Stuffed Mushrooms and/or Pepper

Last week, I was looking for a quick, healthier option to make for dinner. Below is what I came up with!

Sausage stuffed portobello mushrooms one night and stuffed peppers (green bell and jalapeno) the next!

stuffed portobello mushroom

Stuffed pepper after cooking in oven

INGREDIENTS:

pack of sausage

diced yellow onion

green bell peppers

minced garlic

diced tomato

bread crumbs

seasonings - Italian seasoning; anything you like!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

STEP 1: Cut top of green bell pepper off. Remove the 'guts' and stand up in a oven-safe dish. Dice the top of the pepper and add to dish in Step 2. 

STEP 2: Brown sausage in cast iron skillet. Add yellow onion and top of bell pepper; sautee for a few minutes. Drain sausage mixture and let cool. Transfer to bowl.

STEP 3: Toss together sausage mixture with minced garlic, tomato, bread crumbs and seasonings. 

STEP 4: Stuff pepper (or mushroom) with sausage mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes.  

STEP 5: Optional: Sprinkle cheese over top at the very end of the baking process and let melt for a few minutes. 

Stuffed pepper before going in to oven

Bacon-Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken - Crock-pot recipe

Most of my recipes here lately have come from Pinterest inspirations. I look for the easy, quick meals that sound appetizing. I also have to keep in mind my picky husband (I doubt he will read my blog, but shhh!, don't tell him I told the world he's picky!) I know I am safe when I choose a dish with bacon. What man doesn't melt when you say 'bacon's for dinner'?! My version didn't turn out quite as pretty as the Pinterest picture, but it was still appetizing.

Bacon-wrapped, apple-topped chicken

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 chicken breasts
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup lemon juice
3-5 Gala apples (depends on the size; if they are small, maybe 5, if they are larger, may only need 2)
8ish slices of bacon (un-cooked)

STEP 1: Wrap 3-4 pieces of chicken with about 4 slices of un-cooked bacon.
STEP 2: Chop 2-3 Gala apples in to bite-sized pieces.  Mix BBQ sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and apples in a bowl.

STEP 2: Lay chicken on bottom of greased crock pot. Pour mixture over the top. Cook 6-7 hours on low. 

 Recipe from: www.chef-in-training.com

Some things are better left FRIED!

While I consider myself culturally diverse, my roots don't lie....I'm a Southern girl at heart. I eat savory buttermilk biscuits, I like my tea sweet, and I eat my veggies...sometimes those veggies are just better fried....like OKRA, my favorite veggie. (Ok Mom...I put a healthier option at the bottom...roasted veggies).

Fried Okra and zucchini

Last weekend I visited the Marietta Farmer's Market on our square and bought fresh okra, squash, and zucchini. I decided that since I had just met the person who hand-picked these green, awkward-looking veggies out of the ground, I better give them proper tending to....that means FRIED OKRA (and I experimented with fried yellow zucchini...quite tasty!).

First I washed and dried the okra, cut off the nubby end, and sliced in to about 1/2 - 1" pieces. I soaked them in buttermilk for maybe an hour, rolled them in Fish Fry, then dumped them in to piping hot oil. Mmmm...mmmm...mmm! (See below for complete ingredients).

Ingredients:

Fresh okra (or other veggies)

buttermilk (enough to cover the okra pieces)

Fish Fry

Seasoned Salt (or other spices)

peanut or vegetable oil for frying

cast iron (dutch oven) skillet

FRYING VEGGIES

Step 1: Cut up okra in to pieces as seen above. (For zucchini, cut off ends and slice in to wedges as seen in first picture; then follow remaining directions)

Step 2: Pour buttermilk over okra and let sit as long as possible. 30 min - 1 hr works.

Step 3: Meanwhile, heat up your oil. We love using our cast iron skillets so that's what we used. Oil should reach about 350 degrees or until you throw a pinch of flour in the oil and sizzles like it's supposed to!

Step 4: Remove okra from buttermilk (draining it as you do so...I used a fork to scoop them out and drain). Step 5: Toss in mixture of Fish Fry and seasoned salt or whatever spice you like. 

Step 6: Carefully add okra to hot oil. Don't crowd the skillet. A little at a time is a good idea. They are done when they start to float at the top and are golden brown.

Step 7: Carefully remove from oil and let drain on paper towels. I invented a draining contraption using a baking sheet on the bottom lined with a paper towel, then one of those cooling racks you use for cookies topped with more paper towels (overkill?! Nah!)

ROASTED VEGGIES
This is a quick side to any meal. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Wash, dry, and cut your veggies. Toss in a little olive oil and seasonings (I think I used seasonal salt). Roast for about 30 minutes.

Roasting squash, zucchini, carrots

Roasting okra

Roasted veggies

Roasted okra with slow cooker cubed steak

Breakfast on the go! - Breakfast Muffins

Breakfast on the Go! - Breakfast Muffins

Click here for recipe from Pinterest; Original recipe by Betty Crocker 

I came across this recipe the other day on Pinterest and thought, how convenient?! This would be perfect for a brunch, quick breakfast-to-go if you are in a hurry, or if you have kids, a fun way to start their day. I am going to experiment with the recipe after my co-worker made some suggestions, but for now, I will share the basic steps.

