Stuff Yourself with Some Stuffed Peppers

Pinterest is an amazing thing. It causes you to stumble across things you never thought of or recipes you've never tried. I kept seeing stuffed bell peppers pop up under the Food & Drink category and always thought they looked delish but I had never tried them.

One of my weekly goals this week was to try a new recipe, so why not give them a try?

After looking at a few different recipes, I came up with this concoction, so feel free to try it out yourself.

Ingredients: Bell pepper, shredded chicken, mexicorn, rotel, olive oil, black beans, mild cheddar cheese

Cut the pepper in half and take out the stem and seeds.

Spray the peppers with the olive oil and place in a baking dish and cook for 20-25 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees.

Mix the chicken, beans, corn, and half the can of rotel together.

Be careful not to step on the dogs that are patiently waiting for you to drop something. (No, I don't have three dogs. The one in the front is Jefferson, I'm dog sitting for the week.)

Once the peppers are roasted, flip them over and fill with about half a cup of the chicken goodness. )I put the leftover filling in the freezer to use for other recipes.) Pour the rest of the rotel over the peppers. Put them in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese and pop them back in the oven for 5 minutes. Then ENJOY. 

Final review: Really good and low calorie, but I think it needed some taco seasoning or something a little more spicy. Not bad though!

Call me old, but yes, I started a Book Club

Oprah Winfrey would be so proud.

About a year ago, my friend Amanda said that she wanted to join a book club. We looked online for ones around here through the library but came up empty handed. So the idea died... for a little while.

Fast forward to about a month ago, and I decided to start my own. I asked a few friends if they wanted to join and we all agreed. No, we are not middle aged, retired, purple hat wearing women, but we are ones that like to chit chat, drink wine, and read. A book club seemed like the perfect combination of all three.

The first book we read was called Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Let me just tell you... this was seriously one of the best books I've ever read. It is SO FLIPPIN GOOD! I'm not an avid reader and I'm definitely not a fast reader, but seriously, this. was. awesome.

We didn't discuss it too much because not all of us had finished it and we didn't want to give away any spoilers, but we still had a good time and can't wait to do it again in June. How can you not have a good time with a spread like this...

Banana pudding, chocolate peanut butter cookies, chips and homemade salsa, baked spinach and hummus dip with carrots, pita chips, and celery, and wine.

7 bottles of wine for 5 people... Isn't that what a book club is all about?

These chocolate peanut butter cookies were AMAZING. They were only 5 ingredients! 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, and an egg. Then dipped in melted chocolate and peanuts.

That's my baked spinach and hummus dip. I took baby spinach and threw it in my food processor, got 2 cups of the chopped spinach and mixed it with a cup and a half of roasted red pepper hummus and about 3/4 cup of cheese. Put that in the dish, sprinkled some cheese on top, and baked it for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. SO GOOD.

My friend also made some salsa that I failed to get a picture of. :( But it consisted of Roma tomatoes, red onion, parsley, cilantro, peanuts, 1 squeezed orange, 1 squeezed lemon or lime, 1 tsp of garlic, salt, sugar, and olive oil. If you're looking for a different kind of salsa then try her's out!

We've already selected the book for next month:

If you're toying with the idea of starting a book club or joining one, I highly suggest it.

Have any suggestions for books or good recipes to try out? Send them my way!

Cooking for One

Cooking for one is probably one of the biggest things I hate about being single. (Okay not the BIGGEST, but it ranks right up there with having to do all the lawn work and remembering to buy toilet paper.) Do you know how hard it is to take a recipe and divide it into 8ths? How the heck to you use an 8th of a can of something anyways. It's such a waste of money. Can you say IRRITATING?!

So here are a few tips I've collected that seem to work for me:

