Recipe: Stuffed Peppers

I made this healthy version of Stuffed Peppers because Tony loves them. Served with a salad, this was a pretty hearty meal. Tony enjoyed these a lot more than I did but overall, I can't complain....plus, they are super easy to make.

(The cheese was the best part!)

Stuffed Peppers

2 large green bell peppers (about 10 ounces each)

3/4 lb ground sirloin

1/4 c. chopped onion

1 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 (8.8 - ounce) package precooked whole-grain brown rice (such as Uncle Ben's)

1 cup tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Classico)

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place bell pepper halves, cut sides up, in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Microwave at HIGH 6 to 7 minutes or until tender. (*We cooked these in the oven to soften, not the microwave.)

2. While bell peppers cook, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef and onion until browned, stirring to crumble beef. Drain, if necessary; return to pan. Stir in dried Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, brown rice, and pasta sauce. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until warm, stirring occasionally.

3. Fill bell pepper halves with beef mixture; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Microwave at HIGH 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese melts. (*Again, we finished these off in the oven, not the microwave.) YIELD: 4 servings

Per Serving: Cal 312; Fat 9.8g, Pro 27.4g; Carb 29.9g; Fib 4.1g

Original Collector: Me

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Recipe: Spicy Tilapia Fillets

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! There is too much to update on but in brief: we finally got the house (June 4th to be exact), moved in and have been working away ever since. We are cooking a lot and trying to grill out as much as possible. All of the recipes I'm going to post today are things we've made since moving and finally, some actual photos that I've taken of the dishes. Also, we're trying to cook lots of healthy, nutritious dinners this summer so be sure to try them!

This recipe is actually one of the first times I've ever cooked fish (it has always scared me before!) The fish was great but could have used some more spicy heat... overall: success!

Spicy Tilapia Fillets

3 tbs all-purpose flour
2 tsp Creole seasoning (more if you ask us!)
4 (6-ounce) Tilapia Fillets, grouper, or any other mild white fish
1 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
Lemon wedges (optional)

1. Combine flour and Creole seasoning in a large zip-top plastic bag; add fish, and seal bag. Shake bag to coat fish. 2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and saute 30 seconds. Remove and discard garlic. Add fish; cook 7-8 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. (*cooking time was much less for me, we had small fillets) Serve with lemon wedges, if desired. Yield: 4 servings (1 fillet)

Per Serving: Cal 189; Fat 2.9g; Pro 33.6g; Carb 4.7g; Fib .2g

I served the fish with couscous cooked in chicken stock and topped it with pine nuts, diced tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and parsley.

Original Collector: Me

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

7 Hearty Salad Additions

I realize that I've been posting lots of recipes for sweet stuff but that's just because I love to bake. There is something so rewarding about following a recipe, precisely measuring, stirring, mixing and then, there you have it, a perfect dessert. These are the recipes that I'm drawn to but I obviously don't eat cake for dinner.

Now that summer is here I love to find easy meals that are perfect for hot nights when nothing else sounds goods..... that go to meal = salad. I stumbled across an article here on The Kitchn that lists 7 additions to make salads more filling and hearty. A quick article with some good ideas to get filed away for later when those summer salads start making an appearance on my plate.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Recipes

A website completely dedicated to chocolate and peanut butter... a website that is genius. You've got to visit The Chocolate and Peanut Butter Gallery to check out their extensively delicious looking list of recipes. Click here, yum!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Recipe: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Monster Cookies

This cookie recipe was posted on The Kitchn sometime last week and it looks delicious. While these are still incredibly bad for you, at least they are whole-grain and gluten-free. At the very least, a small, delicious step in the right direction!

I was planning to make these last weekend for a cookout but it didn't end up happening so I'll be saving this recipe for a summer cookout in our new house!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Monster Cookies

About 3 dozen cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 cups creamy natural peanut butter, well-mixed
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
About 1 cup chocolate candies or other mix-ins

Preheat oven to 350F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in baking soda, then oatmeal and mix-ins.

Drop onto cookie sheets with an ice cream scoop and flatten slightly. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until done. Do not overbake!

Remove from oven when slightly golden. Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes until they have firmed up enough to remove to wire racks.

