Bell Pepper Nachos

Steph here--

Today for the game I wanted something to snack on. I wanted to find something healthier than the typical game day snacks and I found this recipe for Bell Pepper Nachos. Its from the site tasteofhome.com.   It is basically the same thing as typical nachos except you use Bell Peppers in place of tortilla chips. It turned out really good! I also added some black beans to the mixture for some extra protein in there. I will definitely be making these again! I also put some of Kens homemade salsa on top of each one and it make it even better! Ill try to get him to post the recipe for his salsa soon! 

Bell Pepper Nachos

14 ServingsPrep/Total Time: 20 min.

Ingredients

• 2 medium green peppers
• 1 medium sweet red pepper
• 1 medium sweet yellow pepper
• 2 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1-1/2 cups cooked rice
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

• Cut peppers into 1-1/2- to 2-in. squares. Cut each square in half
• diagonally to form two triangles; set aside. In a lightly greased
• skillet, cook the tomatoes, onion, chili powder and cumin over
• medium heat for 3 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring
• occasionally.
• Remove from the heat. Stir in the rice, Monterey Jack cheese,
• cilantro and hot pepper sauce. Spoon a heaping tablespoon onto each
• pepper triangle. Place on greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with
• cheddar cheese.
• Broil 6-8 in. from the heat for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is bubbly

Pasta with Marinara Meat Sauce

 

 

When I got home today, I pulled into the driveway and found Connor waiting for me looking through the window. Awesome! I stopped for a moment so we could wave frantically at each other. When I continued pulling into the garage I noticed chalk on the driveway (see below). If you spend any amount of time with Connor, this makes all the sense in the world. I could just picture the exchange between Steph and Connor. Steph would be writing the letters of the alphabet on the driveway, having Connor repeat them. She would get 7 letters in before Connor just starts yelling "T.....T....T....Ohhhhhhhh.....T!!!!!! Ohhhhhhh.......T!!!!"

 

The letter T. And some others we don't really care about.

 

Tonight, we (well mostly Steph) made what is simply the best marinara I have ever had cooked at home. The stuff in the jars is nothing compared to this. I have tried a lot of the different varieties in the jar and they just do not hold a candle to this. Starting with just tomato sauce and tomato paste, this recipe includes delicious fresh basil and parsley! Of course, this recipe contains wine. I'm starting to think if I add wine to KFC's mashed potatoes, they will taste amazing. (Just kidding, there's no hope there). This also made a lot. It used a whole pound of pasta, so of course there were gonna be some leftovers.

 

 

Connor says: Spaghetti with marinara? Um...yes please.

 

Makes 8-10 servings

12 oz ground beef or bulk pork sausage
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 15-oz cans tomato sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup water
1 cup dry red wine or cranberry juice
3 tbsp snipped fresh Italian parsley
2 tbsp snipped fresh basil
1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
2-3 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
16 oz spaghetti or linguine
Parmesan

1) In a large saucepan heat onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Add beef/pork and cook until brown; drain.

2) Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, wine, parsley, basil, Italian seasoning, sugar, crushed red pepper, bay leaves, salt and black pepper.

3) Bring sauce to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer sauce, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until desired consistency.

4) In a large pot cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Remove and discard bay leaves from sauce. Serve sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Make-ahead directions: Place sauce in freezer containers. Seal and freeze for up to 3 months. To use, thaw sauce overnight in the refrigerator. Transfer to saucepan; heat through.

Black Bean-Chipotle Burgers

Today, while I was at work, one of our cats had apparently had enough with the dog and chased her down the stairs, then for good measure, attacked her by jumping on her. I see...the upstairs belongs to the cats. Steph relayed the events to me over text message. Unfortunately, it happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that video was impossible. This is why I propose putting one of those helmet cams on the dog and/or cats. This way we don't miss any of the hilarity.

Not our helmet-cam. Also, not our dog. Also, definitely not our rug.

