Stuffed Bell Peppers

I had these at my friend Aurora's house a few years ago and immediately asked for the recipe. They taste awesome and take no time to make...my kind of recipe!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2 bags success rice (I use 1 bag of the Frozen Steam Fresh rice)

6 bell peppers (yellow and orange are best for this recipe)

1 pound Italian sausage or ground beef

1 can Rotel

2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare rice according to package. Remove tops and seeds from peppers:

Blanch peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove from water and drain.
Brown sausage or ground beef and drain fat. Return to pan and fold in Rotel and rice and heat through.
Remove from heat and add cheese.

Divide mixture into peppers. (You can also top with bread crumbs and extra cheese if you wish.)

Place in baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. YUM!

These are seriously a meal in themselves. The sweetness from the pepper combined with the spiciness from the filling is the perfect combination. Just throw on a plate with some salad and dinner is served! Enjoy!

**You may notice that I just did 2 peppers. I did this for several reasons. First of all, I bought really big peppers knowing Kelly and I would each only eat one. Hudson doesn't eat the pepper so he doesn't need one. This recipe makes quite a bit of filling, so I just froze the remainder of it and have enough left to make it again. All I will have to do is buy more peppers.

Sliders

My friend Leslie recently shared this Pampered Chef recipe with me and I just had to make it on Super Bowl Sunday. These are the cutest (food can be cute, right?!?) sliders and they go fast!

Sliders

1 medium onion (about 1 cup finely chopped)

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 lb 90% lean ground beef

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tsp salt

6 slices American cheese

8 hot dog buns

24 hamburger dill pickle slices

Preheat oven to 450 and finely chop the onion and parsley. If you don't have a food chopper, you NEED one!! I feel as strongly about the food chopper as I do my garlic press...can't cook without them!

Combine beef, onion, parsley, garlic, and salt and mix well. Press beef mixture evenly over bottom of large pan. Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until beef is no longer pink.

Meanwhile, cut cheese into quarters; set aside. Trim about 1/4 in off end of each hot dog bun, then slice buns into thirds for a total of 24 square mini buns; set aside.
Remove mean from oven and pour off juices if necessary. Cut beef mixture into 24 squares. (The beef will shrink up a bit, so you have plenty of room.) Top each burger with one pickle and one piece of cheese. Place one bun top onto each burger; top with with one bun bottom. Cover with foil and bake 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and buns are warm.

To serve, place the bun bottom under the meat square.

See, food can definitely be cute! Yummy too! :)

Enjoy!

(Side note: I thought Hudson was going to devour these because he loves hamburgers, but once he caught sight of the parsley and onions in the meat, he wasn't having any part of it. I think they would be just as good if you seasoned them like you would normal hamburger meat and then had extra toppings...if you are making for picky kiddos!)

Nacho Chicken

This is seriously one of THE EASIEST recipes I have. It is a Southern Living recipe and literally takes less than 5 minutes to prepare and tastes great! Kelly loves it, Hudson loves it, I love it. It is a win all the way around. The only *bad* thing about this recipe is that you will have a bag of Doritos in your pantry, which is a little dangerous! :)

Nacho Chicken

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried Italian seasoning

2 chicken breasts

3/4 cup crushed Doritos

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Combine first 3 ingredients; spread on both sides of chicken. Dredge chicken in crushed chips.

Place chicken on a lightly greased pan and drizzle with butter. Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes or until chicken is done.

The chicken comes out SO juicy and tender with a crunchy coating...DELISH! Enjoy!

Taco Ring

I don't know about you, but I love anything and everything Pampered Chef. I have a ton of their gadgets and love their recipes too. This is definitely one of our favorites. It is SO easy and always gets eaten quickly.

Taco Ring

3/4 pound ground beef (I always just use a pound to make it easier...you can use the leftover meat in a taco shell, tortilla, or even on a salad)

1 package taco seasoning mix

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons water

2 packages (8 ounces each) crescent rolls

additional sides of your choice (salsa, lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream...)

Preheat oven to 375. Cook ground beef in skillet until beef is no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix, cheese, and water. Unroll crescent dough; separate into triangles. Arrange traingles in a circle with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward outside:

Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle.

Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at center of ring. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.
To serve, cut into slices with toppings of your choice.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffin Tops

Question: What is your favorite part of a muffin? The tops right?!? I know mine is! We had family coming in town this weekend and I always like to have something sitting out to snack on or something for the boys to grab while running out the door to play golf, so I figured this would be the perfect thing. My friend Melissa gave me this recipe a while back and I can't believe I just now tried it. It takes all of about 2 seconds to make and the best part was that Hudson LOVED them!

Blueberry Muffin Tops

1 box Betty Crocker Wild Blueberry muffin mix

milk

Vegetable oil

eggs

Preheat oven to 425 or 400 for dark or nonstick pans. Prepare muffin mix as directed on box EXCEPT reduce milk to 1/2 cup.

Drop batter by rounded spoonfulls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. (My first batch stuck a little, so I used Pam on my second batch and they didn't stick a bit.)

Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges and tops begin to brown. Cool one minute before removing from cookie sheet.

YUM! They reminded me of a platter of cookies sitting out. Enjoy! :)

Potato Soup

With the temperatures plummeting this week, I figured soup was in order! I only have a picture of the finished product, but this recipe is nothing short of amazing. I had it years ago at my friend Jessica's house and immediately asked for the recipe. It is a little bit time consuming, but totally WORTH IT!!! It makes a lot too, so you can eat on it all week and stay warm!

Potato Soup
4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all purpose flour
7 cups milk
4 green onions, sliced
1 (12-oz) package bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8oz) sour cream
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Bake potatoes at 400 for 1 hour or until done; cool. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, mash to desired texture and reserve. Discard shells.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture is thickened and bubbly.

Stir in potato pulp and green onions; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Add bacon and remaining ingredients; stir until cheese melts. Serve immedately and ENJOY!

Chicken Swiss Bundles

These "sandwiches" are fantastic! There is a little bit of chopping involved, but they are pretty quick to make and not only taste good fresh out of the oven, but taste good heated up too!

Chicken Swiss Bundles

1 small onion, finely chopped (I only use 1/2 an onion)

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1-1/2 tsp. butter

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup cubed cooked chicken breast (I just baked 2 chicken breasts in the oven earlier in the day)

1/2 cup chopped roasted sweet red peppers

1 Tbsp. honey mustard

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

12 frozen bread dough dinner rolls, thawed

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Flatten each roll into a 5 inch circle and place on greased baking sheet. These are what they look like before and after:

In a large skillet, saute onion and mushrooms in butter until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
If you don't have a garlic press, you NEED one! I use mine ALL the time...so much better than the minced garlic in the jar.
Add the chicken, peppers, mustard and seasonings; heat through.

Remove from heat; stir in cheese.

Place mixture in the center of the circles.

Top with remaining circles and press edges with a fork to seal. Brush with butter.

Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.

YUMMY!

Enjoy!