Taco stuffed Bell Peppers

This recipe was really good. I was a little worried that my family wouldn't like it but they all did! It's fairly healthy (besides the fact that I add tons of cheese to it) and relatively easy and quick to make.

Ingredients:

*Olive oil for sauteing and coating peppers for baking
*1/2 lb ground turkey (mine was closer to 3/4 lb because that's what I had)
*1/2 white onion, diced
*1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
*1 cup frozen sweet corn
*1 T taco seasoning (you can make your own to make this lower sodium) I also added garlic powder.
*3 large bell peppers, halved, de-seeded (I did 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 orange)
*1 cup (...or 10 pounds) of shredded cheese (mexican blend or monterrey jack is good)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. On a large baking sheet, place pepper halves upright and drizzle olive oil all over them. Bake them 15-20 mins or until peppers are blistering and getting slightly translucent around edges. Set aside.

2. While peppers are in the oven- In large skillet, saute onions in 1-2 T olive oil until soft. Then add in ground turkey. Cook till turkey is done and drain liquids. Add in taco seasonings. Stir to combine well. Add in beans and corn.

3. Cook meat mixture for about 5 minutes longer and then remove from heat.

4. Take the (somewhat cooled) halves of peppers and place them in a small casserole dish. Use a spoon and scoop filling inside the peppers. Overstuffing is a good thing!

5. Sprinkle a good amount of cheese on top... don't be shy, enough to cover it all. Place under broiler on high till cheese is melted and bubbly.

6. Serve immediately.

Peppers rubbed down with oil and put on baking sheet and in oven

Ground turkey with taco seasonings, onion, corn and black beans. 

Put baked peppers into casserole dish

Stuff peppers

add cheese and put under broiler till bubbly

ENJOY!

Recipe by Table for Two www.tablefortwoblog.com/stuffed-peppers/

Cheese Tortellini & Butternut Squash in a Brown Butter and Sage Sauce

Not only was this an extremely easy meal to make, but it was surprisingly very good too! The family all really liked it and it got the kids to eat some butternut squash! The tortellini really pairs well with the sweetness of the squash and the saltiness of the pancetta. I will be making this again for an easy, quick weekday meal! 

I found the recipe in the magazine "Cuisine for two". It is great when you are cooking for 2 adults (or 2 adults and 2 small kids if you just tweek the ingredients a tad). 

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 c peeled and cubed butternut squash (I used half a large squash, around 2 cups)

* 1/2 lb refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini (about 2 cups) (I used a whole lb container)

* 2 tsp olive oil

* 2 slices prosciutto or ham, cut into thin ribbons (I went to my deli and had them slice me 3 NOT THIN slices of pancetta). 

* 4 T unsalted butter (I used closer to 5 1/2 T)

* 1 lg sprig fresh sage

* 2 T dry sherry

* juice of 1/2 lemon

* chopped fresh parsley (optional- hubby and I used on ours and left off the kids. If you have it on hand, great... if not, save on ingredients and this is really not essential).

* freshly ground black pepper

Directions (right from magazine):

*Cook squash in large saucepan of boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Add tortellini; cook according to package directions until squash and tortellini are both tender (after I added the tortellini I cooked for another 6 mins or so). Drain Tortellini and squash and set aside. (I left sit in colander in my sink).

*Heat oil in saute pan over medium high heat. Add prosciutto, cook until crisp, then drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Return skillet to burner and reduce to medium heat.

*Melt butter in same pan over medium heat. Once melted, add sage and cook until butter browns, about 4 minutes; discard sage sprig. Stir in sherry and cook another 30 seconds while stirring. Add the squash, tortellini and prosciutto back in and toss to heat through.

*Off heat, drizzle tortellini mixture with the lemon juice, and sprinkle with parsley and pepper. 

*Serve and enjoy while warm! We served with side salads for the adults and fruit salad for the kiddos:)

boiling tortellini with the squash (Squash is under tortellini)

Drain and set aside

cook prosciutto till crisp (like bacon)

Brown butter while scraping the sides of pan to get leftover prosciutto bits

add the sherry and cook for another 30 seconds or so

Toss back in the squash, tortellini and prosciutto

Delicious! 