Original Collector: Me

Decorating Inspiration

This past month I've been busy collecting lots of decorating inspiration for our house. I am ridiculously excited to have a house to decorate, a blank canvas for all of my ideas. Living in apartments for the last 5 years has been very limiting when it comes to personal style. Below are my two favorite photos which were featured in an article on Apartment Therapy.

I envision our living room looking a lot like the photo above. Our couch and chair are the same beige as this one and we're painting the walls blue. We'll throw in some cool prints with the pillows and there you have it: our living room.

I LOVE this photo, I love every element here, I want to move right into this place! I would love to have this living room but we've already got that design covered. We are, however, using this same color scheme for our kitchen and dining room. Gray walls with white trim, golden yellow and brown as accent colors - Its going to be excellent, I'm stoked, enough said.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Our House

Here it is, the reason I've been completely MIA for nearly a month.....our house! We have been insanely busy running here and there, doing one thing or another for the house almost every single night this past month. We should be closing on the house next week, we should have closed on May 20th but I've come to learn that this stuff does not always go according to plan...actually, it never goes according to plan. We've had about 50 different plans at this point and none of them have worked out.

Anyway, I've still been busy collecting some good stuff so hopefully I'll have a few days to make some posts before the real craziness begins. This house has already been a lot of sweat and tears on our part and I'm sure the blood is soon to come with all the moving and painting.

I'll post more photos of the house in the future, after we get moved in. Hopefully some good before and afters!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Recipe: Fleur de Sel Caramels

Here is the recipe for the homemade caramels that may be making a show at our wedding. I've always wanted to give homemade caramels a try and if I do make them as wedding favors you can bet that I'll be testing out the recipe several times. Yum!

Recipe from Cookbook Catchall

Original recipe from Barefoot Contessa

Fleur De Sel Caramels

Vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Line the bottom of an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, then brush the paper lightly with oil, allowing the paper to drape over two sides.

2. In a deep saucepan (89 diameter by 4 1/2" deep), stir together 1/4 cup water with the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown color. Don't stir — just swirl the pan to mix. Watch carefully, as it will burn quickly at the end!

3. In the meantime, in a small pan, bring the cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.

4. When the sugar mixture is a warm golden color, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Be careful! It will bubble up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248°F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer. Very carefully (because it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate until firm.

5. When the caramels are cold, use the parchment paper to pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board (note: the caramels will still be supple and easy to handle – if too stiff, allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes). Using the parchment and starting from the long side, tightly roll the caramel up until you have rolled 1/3 of it. Cut along the edge and repeat two more times. Use the parchment to gently roll each log to even out the thickness and smooth out the seam from the cut side. Cut each roll into 8-10 pieces, taking care not to touch the caramel with your finger. Sprinkle each piece with fleur de sel and wrap individually in glassine or parchment paper. Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels chilled.

Original Collector: Me

DIY: My Wedding Favors

I'm currently debating between these 3 wedding favors:

from The Knot

Caramel apples bought from Huber's Orchard in Indiana (delicious) - with custom wrapping.

From Cookbook Catchall

Homemade caramels by me - packaged in some cute container.

From Brides.com

Small homemade jars of apple butter (the first recipe I posted!) - This would be extra special but lots of work (well, for my dad) haha.

All three of these ideas would be excellent for our fall wedding....I want something that's more unique than jordan almonds and other candies and I think these are all great ideas.... I just can't decide! Thoughts?
Saturday, May 02, 2009

DIY: My Wedding Cake

Photo here

As I mentioned in the DIY recipe cards post, I've been thinking about having a cake bar instead of a traditional wedding cake. These photos are some of my inspiration. I love vintage cake plates.... I also love baking cakes. Having a homemade, old fashioned cake bar would be a perfect fit for our style of wedding.

Photo here <- this blog is great, I love her tag line: Creative. Thrifty. Sane. I like to believe that about myself as well.

Photo here

Taking on the task of making the cakes will be incredibly stressful - what if I burn them?! I'll be testing out cake recipes before the wedding and posting them on here! We'll see how those go and then I'll decide if I can handle it.

Saturday, May 02, 2009