Stuffed Peppers

My boss gave me two big bags of green bell peppers and I needed to do something with them before they went bad on me, so I decided to make a batch of my stuffed peppers. I love them, they are low in fat, high in fiber and one green pepper contains more vitamin C than an orange.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
1 lb ground turkey breast
11 green bell peppers
4 cups cooked rice
1 can black beans, drained
1 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper
a sprinkling of salt

Cut off tops of green peppers and remove seeds and veins. Set 10 aside and chop the remaining one up for filling and set aside. Boil a large pot of water and cook peppers for 3 minutes. Remove and sprinkle the insides with salt and turn upside down onto a towel to drain. Meanwhile, cook turkey and drain off fat. Add onion, garlic and reserved chopped pepper and saute. Add in all of the remaining ingredients and mix well. Place upright peppers in a greased casserole dish and fill with mixture. Cook at 375 for 35 minutes. These can also be frozen by individually wrapping peppers in plastic wrap and then putting in freezer bags.

Happy Mothers Day!

Mothers Day for me is bittersweet since I lost my mom a little over a year ago, but I do my best to make it good for me and my boy. This year the inlaws cooked a big Mothers Day dinner for everyone. Grilled steaks, baked potatoes, salads, ice cream cake. I mean the works. I was told I didn't have to bring anything but I just can't go empty handed to things like that, so I made my famous spinach dip.

Diva Dip as follows:

Amy's Spinach Dip
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 tsp minced garlic
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup of sour cream
2 Tbsp mayo
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
1 envelope of dry ranch dressing mix
1 can of water chestnuts, chopped
a couple turns of fresh ground black pepper

Mix all together well and chill.

Diva Pasta

I'm a big fan of the website www.allrecipes.com so I tend to try alot of stuff on that site. I love it because it is made up of all these recipes that are others tried and true favorites. I like that you can save everything in your own recipe box and that you can give recipes ratings, reviews and post your own photos of them. I decided to try this one mainly because I thought it sounded good and got excellent reviews and another chic made it up so it just seemed appropriate as a diva dish. I followed the recipe to a T and thought it was pretty decent, but I will definitely jazz it up a little next go round. Here is the recipe in its original form.

Brooklyn Girl's Penne Arriabiata

INGREDIENTS

* 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
* 6 cloves garlic, sliced
* 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil
* 1/2 cup tomato sauce
* 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
* 1 (12 ounce) package dried penne pasta
* 2 eggs
* 2 cups bread crumbs
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon pepper
* 1 pound thin chicken breast cutlets


1. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, and saute for a few minutes. Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes, and saute for another minute. Pour in the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, and add the basil. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta, and cook for 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
3. In a small bowl, whisk eggs with a fork. Place bread crumbs in a separate bowl. Stir the garlic powder, salt and pepper into the bread crumbs. Dip chicken cutlets into the egg, then press into the bread crumbs until completely coated.
4. Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken for about 5 minutes per side, or until the coating is a nice dark brown color.
5. Remove chicken, and cut into slices. Toss the chicken slices into the sauce, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked penne, simmer for a few more minutes to soak up the flavor, then serve.

Granola Bars

Simon, my son, goes through granola bars like crazy, so I decided to take a hand at making my own so that at least I know exactly what is in them. Less preservatives and way cheaper seeing as how a thing of oats is so much cheaper. Plus stuff from scratch always tastes so much better. I think its because you can taste the love in them.

These came out very tasty. The little guy loves them. They are a bit crumblier than I would like them, but I'm gradually perfecting that. I also made a smores version with mini marshmallows but I forgot to take a picture of those.