Speaking of hilarity, we tried making burgers out of something that isn't ground beef. In my experience, this is always difficult. We have a fine curry-chicken burger recipe that is great, but we have to cook it on the stove-top or we'll just end up feeding our BBQ. We followed the recipe below for yummy sounding Black Bean-Chipotle Burgers. It had the word chipotle in it, so I was all aboard! The idea is you cook a black bean patty and serve it on a tostada shell with some lettuce, and if your heart desires, salsa, cheese, avocado, etc. Unfortunately, the patties did not hold up while cooking at all. The end result ended much more like taco salad. This was the sole piece of patty that ended up holding together.

Trust me...the picture in the book looked exactly like this.

The rest was in the grill pan like this...

Complete loss of structural integrity.

I'm not sure what we did wrong. You're supposed to let the patties cool but maybe we didn't let them cool long enough. Also, you're supposed to mash half the beans, but should we have mashed more? Maybe we could have added something to make it hold together.

Now that said, the end result was delicious...just not as intended. We'll have to take another crack at it some other time.

Connor says: I ate a bunch of the leftover brown rice that wasn't used in the recipe. I still had room for some of this and I really liked it. Then I wanted a bowl of crushed ice.

Makes 4 burgers

1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup whole kernel corn, thawed
1 cup corn chips, finely crushed (about 1/2 cup crushed)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup bottled chunky salsa
1/2 to 1 tsp finely chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 clove minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
Finely shredded green cabbage
4 tostada shells, heated according to package directions
Bottled chunky salsa, dairy sour cream, fresh cilantro leaves, crumbled queso fresco, and/or avocado slices

1) In a medium bowl mash half the beans with a potato masher or pastry blender until well mashed. Add remaining beans, corn, corn chips, rice, onion, the 1/4 cup salsa, chipotle peppers, cumin, and garlic.

2) Shape mixture into four 3 1/2-inch patties, about 3/4 inch thick. Place patties on a tray; cover and chill at least 60 minutes before cooking.

3) Brush both sides of patties with olive oil. Cook in a very large skillet over medium heat for 10 minutes or until heated through, turning once.

4) Place some shredded cabbage on each tostada shell. Place the burgers on the cabbage and top with additional salsas, sour cream, cilantro, cheese, and/or avocado slices.

Shrimp Lo Mein

Asian night!!!!! My favorite. And once again, Steph volunteered to cook this one. Lucky me! I just helped chop some veggies and kept Connor somewhat entertained. Don't be fooled by the long list of ingredients...it's actually not that hard. The hardest part of this was figuring out what Bok Choy was.

BOK CHOY!!!!!!!!

We really enjoyed this. Connor says: I love this! I'll eat a whole bunch of it! Then I'll head to the frying pans, point and yell for eggs!

Makes 6 servings

1 lb fresh or frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined, patted dry
6 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tsp sugar
10 oz dried Chinese egg noodles or linguine
1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup shredded carrot (1 medium)
1 cup chopped bok choy
4 green onions, cut into 2-inch thin strips

1) In a medium bowl combine 2 tbsp soy sauce, the rice vinegar, and 2 tsp sugar. Add shrimp, toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes or cover and chill for 1 hour. Cook noodles according to package directions until tender; drain. Rinse with cold water, drain well. Set noodles aside. for sauce, in a small bowl stir together broth, the remaining soy sauce, the remaining sugar, and the cornstarch. Set aside.

2) Pour vegetable oil and sesame oil into a wok or large nonstick skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Add carrot; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add bok choy and green onions; cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove vegetables from wok.

3) Drain shrimp, discarding marinade. Add shrimp to wok, cook and stir for 3 minutes until opaque. Push shrimp from center of wok. Stir sauce and add to center of wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add the cooked noodles and vegetables. Using two spatulas or wooden spoons, lightly toss the mixture until combined and heated through. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve immediately.

Pizza-Style Fish Sticks

Steph knows I have a weakness for those infomercials hocking those Time Life cheesy love song collections. There are way better things I can be doing with my time, but I get some serious entertainment out of these shows. I even have the country version saved on our DVR. The one that aired last night was featuring the Power of Love set, undoubtedly named for Celine Dion's moving ballad. I've added the link because you really should check it out if you have a chance. This set has everything. All the hits on 8 CDs for the low price of 5 easy payments of $29.99 (not adjusted for sarcasm, actual price).

