quick and healthy stuffed bells

Hey Everyone,
I made these stuffed bell peppers on Friday night in about 30 minutes! They are super healthy, and if you don't eat oranges, eating bell peppers is a great way to get in a good amount of Vitamin C to help prevent those common winter colds. Here's another tidbit: Did you know that the lighter a bell pepper is, the sweeter it tastes? So the yellow ones are significantly sweeter than the green ones, but this time of year they're also a lot more expensive. But once these green bell peppers are boiled for just a few minutes (about 5), they are tender enough to bite into, and their overall strong, raw flavor subsides during the cooking process.

You can stuff these bell peppers with almost anything, but I used the basic recipe template that my mom introduced me to, which included ground turkey and rice. I added in a few extra veggies to the rice, because I like incorporating veggies into my dishes as often as possible. Here's the general recipe I used. I didn't get a chance to measure because I was so hungry. I just wanted to eat! But I really do think these are pretty easy to whip-up and hard to mess-up. They're so flavorful, and not to mention festive looking!

This is what went into the rice (I made this in the rice cooker!)
1 cup white rice
2 cups water
1/8 cup chopped olives
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
a few pinches of garlic salt
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 TBSP dehydrated veggie soup blend
2 medium-sized celery sticks, chopped
about 1/3 cup frozen peas & carrots

One thing I'd like to mention is that I mixed the rice half way into the cooking process because I wanted to make sure all the ingredients were equally distributed-it didn't negatively influence the rice (I know it's not a good idea to continually stir rice when cooking it, but I think doing it once or twice is ok, I haven't had any problems with this yet). Oh, and this recipe will make enough to fill about 5 bell peppers.

As the rice cooked, I cooked 1 lb of ground turkey with the following ingredients:
2.5 TBSP Pace Picante
a few pinches of garlic powder
a few pinches onion powder
2 tsp basil
a few sprinkles of black pepper
1/8 cup chopped sweet onion
1/8-1/4 cup chopped green onion

While the meat cooks in one pan, you can wash the bell peppers, then cut the tops off with a knife. You'll also want to use the knife to cut out the "insides" of the bells. I filled up a small soup pot with about 1 1/2 cups of water, then set the bell peppers in there standing upright. I cooked them over a medium flame for about 5-7 minutes, or until they were slightly tender but not falling apart. I made sure to put the tops in the pot too.

I also made the sauce that goes along very well with the bell pepper, it adds a little bit of natural sweetness to the dish
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup cheese
2 tbsp sour cream
about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

This should simmer in a sauce pan for about 5 minutes over a low-med flame, or at least until everything is melted together.

It's a good idea to mix the rice and meat together before stuffing the bell peppers. I also think that adding in a few sprinkles of colby/jack cheese to the rice/meat blend adds some nice flavor. After serving the bell peppers, each person can drizzle the tomato sauce/topping on top of the bell pepper, or you can serve it on the side. It's that easy, and it really is pretty good...but the best part about these bell peppers is how healthy they are!

sweedish meatballs with veggies and croutons? yep!

I've never had an original sweedish meatball dish, but I had the "American" version a few times growing up. When I started trying to figure out how to make them, I used canned cream of mushroom...but, eventually, I decided to try making these meatballs without using canned soup, or anything canned, for that matter. I also wanted to throw in some veggies that would work well with the meatballs, and I thought croûtons would be a fun way to add a new texture to the usually warm and meaty dish. I don't normally eat salad, but I really love putting homemade croûtons on any pasta dish I make. Even though it's fun to buy the box kind sometimes, I had some leftover bread from when we made honey oatmeal bread in our breadmaker, so I decided to use a few slices to make the croûtons. Here are the ingredients I used along with the steps I took when making the dish:

I mixed 1lb of ground turkey in a bowl with the following ingredients
3 tbsp dried veggie soup blend (salt free)
1/2-3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 TBSP chervil leaf
1/2 cup sweet white onion, diced
1 egg
1/2 cup garlic and herb bread crumbs
2 roma tomatoes, diced

Once these ingredients were all mixed together, I rolled them into 1" meatballs and cooked them in an everyday pan with some olive oil until they were golden brown on the outside--they cooked in about 30 minutes covered up with a lid. About 20 minutes into the cooking process, I added 1 1/2 cups water with 2 1/2 tsp of dissolved chicken bouillon and 1 TBSP mixed-in flour (to thicken the sauce) to the pan with the meatballs; I also like to add about 1-2 TBSP sour cream and 1 TBSP butter so that the sauce is creamier. I threw in a few more spices like 2 tsp Italian seasoning, and a few whole bay leaves. I also added about 2 cups of mushrooms, and about 1 1/2 cups raw spinach, then allowed these ingredients simmer for 15 minutes.

