Lentil Chili Stuffed Peppers

So one of my New Year's resolution was to eat healthy without spending a lot of extra money.  Actually, my husband wants me to cut my grocery budget by $200 each month...which I realize is doable if I PLAN.  In the past I would get an idea of something I felt like making, stop on the way home from work, and cook it that night.  This lead to extra stops at the grocery store each week that were unnecessary.  So now, I plan.  And in the rotation are lentils!  They practically have NO fat and are high in protein and good carbohydrates!  Lentil Chili is something that I make regularly now.  Be warned: one 16oz bag of lentils goes a long way.  Making this recipe for Lentil Chili, feeds my family of 5 dinner one night and then I make the stuffed peppers for night 2 and then I have enough to bring lunch for myself and my teacher assistant then next day!  By the way...the bag of lentils cost me $1.00...for real!  I would estimate the chili plus the stuffed peppers would be less than $10 total!  You really can't beat that if you are on a budget.

Lentil Chili

Ingredients:
1-16oz bag of lentils
2-15oz cans of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (really any diced tomatoes are fine)
1-15oz can Black Beans (rinsed and drained)
1 cup frozen corn
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 onion diced
1 green pepper diced
1 jalapeño pepper diced (seeds and stems removed if you don't like it hot)
2 Tablespoons Cumin
2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste
A few teaspoons of chopped fresh cilantro and cheese to top (optional)
6 cups of water or chicken stock (at least)...the lentils absorb a lot of liquid

Directions:
Put lentils, onions, pepper, jalapeño, cans of tomatoes, water, and seasoning in a crockpot.  Set on low and let cook for 4-6 hours.  Add frozen corn and black beans the last 30 minutes so they retain their texture.  And you are done!  It's that easy!

Top with cilantro and cheese.  Corn bread is a great side with this!

And now for Round 2!

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
1 cup Lentil Chili
1/2 cup cooked rice (season with salt, pepper, and butter...I always add Mexican oregano and cumin too)
4-5 Pepper (I get the pack of 6 sweet peppers at Sams but any pepper would work)
1-2 cups Cheddar Cheese (or a Mexican blend)
1 can of tomato sauce...season with Mexican seasoning (Mexican oregano, garlic powder, cumin).

Directions:
Cut the top off of the peppers and remove any stems or seeds inside and make sure peppers can stand on their own.  If they can't, trim the bottoms of the peppers so they do.   Mix rice and Lentil Chili in a separate bowl...I would add about 1 cup of cheese here too but because I have one chid who hates cheese, I don't.  Stuff peppers with mixture.

Mix the can of tomato sauce with Mexican seasoning and pour over top of all the peppers.

Bake at 350° covered for 15 minutes.  Uncover and add cheese.  Bake another 15 minutes.

There you have it!  TWO meals for a family of 5 for under $10!  Love it!



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Mushroom Philly Cheese French Bread Pizza

One of the big trends right now is "Meatless Monday"...it's a healthy and economical option for a lot of families including mine!  The problem is #1 - I am not that organized to plan that Monday will always be meatless and #2 - I may want some sort of meat on Monday.  So...I usually have a meatless day during the week, I'm just not promising you that it is going to be Monday.

Now, you are probably looking at my picture and saying, "Wait.  I see pepperoni on one of those slices."  Yes you do.  I probably mentioned before that I have one child who hates cheese (Yes, my son with the Italian name Rocco...its a disgrace:).  I usually don't customize dinners for him...its usually "Eat it or make yourself something else."  But today was his lucky day.  I didn't have enough topping to cover all my bread so he got a piece with spaghetti sauce and pepperoni.  Don't judge me!

Today's "Meatless Wednesday" night dinner was Mushroom Philly Cheese French Bread Pizza.  I don't even use the fancy mushrooms!  I use regular button mushrooms!  This whole meal is under $5...you can't beat that!  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
16 oz button mushrooms
1 small onion (rough chop)
1 green bell pepper (rough chop)
1 garlic clove (minced)
2 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Oregano
3 sprigs of fresh thyme or about 1 tsp of thyme seasoning (fresh is better)
Salt and Pepper
6-8 Slices Provolone Cheese (optional)
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
French Bread *I used 1 1/2 Mini-Italian loaves because they were out of French Bread.
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Step 1:  Put large sauce pan over a medium high heat.  Allow it to heat up (with no oil or butter) and throw all the mushrooms in.  The mushrooms will literally sound like they are screaming...it kind of freaks me out a little.  Let them brown up a few minutes.