Not only does this infomercial allow you to listen to short clips of all your favorite songs, you are graced with footage of these musicians performing their hits. It really makes you think...people must have gotten away with a lot more in the 70s and 80s, appearance-wise. That has to be the explanation. I mean, imagine if these guys showed up today?

Even the nights are better...but they'd be a lot better if these two dapper gentlemen would hit the studio

Or if this album cover dropped right now...

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

Or this happened today...

Okay, bad example. I realize you can see this on Honda commercials these days. But sarcastically, and sans the fine locks

I can't imagine what a collection like this would look like 20 or 30 years from now. Musicians today have to meet a certain "presentability" threshold to even make it in the mainstream, and the end result is a lot of stuff that just sounds the same. Our music today lacks "character". I sound like a ranting old person. Just get off my lawn and we can talk about some food. 

Tonight, we had some yummy pizza-style fish sticks out of BHG. This was a pretty straightforward recipe. Just put some frozen fish sticks in a casserole, top with pizza sauce and mozzarella and bake. Then top with basil. Must top with fresh basil!

We served with veggies. This made for a very easy and delightful meal. It counteracted the work we had to do for the red beans and rice yesterday. 

Connor says: I'll eat these vegetables as long as you hide the good stuff first. Those fish sticks are so good! 

Makes 4 servings

1 11-12 oz package (18) frozen baked breaded fish sticks

1 8-oz can pizza sauce

1 cup shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

2 tbsp shredded fresh basil (optional) (not optional, you must!)

 

1) Preheat oven to 425. Arrange fish in a 2-quart square or rectangular baking dish. Spoon sauce over fish; sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until heated through. If desired, sprinkle with basil.

 

Red Beans & Rice!!!!

I have been looking forward to this day! Ever since I made this the first time, I have been wanting to do this again. A little background...

We moved down here to northern Louisiana in June. We weren't particularly excited about the move. Having lived the last few years in the Denver area, we were spoiled in so many ways. When we found out we were Louisiana-bound, others often reassured us that this area had some terrific food. I figured if we were going to live here against our will, I was going to make the best of it in that respect. Upon moving here, I quickly realized that there are not many nearby restaurants that meet the lofty Louisiana reputation. Must be better to be closer to New Orleans. Well a co-worker told me about the website www.nolacuisine.com. I HIGHLY suggest you check it out! Especially if you have any interest in AUTHENTIC New Orleans dishes. We've tried a few recipes...most notably, the Shrimp Etouffe, the Chicken Bon Femme, and the red beans and rice.

They all turned out pretty tasty. A lot of time/effort goes into these dishes, but they are so worth it. The red beans and rice we had today was fantastic. I feel like we could sell this for money. It's really not that hard, it just takes time (about 3 hours total) and most of that time is spent letting the beans simmer and occasionally stirring them. This time, we left out the Tasso. I felt it was a little overpowering the first time we cooked it. Tasso is dried, smoked pork. Think smoked salmon, but with pork. We did not make it; we bought it at a local joint that makes it. It's very good with cheese and crackers, and frankly, not bad with the red beans. We just left it out this time.

The creole rice recipe is simple and works just perfectly with the red beans. Definitely use this recipe rather than making it another way (instant, rice cooker, etc.)

Connor says: Mom and Dad won't let me have any because it's way too spicy for a 1-year-old. I had some of the rice and some chicken instead. I insisted on trying some beans afterward, and I actually liked them. Then I decided I wanted some water in a bowl.

Red Beans & Rice Recipe

1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
1 Cup Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Chopped
1 Cup Andouille Sausage, Cubed
1 Cup Tasso, Cubed
1/2 lb. Small Red Beans (soaked overnight or for at least a few hours)
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, Minced
3 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock (You could certainly use water)
3 Fresh Bay Leaves
1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar (When I don’t use Pickle Meat, I add a little vinegar because I like the flavor it lends. Pickle Meat makes wonderful Red Beans by the way; recipe forthcoming.)
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce (I learned this from Louis Armstrong’s Recipe)
1 Tbsp Italian Parsley, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced on the bias
1/2 Recipe Creole Boiled Rice

Mix together the Holy Trinity (Onions, Celery, Bell Pepper). Drain the beans.

