green Beans is fabulous! I even used extra onions and sauce to top the chicken.

For this...you need to start the potatoes first because they take the longest. I found the recipe on about.com in Southern Food. But that was in 2009...and now I cannot find it again. I had printed it at the time and kept it. It had 5 star reviews, but I was disappointed. It's not bad...give it a try if you like, maybe you'll like it. TIP: If you have a slicer, it makes this recipe much easier. I found mine for $10 at Albertsons.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups thinly sliced potatoes
• 1 medium onion thinly sliced
• 2 table spoons flour
• 2 table spoons grated Parmesan cheeses (I actually doubled that cause I like cheese)
• salt and pepper
• 2 table spoons butter (I think I also used more than that)
• 1 3/4 cups hot milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. lightly butter the bottom of a 1/2 quart casserole dish Place a layer of potatoes and onions in casserole. Sprinkle with some of the flour, cheese,  salt and pepper. Dot with small pieces of butter. Repeat layering ending with a layer of potatoes. Dot with butter and pour in hot milk. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Baked Chicken
Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast (as many as you like)
• Splash of chicken broth
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Mrs Dash Original
• Season Salt
• Black Pepper 

Preheat oven to 375.  Place chicken and splash of chicken broth in baking dish. Pierce chicken several times with a fork. Splash on Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash on top and bake for 30 minutes. Make sure to check the chicken to ensure it is done cooking.

Caramelized Onions and Green Beans...this will make extra sauce to top your chicken
Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and washed
• 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced then cut in half
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (I had pomegranate flavored and it was very good)

Cook green beans in boiling water for 10-15 minutes.Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add onions. cook 8 minutes but do not stir. Continue to cook onion until golden, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter and brown sugar. Add the green beans and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar and serve.

Enjoy!
Cheers!
CC

Things I am Planning

With St. Patty's Day coming up...I am determined to make a Grasshopper Pie. Those of you here in the South know what I am talking about. When I was pregnant (and living in California) I craved this for weeks. It was one of the few things I craved. But when I asked for it, people looked at me like I was insane. And I just was not into cooking much while I was pregnant. Now that I have moved and have all my cookbooks and magazines unpacked...I found a recipe for Grasshopper Pie and it is on my list of things to make. For my California friends...Grasshopper Pie is a mint pie with chocolate cookie crust. YUM! Stay tuned for that one!

Tomorrow I am making the Orange Roughy recipe I found in my Southern Living cookbook. Then Thursday or Friday, Chicken Satay. I am trying to convince Nick to take me to Red Lobster for Lobster Fest one day even though I am allergic and will pay for it. It's not a deadly allergy or anything...just some stomach uncomfort...to put it nicely.

This weekend I will be meal planning again and shopping for any items I may need. I heard this slow cooker orange chicken recipe on Pinterest is amazing, so I am giving that a try for sure. And I may also do stuffed bell peppers at Nick's request. I am also going to look for some new recipes to test out.

I hope you enjoy my cooking/baking adventures as much as I do :)

Cheers!
CC

Quick Pasta Using Philly Cooking Cream

I recently discovered the Philadelphia Cooking Cream. I had a coupon for it, so decided to give it a try. It's good. :) I've tried the Italian Herb and the Garlic flavors so far. Since I am really only cooking for 2 (and my toddler)...sometimes I have left over chicken breast. Last night I made a simple baked chicken (recipe will also be put up) and there were 3 breasts in the package. We only ate two...which meant I had one left. So...this recipe is the result of left over chicken breast :)

Ingredients

• 1 cooked and cubed chicken breast
• 1 bag frozen veggies microwave steamed (I used broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot mix)
• 1 container Philadelphia cooking cream...I used the Italian Herb for this one
• A splash of chicken broth
• Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash to taste
• Cooked pasta noodles
• Parmesean Cheese to taste

Place a splash of chicken broth in a skillet and add chicken. Cook on medium high heat until heated, stirring frequently. Cook veggies per package, then add to chicken. Add salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash. Stir in cooking cream, reduce heat to low and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in pasta, sprinkle with Parmesean and serve.

This makes about 4 servings.

Cheers!
CC

Liv's Favorite Lunch

My daughter has developed a few favorites in her 13 months of life. :) She loves yogurt, apples, and cookies. And recently she has developed a love for a super simple lunch item. Crescent roll ups. I make a batch and it lasts a few days (if daddy doesn't eat them all). It takes roughly 15 minutes from start to finish...and you can sneak some healthy veggies in there too. Or make them fruity for breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
16 thin slices of lunch meat
4 slices of cheese cut in halves
cut up veggies, broccoli, carrots,spinach...whatever you fancy

Preheat oven as directed on the package. Unroll the dough and separate into triangles (makes 8).

 Place one half of a cheese slice on the dough, then 2 slices of meat, then veggie.

 Roll them up and place on a cookie sheet. TIP: sometimes the cheese spills out during cooking. For easy cleanup, line your cookie sheet with foil.

Bake as directed on package (10-12 minutes). Let them cool before serving because they are very hot!

That's it! Super easy and pretty yummy. Toddler approved. :)

Cheers!
CC

Chicken Marsala and Asparagus

I love a good Chicken Marsala! Since we just moved to Louisiana...I am still finding my way around and it took going to 5 different stores before I found Marsala wine for the recipe. Thank you Albertsons!! They had an expansive wine selection and I finally found it there. Marsala is nice to cook with because it saves very well...where most wines do not once they are opened.

This is my interpretation of Emeril's recipe. If you would like to see how he did it, here is the site.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html

Emeril pan fries the chicken...but I'm not a fan of doing it that way..so my recipe is a baked version. And in this particular cooking experience my sauce was a little thin...so I bumped up the amount of flour you should add in the recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 container sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup Marsala
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Minced garlic
• Salt and black pepper
• Onion powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and sprinkle with pepper, salt, onion powder, and garlic. Bake for 40-45 minutes ensuring the meat is cooked through. While meat is baking, make the sauce.

Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to a medium skillet then add mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown.

Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour to thicken sauce slightly.

 Carefully add the sauce and mushrooms to the baking chicken for the last 10 minutes of bake time. When chicken is done baking, remove from oven and stir in remaining butter.

Serve over mashed potatoes for a yummy, filling dinner.

The beauty of this asparagus recipe is that you can make the asparagus the way you like it. I happen to like it a little on the crisp side, but some people like it more soft. Just increase the cook time to get it how you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• 1/4 large sweet onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• black pepper

Directions:
Wash asparagus and break off the very bottom part (it should snap right off). In a large skillet, heat butter and onions til golden. Add in asparagus and sprinkle with pepper. Cook covered for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy! Cheers!
CC