Step 2:  When you start to see the mushroom juices, add your onions, peppers, and garlic.  Add Worcestershire Sauce, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper...it is important to season to taste.  My family likes things heavily seasoned and for this pizza, I like my onions and peppers to still have some bite to them.

This is just a picture to show what size I like to chop my veggies for this dish.  You can take off points because they are not uniform pieces but that's ok with me.

Step 3:  Cut bread in half length-wise.  If the bread is really thick (sometimes the Italian loaves are), scoop out some of the bread in the middle.  Lay the Provolone slices on top of the bread...now if you don't have any cheese slices, its OK.  Just leave that part out.  Add mushrooms, peppers, and onions.  Cover that with Mozzarella and bake at 425° for about 10 minutes.  Then I switch my oven over to broil for the last minute or two to brown some of the cheese on top.  I garnish mine with chopped fresh parsley. Pin It Now!

Blackberry Lemon Freezer Jam

Today, the boys and I went blueberry and blackberry picking....my 2 favorite berries!  Blackberries especially remind me of spending the week my grandparents.  My grandparent's entire backyard was one huge garden.  I remember rows of tomatoes and beans, a few blueberry bushes on the side, a grape vine up close to the house, and in the very back of their garden was a long vine of blackberry bushes.  I can remember my papa and grandma giving me these colored tin bowls to fill with blackberries.  Personally, I like them plain.  With every bite I am filled with happy memories of my grandparents and my weeks at their house.

Ok...for the recipe.  I looked at a lot of recipes but found that most had at least 5 cups of sugar and I just think that is too much.  Blackberries are meant to be tart!  I cut my recipe back to 3 cups of sugar but may even cut it back some more next time.

Ingredients:

~3 cups crushed blackberries

~3 cups sugar

~1 package of pectin (1.75oz)

~1 lemon peel

~3/4 water

Directions:

~Crush blackberries with a potato masher.  (I read on a lot of recipes to use a food mill but I don't have one and I really don't mine the seeds)

~Use a vegetable peeler to take the rind off of one lemon.  Add the peel to the blackberry mixture with the 3 cups of sugar and stir.  Let it sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes.

~Add pectin to 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil.  Let boil for 1 minute.  Stirring constantly as you bring to a boil and boil....don't let it burn.  

~Add boiling water to the blackberry mixture and stir.  Make sure the sugar gets dissolved.  

~Place in your freezer safe container and store in your freezer for up to a year.  Or store in your refrigerator for about a month.

Serving Suggestion:

~I put the jam in between layers of a lemon cake

~One of my favorite ways to make this Overnight Oatmeal is with this jam.  Check out this website for the recipe and add the jam in place of any other fruit and sweetner:  http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal

Enjoy Friends!

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Turkey Tetrazzini-Alfredo

Let me start by saying that I usually only like leftover turkey with gravy or on a sandwich...I mean, there is nothing better than a turkey sandwich with homemade cranberry sauce, chipotle mayo, lettuce, and a slice of smoked Gouda on a Kaiser roll!  

So...I came to the end of the "good" slices of turkey that can be used for sandwich and only had the "scraps" (you know what I mean...still yummy but small) left.  My husband calls on his way home from work and of course he asks, "What's for dinner?"  The answer for the 3rd day in a row..."leftovers"!  I was so over it!  He suggested a pasta so I went searching through my freezer, refrigerator  and cabinets and this is what I came up with.  It was a hit with the whole family!  I actually surprised myself!  I credit my new Taylor Swift "Red" CD blaring as I danced around my kitchen...I just love cooking and listening to her music!  Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1lb Mezza Penne Pasta (or any tubed pasta would be fine)
1 1/2 cups of broccoli (I used frozen because it is what I found in my freezer)
1/2 cup white wine (or just use chicken stock)
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups chopped leftover turkey (I used white and dark)
2 cups Panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons fresh Italian Parsley
2 tablespoons of butter and olive oil
2 tablespoons of flour
2 cups cheese (I had a shredded 6 Italian cheese mixture so I used that, Parmesan would work great too)

Step 1:

Preheat broiler.  Bring large pot of water to a boil and season heavily with salt.  (Now because I am using frozen broccoli, I just added that to the water for a few minutes and then scooped them out and put them aside.  Then cook the pasta according the package directions.

