Weeknight Meal: Stuffed Bell Peppers

NEW favorite! And it's not even a slow cooker meal (shocking).

It's been a while since I've made stuffed peppers and it is such an easy, well-rounded, delicious dish -- it's kind of the perfect weeknight meal. So I made them last night and here's how it went down:

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2 - 4 medium bell peppers, depending on size and whether you want meat leftovers for a night 2 creation.

1 lb ground beef

1/2 c black beans, drained

1/2 c chunky salsa

1 packet taco seasoning

3 Tbsp minced garlic

3 Tbsp curry powder

1-2 c of some sort of minute rice or packet quinoa (or the like). I used Trader Joe's 3-minute brown rice. 

1 cup shredded cheese (I used Beecher's "Just Jack")

Slice the top off your pepper and de-seed. Rinse it well. Slice into two halves. Pop the stem out of the top and chop that little bit of pepper to use in your meat mixture (waste not!). 

Brown the ground beef, drain. Then add everything but the cheese. Toss in your extra pepper chunks. Cook the rice and add that in too. Let everything simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Put your pretty peppers in a pan and fill them up with your meat mixture. Bake in the oven, covered, on 375 for 45 minutes or until peppers are desired tenderness. Sprinkle with cheese during last 5 minutes of baking. Devour.

Now, here's the thing: You'll notice as you keep adding to your meat mixture that it gets to be quite a lot, probably more than you need for your peppers. So I would say it fills 6-8 pepper halves, if you have a few more mouths to feed than me. I had 4 pepper halves and then plenty of leftover meat mixture that I'm sure tonight we'll be adding sour cream and making burritos for dinner. Bam! Another 2-in-1 meal just like that. Also, you can break this operation into two parts. Make the meat mixture early on and stuff the peppers, put them in the fridge. Wait for the fam to get home in the evening and then pop them in the oven to bake. Easy enough, right?

{Weeknight Meals} Herbed Balsamic Chicken with Blue Cheese

My mom passed this recipe on to me raving about how good and easy it is. I put it to the test last night ... I worked, and then was home alone with 14 week old Graham (Curtis is traveling for work) and this dinner was quick, easy and doable! Oh and very good! I scaled the recipe down and just made one chicken breast, but wish I would have cooked a few so I'd have leftovers for lunch this week.

Full disclosure:
1.) I was so hungry while I was getting this together that I ate a cookie to hold me over. It was really good, so I ate one more.
2.) The baby did cry once or twice and I had to stop and pick him up. Apparently my cooking lessons aren't that exciting.
3.) I didn't marinate the chicken for two hours like the recipe suggests. That would have worked only IF I had thought to do it before we took Murray dog for a walk but it sat in the good stuff for at least 30 min which seemed to do the trick.

My mom's additions were the thyme and garlic, so if you don't have either, this recipe could be even simpler. But I recommend growing thyme in your yard. It comes back year after year and you don't have to do a thing to keep it going. Easiest way to have fresh herbs on hand!

Herbed Balsamic Chicken with Blue Cheese

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves

½ cup balsamic vinegar

Garlic

Thyme

3 T. olive oil

2 tsp. kosher salt, divided

1 ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper

1 3- to 4- oz. wedge blue cheese, cut into 6 slices (or crumbled goat cheese)

Place chicken in zip-lock.  Whisk vinegar, 3 T. oil, 1 ½ tsp coarse salt, garlic, fresh thympe and 1 tsp. pepper in bowl.  Add to chicken.  Chill for 2 hours (or less or marinate it the night before if you're planning ahead).

Prepare BBQ…..medium-high heat.  Spray grill with cooking spray.  Grill chicken until cooked through, about 6 min. per side.  Transfer to plates and top with cheese.

I served the chicken sliced over a salad, but it would also be delicious as a burger or sandwich or plain with a side of grilled asparagus! 

And here are today's pictures of Graham playing with his awesome nanny, Lisa. It's hard work following a toy learning to hold that big, adorable head up! 

 

May Food Theme: Weeknight (Madness) Meals

Who's feeling extremely overwhelmed lately? Anyone? 