Southwest Green Chili Shredded Pork

This is one of the simplest and best meals I made while on our 24 Advocare Challenge (diet). This makes a ton so it's best if you are making for a crowd or plan this meal as is for day one and use the left overs on top of nacho's, in a quesadilla or on top a loaded southwest sweet potato!

You will need a crockpot and the following ingredients:

*3-4lb Pork shoulder, trimmed of fat
*2 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
*small sweet onion, cut into half rings
*1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added
*1 4 oz can diced green cili's
*1 can of your favorite flavor Rotel (I use the green chili and tomato)
*1-2 whole anaheim green chilies, sliced into strips (Or another large can of green chilies-drained)
*2 tsp ground cumin
*salt and pepper

Optional ingredients for making into tacos:
*Corn tortillas
*Salsa verde
*sliced avocado
*Low fat sour cream

Optional toppings if making a carb free meal as I did in these pictures
*lime slices
*salsa of any kind
*sliced avocado
*cilantro

Directions:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook on all sides till browned (about 8-10 mins total)
2. Place pork in slow cooker. Add onion, tomatoes, green chilies, rotel and cumin. Add 1/2 cup- 1 cup water (I didn't do this, but I added the tomatoes and rotel with the juices)
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until fork tender. You can use two forks to shred pork right in the crock pot and mix will all the sauteed onions and peppers. YUM.

Serve either as is, in tacos, as quesadilla, nachos, or on a potato! Enjoy and invite some friends over to share! :) Sorry, no pictures below of this served in taco's... they were eaten WAY too quickly to snap a photo!

On top of fully loaded nachos! 

On a loaded sweet potato! HUGE hit in my house!

Tuna Salad with NO MAYO

I am trying to eat healthier and I love tuna salad, but let's face it... mayo just isn't on most diet plans! Here is a great way to eat your tuna. You can eat this plain with a fork if you are trying to stay low carb, or you can put it on multi grain crackers or bread! This actually is better if you make it and let it sit in the fridge a couple hours before eating it. I sometimes add extra lemon/lime because I LOVE citrus.

Ingredients:
*1 lg can albacore chunk white tuna in water- drain well
*1 large celery stalk- diced small
* 1/2 small green bell pepper- chopped into small pieces
* 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
* 2 limes juiced
* 1 lemon juiced
* pepper (and I added nature seasonings)

Mix all together in bowl. Eat right away or let marinate in fridge a few hours before eating. Enjoy and feel good eating it too!

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken (Bourbon Chicken)

Here is another crockpot meal I did during my 5-1 meal day. (This is where I make 5 meals at once and put them in gallon size zip lock bags and put in the freezer. When ready to cook I just take out and put right in the crock pot. Great for weekday meals!) I got this recipe from Table for Two blog.

My house smelt JUST like walking past the Chinese Restaurant that hands out samples on a toothpick in the mall's food court! That place always tempts me to eat there! And when I do, i always feel like crap after eating it. This tastes better and I know what's all in it!!

The only thing I will change about the recipe is next time I will use more chicken (It makes enough marinade). While I was cutting it up, the kids and I kept nibbling on it. So once we got it to the table for dinner there was barely enough for all of us, and definitely not enough for left overs! I served this over sticky rice and sauteed broccoli, green beans, carrots and water chestnuts. I will be making this again soon!

Here is the recipe off the blog. If you want to make this into a freezer meal, just put all the ingredients except the cornstarch and sesame seeds in a zip lock freezer bag and put in your freezer. On the day you want to make it, just take it right from freezer and place in your crockpot. (I cooked mine this way on the lowest setting for just under 5 hours.)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5

Salt and pepper

1 cup of honey

1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Cornstarch

Sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
4. When done, remove chicken from pot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce a bit. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to recoat the chicken in the sauce.
5. Serve hot over a bed of white rice (optional) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Once Chicken is done, take out and cut into chunks

Crock Pot Beef Burritos

School is about to start and my days are getting busier.  I like anything that make my weekday meals a little more simple, but still tasty! I found this blog on Pinterest that shows you how to spend 1-2 hours in the kitchen one day and make 5 different meals to freeze and just throw in the crock pot when ready to make it. It really is a great idea and I love the days I can just wake up and turn my crock pot on and dinner is ready at night! Here is the recipe for the first one I made. Check out Saving You Dinero's Blog for tips on 5-1 Freezer meals! (Make sure it freezes in a size/shape that will fit in your crock pot!)