Step 2:

Meanwhile, salte onions over medium low heat in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter until onions are translucent.  Add garlic and thyme and cook a few minutes more (be careful not to burn the garlic).  Sprinkle flour over the onions and garlic and cook until the raw flour flavor is gone, about 2 minutes.

Step 3:

Increase heat and add wine, reduce by 1/2.  Add chicken stock and heavy cream, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat back to medium low.  Slowly add cheese, whisking it until it is melted and incorporated into the sauce.

Step 4:

Add broccoli and turkey into the sauce.  Heat through.  Pour over the pasta and mix thoroughly.  Pour into a casserole dish, cover with Panko bread crumbs and chopped parsley, and place under the broiler for a few minutes...be sure to watch it!!  You want the Panko to be golden brown, and it takes NO TIME (a few minutes)!

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Eggnog Bread Pudding

Well, it has been a while since I posted anything, but I wanted to be sure to post this for the holidays (especially for my friend Megan)!  We LOVE bread pudding in my house...as you can see, I recently posted another bread pudding recipe, but this recipe is just PERFECT!  Do they make eggnog all year???  I am not sure, but it is just right for bread pudding.  I made this for breakfast a few weeks ago and it was a hit.  Personally, bread pudding is more of a dessert, but either way this is so good!

Bread Pudding Ingredients:
1 loaf french bread (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/2 cup brandy/cognac (I used Korbel)
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups Eggnog
1/2 milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter (melted)
pinch of salt (about a teaspoon)

Step 1:  Cut french bread into 1 inch pieces and place in a 2 inch deep casserole dish and evenly pour melted butter over the bread.

Step 2:  Whisk all other ingredients together and pour evenly over the bread.  Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes (until knife comes out clean)

Traditionally I top it with maple syrup BUT this time I put a little splash of French Vanilla Coffee Creamer on top (I know...it sounds weird), but it was delicious!

I apologize...not the best picture, but oh so yummy!

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Apple Cake

Apple Pies, Coffee, Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, 

Pumpkin anything...Delicious Autumn!  

Fall is my absolute favorite season!  I love the sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet, the smell of burning leaves, and to watch as the leaves turn to red, orange, and yellow.  This is also the season I like to bake the most.  My husband and sons love apple pies!  But let's face it, making a pie crust from scratch takes a lot of time, and I just don't have enough time to make them often.  I came up with this recipe a few weeks ago when my mother-in-law was visiting.  I had prepared a nice meal (on a school night mind you) and afterwards my husband asks, "What's for dessert?"  Well, I hadn't even thought about it.  So I looked around my kitchen and came up with this quick and easy apple cake.

Ingredients:

1/2 yellow cake mix

5 Granny Smith Apples

1 stick of butter (at least)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 Tablespoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

Step 1: Peel and chop apples into bite size pieces.  I use my apple slicer and then cut each slice into 3 pieces.

Step 2:  Combine apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt.  Pour into buttered 9X13 baking dish.

Step 3:  Pour 1/2 the bag of a yellow cake mix over the apples.  Shake the baking dish a little so that some settles on the bottom.

Step 4:  Melt butter and pour over the cake mix.  If there are a few areas where the butter isn't covering the cake mix, place thin pads of butter on top of those areas.

Step 5:  Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.  Serve warm.

I am working on getting a better picture for you, I promise!

I have also made this dessert in small ramekins for individual desserts!  And if you like a little crunch to your dessert, just add some finely chopped walnuts or pecans.

Don't forget to top it with ice cream!!!

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Pumpkin Pretzels

Last year, my mom went up to Blacksburg, Virginia to see a Virginia Tech football game and came home telling be about these pumpkin pretzels that she had up there and just loved!  Well, of course, I started craving them and didn't have any so I was determine to make my own.  Here's the recipe I came up with and let me just say...YUM!   

A word of advice....taste as you go.  You may like more or less of a certain spice.  I dip a pretzel in, taste it, and adjust seasoning. 

Ingredients: 

6oz White Chocolate Chips

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

(you could add a pinch of nutmeg too)

1 bag Snyder's of Hanover Mini Pretzels

Directions:

Melt white chocolate chips according to package directions (I set the microwave to 70% power for 80 seconds...stirring twice throughout OR I use a double broiler).  Stir in spices until incorporated.  Dip pretzels and set aside on parchment paper.

(makes about 50 pretzels)

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