Stuffed Pepper Skillet...

I have shared with you guys many times my love for a one pot or one skillet. One dish to clean up YES PLEASE! Today’s recipe fits right into that skillet stuffed peppers, I guess it would be like unstuffed peppers, or stuffed peppers unstuffed or well let’s not worry about the naming of this. Let’s just talk about flavor, flavor, and ease of getting to eat! 

A long time ago I shared my first experience with you guys about making traditional stuffed peppers, you can read about it here . I love my version of stuffed peppers but at times they can be a bit daunting with scraping out the pepper and having to parboil it then stuffing it, just a lot of steps. Steps that Monday through Friday I don’t really have time for. But getting the same flavor without the steps I've got time for that! Let’s do this!

Stuffed Pepper Skillet

Ingredients

1 lb ground Pork, Beef, Turkey (whatever suits you)

½ onion diced

2 bell peppers diced (any color we used red and green Charlot’s choice)

1 box Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice (the kind that takes 20 minutes or so)

1 can Tomato Sauce

1 TBSP Butter

2 Cups Chicken Stock (or Vegetable)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Directions

In a large skillet brown your meat with the onion and bell pepper, season with salt and pepper. Drain. Add all remaining ingredients except the cheese and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese. Allow mixture to set for 5 minutes or so to thicken. Serve with crusty bread YUMMY! Enjoy! 

The Gift that ALWAYS Fits...Food!!!

Well my itty bitty baby sister-in-law is having a big birthday this week. How is it possible that she is 23, because when she and I met I was only 19 so if she’s 23 that makes me…well let’s not discuss that. Regardless of how old she is or how young I once was she definitely deserves to be celebrated. And we did just that is past weekend! I am one who always tries to create gifts that are really going to be loved and appreciated. That was no different for RaRa’s birthday!

 RaRa teaches agriculture education in Northeast Missouri, she is in her first year teach so I know how crazy busy she is. I also know that on those long nights at school coming home to a quick and easy home cooked meal is amazing. So for her present I created a whole basket of joy for her! Wine included, wine always needs to be included. Unless a gift is for a child then it would be different. Ok I’ll just stop now. I just thought a nice bottle of wine went well in this basket. Let me step away from the wine, I found some disposable pans at the dollar tree that were the perfect size for a meal for two people or two meals for one person. They worked perfectly for my lasagna roll ups! 

If you are looking for a quick and easy gift idea think the gift of food it is always well received!

In the basket:

3 pans of lasagna roll ups (enough for two people) (I'll post a recipe for these soon!)

Loaf of French bread

Garlic Herb Compound Butter

Knock You Naked Brownies (Recipe found here)

Bottle of Wine

Wine Glasses

Cheese Grater

Lemon Juicer

Ice Cream Scoop

Kitchen Shears

Fridge Chip Clips (you can never have enough of these)

Baked Cheez-It Chicken Strips

What could be better chicken wrapped in buttery cheesy Cheez-its? Hum I can’t think of much.  Ok I am sure there are many things but apparently not to my lovely little child. You see I am dealing with a bit of a picky eater, a bit might not really cover it. Getting her to eat used to be one of my least favorite things to do, but starting right after Christmas we enacted a new rule that she had to try at least one bite of everything on her plate. You see my kid wouldn’t ask for something else to eat she just would not eat, grrrr. It was like she was on a hunger strike. With the new rule the first few weeks were rough, I mean ROUGH. Today we are so far from where we were, thank goodness!

Last night I made this dish, with the help of my sous chef Charlot. And they were a hit! I had made it several times before as a whole chicken breast but I thought maybe a strip would go over better for her and boy oh boy was I right! This was what she said as she finished her plate , “Momma could you save some of this chicken for me, I really really liked it.” Hum yes I can!

This is a super easy weeknight supper to prepare for your family. These strips stay really moist on the outside while the crust gets really crunchy, perfect for dipping! I served mine with oven fries, and peas (Charlot’s choice), I bit of a weird combo but hey she was happy. Please enjoy with your family, and let me know what you think! 

Cheez-it Chicken Strips

4 boneless skinless Chicken Breast, sliced into strips

½ box of Cheez-its, Crushed (I use the regular ones but you could switch it up to any flavor)

½ cup Flour

1 Egg

½ cup Milk

5-10 dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Line a rimmed sheet pan with foil, spray with pam. Set up three shallow dishes (I use pie plates). In the first add your flour, season flour with salt and pepper. Beat egg, milk and hot sauce together in the second dish season with salt and pepper. In the third the crushed cheez-its. Take chicken coat in flour then egg and finally cheez-its, place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken, as you are placing on the baking sheet leave room between strips for optimal crunchiness! Bake for 15 minutes then flip and bake 10-15 minutes more. Enjoy! 

Fat Tuesday...Cajun Dinner Ideas!

Today is FAT TUESDAY, the last day prior to the beginning of the Lenten season. This day is celebrated all over the world but in the US the biggest celebration happens in the big easy, New Orleans. For some reason I cannot think of New Orleans without thinking of good food. Granted I have never visited this great place, someday I will, but I just associate it with amazing food! And for that reason each year on Fat Tuesday I find myself wanting to spice up supper and prepare some Cajun classics. If you have never given some of this food a try you for sure should. Flavor flavor flavor, is all I can really say. Most of my love for Cajun food comes from my dad as he would prepare it for us on special occasions when I was a kid. Tonight would be the perfect chance to give one of these awesome recipes a try. ENJOY! Oh we are having sausage creole tonight! Ill report back on it soon!

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo Here

Shrimp and Grits Here

PP Spicy Jambalaya Here

Spicy Sausage Pasta Here

Things I Love…Guilty Pleasures

I lead a relatively simple life there isn't much that I do that is super extravagant. Well maybe to some I am excessive, but I don’t view it that way. With that said I do have some guilty pleasures…all of them receive love from me nearly daily!

The first being satellite radio. Now some of the stations drive me nuts because they tend to play the same songs over and over but I do not enjoy commercials on the radio. Plus I do love to scan though and find the ideal song; this provides a cornucopia for scanning. But the best thing is the fact that in my truck when on satellite radio I can replay songs. So yes I have listened to “Let it Go” with my child 17 straight. Nonetheless the rewind button isn’t just for her…I LOVE IT! Yesterday as I was leaving working my truck altered me to the fact that “All About that Bass” was playing…score! I may have listened to it over and over again on the way home! It’s truly the little things with me!

Oh the next love is one that causes me to stay up WAY too late at night watching old “Grey’s Anatomy” episodes or trying to get up to date on “Orange is the New Black” (wow by the way). Netflix sucked me in last summer one day when I was sick and there was nothing on TV, thus I turned to my iPad and my love of Netflix was born. Then for Christmas the hubs gave me a Smart TV. This only deepened the love. Plus Charlot loves to watch “The Magic School Bus.” There’s my good reason for keeping it!

Lastly is a website I discovered a couple of years ago and instantly fell in love! Groopdealz…they have the cutest stuff most of which I never knew I needed until I saw it on there. I can’t say that I order from here all the time, but I will say everything I have ordered has been of excellent quality. I will say that nearly every day I find myself having to resist ordering some adorable item for my child, my home, or me! If you haven’t checked this website out you should! Some of the most awesome little things, gifts, clothes, and home decor for great prices.

Now that all of you know some of my darkest secrets what are your little guilty pleasures?!?!?!?

Note: Sirius XM, Netflix, and Groopdealz have no idea who I am...they just receive my love. Not a paid advertisement.