• When you want to make a casserole, split the recipe into two pans, one being one of those disposable foil pans. When you're done making it, throw some foil on that bad boy and stick it in the freezer. I know I can't go through a whole casserole before it either A) goes bad or B) I'm burned out on it. Say this with me everyone, "THE FREEZER IS MY FRIEND"
• While on the subject of freezing food, it is really hard to make a single serving of soup. I take my leftovers and put individual servings in ziplock bags and then freeze the bags. When I want to eat some soup, all I do is boil a pot of water, throw in a bag of soup, let it thaw, and then I dump it in a bowl and heat it up in the microwave.
• On Sunday, I write out my whole plan for the week and I only buy what I need, especially when it comes to produce and dairy. If I plan on eating 3 apples, then I buy 3 apples, not a whole bag. A coworker and I have started sharing bags of cuties because I'd rather give her half my bag than throw them away when I don't eat them in time.
• Find recipes that use many of the same ingredients  The other day I made a black bean and chicken enchilada casserole. I saved half a cup of the black beans and 1/2 a cup of the corn and threw them in some lock n lock containers and put them in the fridge. Today for lunch, I'm going to bust those out to use for some healthy BBQ chicken nachos. 
• If you're anything like me, I hate milk. The only time I use it is for cereal or recipes. I've found that organic milk, though more expensive, lasts FOREVER. I hate when I end up collecting 3 half used half gallons of milk in my fridge with an expiration date a month ago.
• Get creative! I like throwing stuff together and seeing what comes up. If it fails, there is always PB&J.

Below are three things I came up with and are now staples in my dinner plans. Please feel free to share with anymore you might have!

Chicken and Hummus Tortilla

• Heat up a whole wheat tortilla in a skillet, flipping from side to side until crispy. Place on plate.
• Throw some grilled chicken strips (Tyson Grilled and Ready are my favorite) in the skillet to heat up.
• On the tortilla, spread 2 Tbsp. of supremely spicy hummus (or whatever kind you like). 
• Top with romaine lettuce, chicken strips, 1/4 cup of shredded cheese, a sprinkle of feta cheese, some salad dressing, and croutons.
• Cut like a pizza into wedges.
• Calories: 493

Mediterranean Chicken Pita

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Place a whole wheat pita on cookie sheet.
• Cover with 1 Tbsp. pesto, grilled chicken strips, roasted red peppers, and cheese.
• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Calories: 517

Crockpot Creamy Fiesta Chicken

I'm sure that the name "Crockpot Creamy Fiesta Chicken" is over used and has been employed to describe many different recipes, but I think "Best Damn Chicken Creation You've Ever Tasted And Not to Mention The Easiest Thing You've Ever Made" probably isn't as easy to remember (although very descriptive).

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast (frozen is okay)
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar of medium or hot salsa (mild doesn't have enough flavor. Have no fear though, when I used medium, it had no "kick" at all. I think that hot is the best way to go. Just spicy enough for you to know its there, but not so spicy you are running to the fridge for a glass of milk)
1/2 a block of cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat and it still tastes fantastic)

Directions:

Place the chicken in the crockpot

Add the corn

Add the beans

Add the salsa (The jar I show in the pic is 16 oz., but I only used about half of it)

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4

Once the chicken is cooked, it will literally fall apart just by picking it up. I used a pair of tongs and shredded it

Add the cream cheese and mix until creamy

My favorite way to eat it is over some crushed Frito's. SO GOOD! It refrigerates well and makes great leftovers. 

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Baby Shower Brownie Cupcakes

Made cupcakes yesterday for my new dear friend, Robin, and I was so excited with how they turned out! Not only were the cupcakes good, but they were so easy to decorate. I think a little practice and I might be onto something.

I started off making Betty Crocker's Original Hershey Supreme Brownie batter and Betty Crocker's White Cake batter. Make sure that you have two separate mixing bowls when doing this. Some of you may be thinking, "Well duh," HOWEVER NOT ALL OF US THINK OF SUCH THINGS...  Don't judge me.

MOVING ON...

In a muffin tin with liners, I put a spoonful of brownie batter in each cup and used the spoon to kind of "spread" the batter to cover the bottom.

Now add the cake batter. I only added enough to fill the cups 1/2-3/4 full.

The recipes for the brownies and the cake both called for 350 degrees. I wanted them to be flat on top rather than domed, so I knocked the temp down to 325 degrees and baked them for about 20-23 minutes. I used the toothpick trick to make sure they were done.

I ended up with more cake batter than brownie mix so some were made without chocolate, which turned out great since Sarah doesn't eat chocolate! Score!

Decorating them was the fun part! I got this $12 kit from Wal-Mart in the wedding cake isle and I am forever a fan of decorating cupcakes with icing bags and decorating tips. I stuck a pacifier in some of them and added chocolate chips as eyes. They didn't turn out as cute as I wanted, but oh well.

They sure did taste good though and I got a lot of compliments on them, so I think everyone else thought they tasted good, too! Now, anyone want to come clean up my kitchen for me?

Deuces!

XOXO

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