I really liked these burrito's. We used the meat to make Chipotle style burrito's. I made a side of cilantro lime rice and heated up a can of pinto beans. We all liked this a lot and will definitely make it again!!

Here are all the ingredients that went into this bag. On the bag itself I write:
1. What the meal is called
2. The date I assembled
3. Cooking Directions
4. What to do (if anything) after it's done cooking to prepare the dinner
5. I also list any other ingredients I need during the day I will be serving (ex: tortillas and cheese for burritos)

Ingredients:

• 1 London Broil or top round roast (about 2 lbs)
• 1 diced onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce – Use just 1 pepper!! (It’s in a can.)
• 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder (you can adjust this according to your taste)

Ingredients to use on the day you make this- Large Flour Tortillas, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, pico or diced tomato, and cilantro lime rice (white sticky rice mixed with cilantro, lime juice and a little salt). Also, warm up a can of pinto or black beans.

1. Add all the above ingredients into a freezer bag. Put in freezer till ready to make. 
2. When you are ready to cook the meal, dump the contents of the bag into the crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
3. When the meat is cooked, you will need to strain the juices and add the juice back to the slow cooker. (You want to remove the peppercorns and onions.) Shred the meat and add back to the juice in the slow cooker for about 30 minutes.  Add the meat, some of the rice and come of the beans and toppings of your choice into the tortilla and roll into a burrito. Enjoy!! I always serve with a variety of hot sauces too!! This is one of our favorite recipes. My kids eat it as long as we have leftovers.

Gallon size freezer bag... write on it before you fill it

Once everything is in bag, seal and freeze. (Make sure it doesn't freeze in a shape that is too big to fit in your crock pot)

Half way done

Remove all juices. Take meat and shred back in crock pot

Strain juices removing the whole peppercorns and onions, just letting the juices back in with the meat.

Place all your ingredients in middle of large tortilla

Roll

Enjoy!

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Yummy Chicken on the Grill

Ok, so not a very creative name... maybe I'll rename it one day, but I was giving this recipe by a friend who served it at her daughters bday party. I had to leave before they served it, but someone must have asked for the recipe so she emailed it out. It's SO easy, especially since I had everything already, and it's so good! The kids LOVED it too!! I've made it twice this week!! You can make it and serve it along side veggies and rice, or you can make it into a chicken sandwich. Or even cut it up on top of a salad!

Marinade 3-4 chicken breasts in the following ingredients for at least 4 hours. I recommend more if you can. Then just grill it! So easy! I only changed/added a few things... here is the original recipe sent by my friend Melissa...

8/15/12- I made this SO much now that I buy the big bags of chicken breasts from costco and box of freezer gallon size zip lock bags. I triple the marinade recipe and pour it into 3-4 different bags. Then in each bag I place 3-4 chicken breasts in. I put them in the freezer with the date on them. Whenever I know I'm going to make this (typically whenever I don't have another meal planned), I put a bag in my fridge, either the night before or that am, and it marinades while it defrosts. Then I just grill or bake the chicken!! I always eat it the first night over rice with a veggie and any left overs I slice up and serve on my salad for lunch the next day. I can't tell you how much I love this chicken... and I know you will too!!

Ingredients:

* 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil because I didn't have veg oil) 

* 1/4 cup honey 

* 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar 

* 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce 

* 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I did cilantro once on accident... still great!)

* 1 tsp ginger (I grated fresh ginger or I buy the already minced ginger that comes in a tube usually sold by fresh herbs in your salad area of the store)

* 1/2 tsp black pepper (I also added some nature seasonings and a dash of garlic powder)

Prosciutto, Brie and Fig Panini

So, I LOVE panini's. Pair that with three of my favorite things and OMG. There really is no recipe for this except take some fig spread, prosciutto and slices of brie cheese and place them on a crusty french roll (baquette) and place in a panini maker (Or press down on hot skillet) till it's gooey. Made these for my mom and a friend and I will definitely be making these again!!