Yeah, I thought so.

I was telling Amber recently how I feel like life just pulled out a can of whoop-ass on all of us. When life gets crazy, it's nice to have those go-to dinners because something should be easy in your day. So May is all about ease, the go-to weeknight dinners that are quickly prepared and taste grubbin'. 

I know my busy Beauties can whip up some awesome meals to help our chao-, I mean cause...

Perfect example:

French Bread Pizza: Slice a loaf of French bread in half and use pizza toppings to make a quick, better-than-pizza pizza. (Don't overdo the tomato/pizza sauce or it'll get soggy.) Bake 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted well. Or, if it's a nice spring day and you want to fire up the grill, place your pizza on foil on a medium-heat grill till heated through. Serve with something green and call it dinner.

2-in-1 Meal: Carnitas to Pulled Pork & Caramelized Onion Paninis

Like Missy I went the slow cooker route with a Mexican theme. We had a few friends over for dinner so night one I made carnitas in the crock pot for tacos and then Curtis and I used the leftover meat for paninis, and then more tacos, and then paninis again and it went on and on - we had enough shredded meat for several meals!

Night 1: Carnitas

Ingredients:
Pork Butt or Shoulder
Rub made up of your favorite spices
Chicken broth
Can of tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Chilies (optional)

Tortillas
Your favorite taco toppings such as cheese, cabbage, salsa, onions, cilantro, avocado, lime wedges and sour cream.

A day (or two) ahead rub your pork all over with your favorite spices (I used a 7 lb. pork shoulder from Costco and rubbed it with taco seasoning, chili powder, brown sugar, cumin and a few other random things I had in the spice cabinet - there's really no science to it). Place fat side up in the slow cooker and put in the fridge until the day you're ready to cook it.

That morning pour in some chicken broth, canned tomatoes, large chunks of onion, fresh garlic and dried chilies if you'd like. Cook on high for 8 - 10 hours until the meat is falling apart.

Shred the meat and use as carnitas for tacos.

Night 2: Pulled Pork Paninis 

Sourdough bread
Leftover pork
BBQ sauce
Onions, caramelized
Provalone cheese

Pile everything on your sandwich and toast in a panini press or frying pan.

And because babies are cuter than tacos and sandwiches, here's the latest of Graham:

Homemade Mexican-style Pinto Beans

I’ve always been a bit of an over-achiever. This month’s theme of 2 in 1 meals, turned out to be 4 in 1 meals. For as long as we have done this blog, I’ve looked for a good excuse to post my family favorite recipe: All Day Beans. They’re actually Mexican-style pinto beans but my husband started calling them “All Day Beans” because, well, they take all day. It is a very long and loving process in which I cook them, stir them, coach them, spice them, sweet talk them, and mash them to perfection. And in the end we have a huge bowl of beans that we can use all week. And we really do use them all week. My mother always made these beans when I was growing up and the smell of them cooking still reminds me of home. We call them Buggy's Beans, because, well, we call her Buggy. Which is a story for another time. My brother also has his own version...but I'm not sure what he calls them. I'll get back to you on that. All three of us make them a little bit differently.

Anyway, this is a dream recipe for any busy family. All it takes is one weekend day when the chef is home to create meals for the rest of the week. What follows is the recipe on how to make the beans and four examples of what you can do with them.

Ingredients:

·         One 32 oz. bag of dried pinto beans
·         10 cups water (at least)
·         ½ onion, not sliced or diced

·         1 overly ripe tomato, whole

·         4 cubes chicken bouillon (or a couple of healthy spoonful’s of chicken bouillon granules)

·         1 tablespoon dried oregano

·         A few healthy dashes of Tapatio (or equivalent)

·         Freshly ground pepper

·         2-3 cloves garlic, diced

·         One lime, squeezed

·         (SAVE THE SALT FOR LATER OR YOUR BEANS WILL BE TOUGH)

To Soak or not to Soak?

