Stuffed Bell Peppers

Old Fashioned Stuffed Peppers

4 green peppers

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion, minced

3 cups cooked rice

2 eggs

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp paprika

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

8 oz can tomato sauce (opt)

1 ½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (opt)

Heat oven 350*. 

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Meanwhile, remove core from peppers and cut them in half lengthwise.  Remove the white membrane.  Dunk pepper halves in boiling water to soften – about 5 minutes.  Drain well.

Meanwhile, combine ground beef and onion in a skillet and cook over medium heat until the beef is cooked and the onion is soft.  Remove from the heat and mix in rice plus ¼ cup of water (if rice is hot and freshly cooked, you can omit the water).

Beat eggs with salt, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper and add to hamburger mixture.  Use this mixture to fill the pepper halves (about ¼ to ½ cup per half).  Place halves in a lightly greased baking dish and drape loosely with aluminum foil for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

If you like, spoon a Tbsp of tomato sauce over each pepper, and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Breadsticks

When I say easy, I mean easy. This is a must try for any beginner. These were delish, and finger licking good as Shelby demonstrated.

Breadsticks & Pizza DoughRecipe from OurBestBites.com

1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour


In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly. 

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

 Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.

Roll out each piece of dough into a snake and then drape over your forefinger and twist the dough. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Try to space them evenly, but it's okay if they're close; pulling apart hot bread is one of life's greatest pleasures!

Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes. When there's about 15 minutes to go, preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks (just put a ziploc bag on your hand, grab some softened butter, and have at it) and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning or the powdery Parmesan cheese in a can and garlic salt. Or you could sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.

YUMMY IN MY TUMMY :P

Alfredo sauce

Be jealous, be very jealous!

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese

Toss the milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender.

Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.

When it's nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.
Process until smooth and set aside.

In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Stand above the pan (but not close enough to scald your face) and inhale. Ahhh...butter and garlic. Okay, now get cooking again. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don't want to burn it. It should be nice and bubbly.

Recipe from OurBestBites.com

Sloppy Joes

Or in the words of my girls...Slappyjos. These were delish! Homemade hamburger buns.

French Bread, Hoagies, and Buns

1 Tbsp. yeast

1 1/2 c. warm water

1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

4-5 1/2 c. flour

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 egg, separated

2 Tbsp. cold water

Combine yeast, water, and sugar in large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, vegetable oil, and egg yolk (set white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 c. flour and mix well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Knead, either by hand or in mixer (my personal and very lazy choice) for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour 45 minutes.

Punch down dough. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. For a loaf of bread, shape into loaf and place on greased cookie sheet. For buns or hoagies, divide equally into 8-10 (or even 12, if you want smaller buns when you're done, and let's face it, who doesn't want smaller buns??) pieces and shape as desired. Use a scale if you have one to get equal-sized buns.

It's okay if they touch (or will touch after having risen). Cover and allow to rise another 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until doubled. Keep an eye on things--if they seem like they're getting so big that they might collapse, hurry and get them into the oven.

Preheat oven to 375. Mix egg white with water and brush over dough. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat brushing the dough with the egg wash.

Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until bread is golden brown and your house smells like heaven.

Can you say YUM!

Here's the link to where I found this wonderful recipe http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/09/french-bread-hoagies-and-buns.html.

Holiday Smores



Before baking




Warm out of the oven...YUMMY



Ingredients and directions:
You'll need a clean 1 quart mason jar, 1 sleeve graham crackers, 1 package holiday
marshmallow peeps, one bag of holiday M&Ms candies (regular ones, not the peanut
kind), 1/3 cup of brown sugar, a circle of fabric or paper, and ribbon or raffia to
decorate the lid. Card stock or paper for tag.
1. Reduce 1 sleeve graham crackers to crumbs.
2. Layer 2/3 of the crumbs in a 1 qt jar. Pack down the crumbs a bit.
3. Place about 1/4 cup of M&Ms candies on top of the graham crackers.
4. Arrange 8 to 12 marshmallow holiday peeps standing up, facing out around the
inside of the jar. Press them up against the glass, but don't squash them. Depending on
the type of peeps available you might use either one row (like christmas trees or
bunnies) or 2 rows (like pumpkins or hearts).
5. Carefully spoon remaining cracker crumbs in the center of the jar to support the
peeps, pressing down to keep it snug.
6. On top of this pour 1-1/4 cup M&M's (holiday colors to suit).
7. Spoon 1/3 cup brown sugar into center of M&M's, gently pressing with a spoon. If
you have any room left over, then fill the jar to the top with M&Ms.
Print or handwrite a tag to attach to the jar (use templates below if you like):
Holiday S'MORES
Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the peeps into bits with kitchen shears or
cut up with a knife. Return the bits to the mixture. Mix well.
Melt 1/2 cup butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients,
mixing well. Pat into a greased 8" or 9" square pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15
minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Shepherd's Pie

4-5 potatoes cooked and mashed
1 lb ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 can green beans, drained
1 can corn (optional)
cheddar cheese

Brown meat and drain. Add tomato soup, beans, and corn. Pour meat mixture into a casserole dish. Layer potatoes on top and cover with cheese. Bake covered at 350 for 45-50 minutes.