Melt the butter over medium heat.

Add 1/2 of the Holy Trinity, 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning, Tasso, and the Andouille, turn the heat to medium high. Cook this for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to get some color.

Add the beans and cook stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.

Add the Chicken Stock or Water, Garlic, Bay Leaves, the remaining Trinity and Creole Seasoning. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let this simmer for 2- 2 1/2 Hours. The first hour is low maintenance; an occasional stir and making sure the beans are covered with liquid. The second hour, you want to check back a little more often, the beans will really start to absorb some liquid and you don’t want them to stick.

After the beans have cooked for two hours, add the Tomato Sauce, the Parsley and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Make your Rice. Cook the beans for another half hour.

To Serve:

Remove the Bay Leaves. Mound a half cup of Rice each, onto two serving plates, Cover with a generous helping of the Red Beans, Garnish with the remaining Green Onions. Make sure there is a bottle of hot sauce on the table. Perfect compliments to this meal are a simple vinaigrette salad, Good Crusty French Bread, and your favorite Ice Cold Beer.

Serves 2-3


Creole Boiled Rice

1 quart of Boiling Water
1 Cup Basmati or Jasmine Rice
2 Fresh Bay Leaves (If you have to use dried, do so, but damn….. the fresh are so much better!)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter (Optional)

Bring the water to a boil with the Bay leaves. Add the salt. Add the rice, stir to make sure the rice doesn’t stick! Do Not Stir again! If you agitate the rice too much, it gets sticky! So give it a good stir, when it comes back to a boil, partially cover it. Cook for about 11 minutes, but taste it, don’t trust me! It should have some bite, but a crunch is bad, Call it Al Dente, like I said, think Pasta. When it’s tender, drain it, pluck out the bay leaves, and if desired, place it into a 400 degree oven with the butter patted on top for about 15 minutes; this helps dry the rice out.

Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

Well it's Saturday which means that once I returned from Gymboree with Connor it was time to try again with the bread. I consulted The Google to find out how to improve my "Oven Spring." While reading, I learned that it is common for newbies to use too much flour. Hmmm...noted. Also, I decided to use bread flour. I wasn't too sure about this move since the recipe calls specifically for all-purpose flour. Four and a half cups of that later (recipe calls for 5-6), I was left with a ball of dough that felt different than my previous attempts, but I attributed this to the bread flour. Based on what I read, I wasn't gonna add any more. After kneading, I let it rise, but it didn't rise much, even after about 3+ hours. The end result was still small and dense. Sigh...I suppose I'll keep trying. Again, it was delicious. We ate most of the first loaf.

Anywho, immediately after the bread was done, it was time to start the Tortilla Soup. The recipe in the book is a little different from the one I posted below. In the web version, you use 3.5 cups broth. In the book you use about 2 cups of broth and the rest water. We used somewhere in the middle. It also tells you to use bone-in chicken breast, but we used boneless. For the tortillas, the recipe in the book tells you to bake corn tortilla strips in the oven while the web version tells you to fry them. I say just use tortilla chips. Also, if I could do it again, I would add the cilantro at the end as a topping, not prior to simmering.

Either way, it turned out pretty good. We actually have a recipe for Chicken Enchilada Soup that is very similar to this. We like that a little more than what we had tonight, but this was a bit faster.

Connor says...I've filled up on the bread you guys just made. I'll play with this soup a little bit, but I'm not all that enthusiastic about it. How about instead you give me some more of that bread? And while you're at it, throw in some of that Monterey Jack you've been using. Cheese!?!? Cheese!?!? You guys will never know if I'm actually done eating because one of you accidentally says the word "bath."

 

Enjoy with wine.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/poultry/mexican-chicken-tortilla-soup/