Disregard any and all instructions on the bean packaging. They will tell you to soak your beans overnight. But if you do that, the beans will soak up the flavor of water and not the flavor of the broth you’re about to cook them in and then they don’t taste nearly as good. Also, if you soak them ahead of time it takes less time to cook them. But you have all day, right? There’s also information out there that will tell you that soaking the beans will make you less gassy. Our family has not found that to be true. Beans are the musical fruit. Regardless of whether or not you soak them.

Directions

Cooking the beans will take at least 6 hours. So, by 10:00 a.m., Rinse your dried beans and put them in a large pot on the stove. I love using a Dutch Oven to cook these. Add 10 cups of water. (As the beans cook they will soak this water up like a sponge so you may have to add more eventually). Add half onion, whole tomato, chicken bouillon, dried oregano, dashes of Tapatio, freshly ground pepper, diced garlic, and a bit of lime juice. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for a couple of hours.

Beans in a bath of yumminess

After a couple of hours, check your beans and make sure they have enough water. If most of the water is already soaked up by the beans, add about 2 more cups, stir, then cover up again. Check again in about an hour. In fact, you can check these babies as often as you want. It’s better to add water as you go than to start out with too much water and have watery beans in the end. You want just enough water to barely cover the top of the beans.

Perfect amount of water

As the onion gets really soft you can remove it. The tomato will disintegrate eventually. Cook beans for another 4 or so hours. Once the beans are really tender and soft they are done.

Done! Perfection!

You can keep them whole or mash them so they act like refried beans. I like to mash. 

Taste them to see if they need salt. If so, add a bit at a time. Over-salting the beans can be bad (I’ve done this) so it’s important to start with just a little. Especially because you’ll want to dip tortilla chips in them and those have salt on them too. Don’t ever salt the beans until after you cook them or they will get tough.

It looks like I'm about to feed you here. I'm sorry about that. It was a really yummy bite.

So, the beans are done! Yeah! Now, what can you do with them?

For the first night I made Chimichangas. Which is basically like a fried burrito. I filled tortillas with beans, cheese and chicken, wrapped them tightly, then fried them in a little bit of oil in a pan. Once they were golden brown on each side, I put them on a baking sheet covered with a paper towel and placed them in the oven on warm, which helps them dry out a bit and stay warm while I cook the rest. Top with guacamole, salsa and dashes of Tapatio. YUM!

These are my favorite new tortillas. They taste like corn but are malleable like flour.

Don't over-fill. You want your ingredients to stay inside.

Just a little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan will make you swear that you are eating a deep-fried burrito, except you can't figure out why you don't feel bad about yourself.

Pop in the oven on a paper towel and keep on warm until ready to serve.

Que Bonita.

After you make your first meal, put the beans in a big bowl and let them cool for a half hour. Then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

Night two: Baked Burritos. Picture us coming home on a Monday evening, house is a mess from the morning hectic rush to get out of the house, kids are throwing their muddy, wet coats on the clean floor, and I cannot wait to get out of these shoes. This one is so easy. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, fill tortilla with whatever you want on the inside (leftover chicken, cold beans, cold cheese, jalapeno slices) and wrap into a burrito. Then wrap that in tinfoil, stab a hole for ventilation in the top, and pop in the oven for 45 minutes. If you’re in a rush, use the microwave. Without the tinfoil, obviously.

On the third night Andy was out of town, so I fed the kids bagels for dinner, put them to bed and did what I just LOVE to do when I’m alone: Watch episodes of Glee while eating nachos and drinking wine. I heated a bowl of beans for dipping. It just so happened to be the episode on guilty pleasures. Perfect!

Night four: I’m sick of beans. Let’s take a break.

Night five: one of my absolute favorites! Mexican Lasagna! Take a pie dish, spray with non-stick spray and then layer: One tortilla, top that with a thick layer of beans and cheese, then add another tortilla, top that with chicken, salsa and cheese, then another tortilla, and top that with salsa and cheese. Cover with tinfoil and bake on 350 for about 30 minutes. Then remove the tinfoil and bake an additional 15 or until everything is bubbly and saucy. You can put anything in a Mexican lasagna and layer however you want. Just make sure you use either salsa or enchilada sauce or it will come out too dry.