While the meatballs were cooking, I cut up about 1 cup worth of bread into croûton-size pieces. I then put them in a small baking pan, drizzled them with about 1 TBSP of olive oil, sprinkled about 1/2 tsp basil, 1/8-1/4 tsp garlic salt and a pinch of pepper. Then I baked these guys in the oven for about 10-12 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

I served the meatballs with croûtons over some lightly seasoned pasta sprinkled with parmesan cheese, and that was basically it! I try to add veggies to whatever I make. They have so much nutrients and I prefer to eat veggies over consuming vitamins. I also try to buy organic veggies whenever I can, but did you know that frozen vegetables, in general, are actually better than the fresh ones because they're picked when they're perfectly ripe (so they have more nutrients)? Interesting.

spaghetti with (ground TURKEY!) meatballs in a homemade sauce and Italian bread on the side!

It looks like I only cook pasta, at least this blog would give visitors that impression! But I don't, it is one of my favorite things to make and dress-up, though. I was in the mood for some spaghetti and meatballs today, but I wanted to make a sauce that wouldn't feel like I was just eating, as Jose called it, a bunch of plain noodles lathered in tomato puree. I've gone to quite a few Italian spots, never really finding a place that serves a good and tasty spaghetti and meatball plate. It does seem that most of the sauces are overly-tomato tasting, and it doesn't seem like much thought actually goes into the sauce. I hate boring food, and this is definitely not a plain pasta dish. Pasta and french/garlic bread go perfect together, at least I think they do, so I decided to spice up a baguette I bought at the grocery store just yesterday, giving it a little bit more of a kick with a sauce that isn't just butter and garlic based. So here's the recipe and instructions on how to make this flavorful stuff:

As far as the meatballs go, they alone carry quite a bit of flavor and can definitely be used for meatball sandwiches if any are leftover. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I used ground turkey for the meatballs. My parents used to cook with it a lot when I was growing up, and it was actually my mom who taught me how to make these meatballs from ground turkey. It might sound a little odd if you've never tried it, but ground turkey actually has a much milder taste than beef, so it can showcase/hold the flavor of spices much better, in my opinion. It's also a lot leaner than beef, and you definitely won't have to worry about mad-cow disease if it's your meat of choice for this meatball recipe (by the way, this recipe makes enough servings for about 5 people):
1 pound ground turkey breast (or whatever ground meat you prefer)
1/4 cup chopped sweet white onion
1/2 cup garlic and herb bread crumbs
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 TBSP mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 egg
All these ingredients can be mixed together in a bowl, then rolled into little 1 inch balls before being placed in an all-purpose pan to lightly fry in some olive oil, I used 1/4 cup and that might sound like a lot, but it actually wasn't since the pan I used was a good size.

As the meatballs cooked for about 25 minutes over a low-medium flame, I got started on the sauce, this is what went into the sauce:
15 oz can of Muir Glen salt-free organic tomato sauce
3/4 tsp garlic and herb spice
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar (to balance out the sourness of the plain tomato sauce)
3 whole bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 3/4 tsp parsley
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp vegetable broth powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
a pinch of nutmeg (everyone on food network does it, so I figured I should too :)
1/4 cup water (the sauce is kind of thick and will continue to thicken as it cooks)
1 cup portabella mushrooms
So I let this sauce simmer for about 10 minutes before adding it to the meatballs, which should now be browned on the outside. After I added the sauce to the meatballs, I let them simmer together while I cooked the pasta.

As far as the pasta goes, I just used a 12 oz bag of spaghetti. After I cooked it in the boiling water with a little bit of olive oil and garlic salt, I just added about 2 tsp of butter, a few shakes of Parmesan cheese, and a couple of olive oil sprinkles (as you can see, I definitely cook with a lot of this stuff :).

Now here's the Italian bread recipe, it's so fast and easy to make it could be served alone as a snack.
Preheat oven to 375
1/2 small baguette (horizontally halved--basically, it makes enough for 3 people)
1/8 cup melted butter
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
These ingredients can be mixed together in a cup, then drizzled with a teaspoon on the bread right before sprinkling it with about 1/2 cup of fresh spinach and 1/8-1/4 cup of a mozzarella/parmesan cheese blend. The baguette can then be placed in a 375 degree oven for 7-8 minutes. Afterward, you can garnish it with a few sliced roma tomatoes, and slice it into 3 medium-sized pieces, or about 4-5 small ones.

Funny thing about this spaghetti & meatballs plate is that I've actually made it before, but it came out so much better now that I actually measured the ingredients...even though it's my recipe. I don't get it haha! Happy cooking, next time I'll post something non-pasta related ;)!