INGREDIENTS

1 20 oz. bag refrigerated hash browns (found them next to the eggs in Publix)

2 Tbsp. veggie oil (or olive oil)

salt and pepper

6 eggs

2 Tbsp. milk

1 c. crispy cooked bacon (crumbled)

3/4 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

Step 1: Cook Bacon. Line cookie sheet with tin foil. Lay pieces of bacon on sheet and place in COLD oven. Then turn up to 400 degrees. Bake about 18-20 minutes or until it reaches a good crispiness. Don't over or under crisp it ;0)  Remove bacon and let drain on paper towels. 

Step 2: While bacon is cooking, line a 12-count muffin pan with FOIL muffin liners. Do not try using the paper liners just because you have them - believe me, I tried and the product stuck to the paper. Spray the liners with cooking spray. 

Step 3: Prep and bake hash browns. Toss hash browns, oil, salt, and pepper. Fill all muffin cups with mixture. You may have to press the taters in to the cups to make it all fit. The cups will be filled to the top with the hashbrown mixture. Bake 45 - 55 minutes until they reach a golden brown. 

Remove hashbrowns from oven and press down firmly in to the cups. Use a large spoon or the bottom of a measuring cup. 

Step 4: Prep and bake egg mix. Beat eggs and milk. Add cooked bacon (or for a variation, try cooked sausage - thanks BY!) and cheese and stir. Top each hash brown cup with the egg mixture...a little less than about 1/4 cup each. 

Bake about 15 minutes or until knife inserted in to muffin comes out clean. 

Serve with syrup, ketchup, or sriracha sauce (original recipe said so!). 

Let them cool then store in the fridge. I would imagine you could freeze them too and pull them out as needed. Just heat up the oven and let them warm up for about 15 minutes. 

Summer Side Dish - Broccoli Salad - great to take to a party

Broccoli Slaw Salad (Olympic Salad)

From: Amy Hoffman

Amy made this salad a few weeks ago and brought it to a get together. It is loaded with flavor and goodness.  Despite the sugar in the dressing part, it is mostly healthy ;0) It is so simple to make that it is a great dish for a last minute get together. It makes a ton so be ready to feed an army with the side dish!

                    

Ingredients:

1 pkg broccoli slaw

1 bunch chopped green onion

1 cup slivered almonds

1 chopped granny smith apple

1/2 c. (or I used one whole) chopped red bell pepper

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 pkg craisins (about 1 - 2 cups)

1 (I used 2) cans mandarin oranges

2 pkgs chicken flavored raman noodles, finely crushed (save packets for dressing)

Dressing:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup canola oil (I used the olive oil I already had)

1/3 white or raspberry wine vinegar (I used red wine) 

2 Tbsp. powdered chicken broth (I used the 2 packets from the Raman noodles even though the original recipe said to throw them out and use powdered chicken broth instead. I didn't really find it necessary to throw out a perfectly comparable ingredient)!

Directions: (Ready? You'll blink and miss them!)

Mix all ingredients. Mix dressing and toss with salad. Refrigerate until ready to eat. 

Scallops are better when you pick them yourself :0)

Reece and I started a new tradition a few years ago that I hope we continue for a long, long time. We discovered 'scalloping' in St. Joseph's Bay, Florida. Both of us love seafood, but have a special spot for those tiny little morsels of yumminess. You might not know it, but scallops live just a few feet below the surface of the water, usually making their home at the edge of sea grass beds. What we consider a scallop is actually the muscle of the organism. It lies within a pretty shell and beneath an ugly mess of gook! To go 'scalloping', you can either park your car on the side of the bay and wade out in the water looking for them, or you can take your boat out on the water and go snorkeling which is what we prefer! During a good season, you can max out your limit of 2 gallons (in the shell) per person per day, in no time. We just returned from a vacation down to the coast, staying on Cape San Blas. While Mother Nature was not exactly on our side this time, we did defy her and spent a few hours on the water collecting our bunch.  The first night we cooked the batch for the beach crew and the second bunch we saved for my family back at home. 

While shucking scallops is not the most pleasant experience, it is most definitely worth it in the end. First you have to pry open the closed shell with a shucking knife (those little suckers are strong too!), then you peel back the layer of gook, being careful not to tear the delicate muscle. The final step to shucking is scraping the   scallop meat loose from it's shell.  (RECIPE for cooking scallops below)

RECIPES for quick scallops:

Ingredients

Of course you want the freshest scallops you can find (these are bay scallops, smaller than sea scallops)

Fish Fry

Buttermilk

Old Bay Seasoning

salt 

pepper

oil for frying

butter for sauteing

FRYING

Heat vegetable or peanut oil in large cast iron skillet. Soak scallops in buttermilk bath for a few minutes then roll in mixture of fish fry,Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper. Fry a few scallops at a time and drain on paper towel. 

SAUTEE

Melt butter in cast iron skillet. Add scallops, Old Bay, salt and pepper to flavor. Cook for a few minutes then serve hot.