And that is it, my friends. You truly are only limited by your creativity. And though it may seem intimidating at first, I urge you to try this. With time you'll perfect your very own recipe.
  

2-in-1 Meal: SW Chicken and Beans to Queso Cheese Enchiladas

Lately I've been into slow-cooker shredded chicken over rice, mainly using salsa or fire-roasted diced tomatoes and a few shakes of taco seasoning. When I discovered what to do with the leftovers, this 2-in-1 meal quickly became part of our regular dinner rotation...

Night 1: Slow-Cooker Southwest Chicken and Black Beans over Rice

2-4 large chicken breasts, fresh or frozen
2 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can green chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 small can of sliced black olives (reserve other half for night 2)
1 can black beans, rinsed
Optional: chopped onion and/or sliced bell pepper
Salt and pepper, few shakes of each

If the chicken is frozen, give it a couple hours on high in the crock-pot and once it is thawed, add everything else but the olives, bell pepper (if using) and black beans. Turn the heat to low and let it cook 4-5 hours in the tomato goodness. During the last hour of cooking, add the bell peppers, olives, and black beans. Stir well. Dish up and serve over rice.

Whatever is left, rice and all, mix it all up and put it in a container to be used for enchilada filling for night 2.

Night 2: Queso Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

Filling from night 1
Flour tortillas
Mexican blend shredded cheese
Enchilada sauce (I no longer make my own ench sauce because I love TJ's bottled stuff)
Chili con queso cheese sauce
Optional: sour cream, leftover black olives

Drizzle a little enchilada sauce in baking dish,enough to cover the bottom. On a separate plate, warm tortillas in oven or microwave and load them up with chicken filling and shredded cheese. I stuffed about 7, enough to fill one baking dish. Cover with enchilada sauce. Then layer queso cheese sauce on top. Top with leftover olives. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes, covered. Serve with a heaping dollop of sour cream and stuff yourself!

Jack's Huevos Desperados

Once famous on this very same blog for his Trailer Park Margaritas, Jack Pirtle (my father) returns again, but this time for breakfast. (I realize I'm posting this a month too late for breakfast month but I figured you'd forgive me.)

Thanks to my wonderful, fabulous, truly talented cousin Janna, for posting this recipe on facebook. Janna visited her parents (my aunt and uncle) in Tucson over Christmas and documented this recipe and even took a picture of it!


From Janna: We had this for breakfast.  Sally told a ghost story.  Buz talked about the aliens.  Mark got the story from Regan about how she found Grandpa George on the Benson Highway with her psychic powers.  Just a regular Sobel/Pirtle/Kaufman/Roberts/Siek/Havens family breakfast.)

From Jack:

Ingredients:

10 farm-fresh Mexican eggs (you may substitute American eggs)

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

2 cups low-fat cottage cheese

16. oz shredded goat cheese

1 cup or less diced green chilies

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 cup diced red onion

Directions:

Throw the mess into a mixing bowl and mix.  Bake at 350' until eggs set (about 35 min?) Serve to Pancho with salsa, warm flour tortillas, and enough tequila to keep him tranquil for a couple hours or so.  Skip the tequila if you expect Pancho to fix the screen door.  He will be hungry by noon, whether he fixes the door or not, so what do you have in mind for lunch?

History:

Margarita, Pancho Villa's seventh wife, once was challenged by Pancho to present him with an egg dish worthy of a bandit's hearty appetite.  He followed the request with a threat.  Either create the egg dish, or he would leave her forthwith and start a revolution somewhere.  Margarita waited several weeks for him to carry out his threat and leave, until finally taking pity on him and whipping up her now famous "Huevos Desperados."  Having filled himself with the delicious dish one fine Mexican morning, Villa proclaimed everlasting love to Margarita, and promised that he would retire from the revolutionary scene and just hang out around the casa.  Pancho's retirement was not what Margarita had in mind... though perhaps he could learn to be of some help around the house... but she doubted it.