Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Stuffed!

We have a bit of decorating tunnel vision and rightfully so - it feeds our souls!  But since we have to feed our faces too, I wanted to share some great dishes from time to time. 

When I met my husband he was recently out of culinary school and did a really good job of putting on the ritz with his meals.  Mid-way through school, he realized he didn't want to work in a kitchen and followed a different path.  And mid-way through our relationship, he stopped cooking quite so much and I picked up those duties.  But we've always been passionate about food (who isn't these days?) and continue to follow our noses to the next great dining experience.  We even started a food blog a few years ago to document our food Bucket List but.. it didn't quite make it very far ... :)


I started noticing that we were running through groceries at a really quick pace around here.  At the same time, we were wasting a lot of the fresh stuff by taking up friends and family on last minute dinner offers.  I wanted to majorly shift this paradigm because groceries are SUPER expensive and add a couple of dinners out to the bill and we're talking mucho dinero on food!  It was just plain wasteful and something had to change.  So I started planning out our meals in advance and buying ingredients based on each meal.  Amazing how this works - you cook what you buy and you don't waste; apparently a novel concept for me. Pinterest has really helped me with that.  When reading online mags or strolling through blogland, I can pin an interesting recipe.  And now, not only am I using everything I buy, which makes me feel so much less wasteful, my husband can jump in and cook some nights because we have a plan and the ingredients to go with.  It's been a win win.  



Last night, he made the best stuffed peppers I've ever had.  Admittedly, I love stuffed peppers anyways, ESPECIALLY a good chile relleno at an authentic Mexican joint.  His version had some heat like a chile relleno but all of the ingredients of a traditional American stuffed pepper recipe.  And so filling. And I'm not usually a 'just one' of anything type of gal, but just one of these'll do ya.  Try it out!




[Wish I had better pictures for ya.  It didn't occur to me until halfway through the meal that I should share this recipe.]

Ingredients:

4 green peppers
1/2 red onion, diced
12 grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 lb hot sausage
2 c. quinoa
7 mozzarella balls, quartered
1/4 c. shaved or grated Parmesan
1c. regular bread crumbs
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
garlic powder
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Cook quinoa according to package : 1cup water to 2 cups quinoa, bring to boil then simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes.

Saute onions, red peppers and tomatoes in olive oil and add salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Cook until onions become translucent.  Then add sausage and cook until browned.  Add cooked quinoa and cook for 2-3 more minutes. At this point, stop and taste and add any additional seasoning including fresh parsley. Next, add mozzarella balls and Parmesan to mix and then set aside.  Hull the green peppers and put in glass 9x13 pan.  Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.  Put green peppers (empty) in oven for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.  Take out and stuff peppers - pack them tight!  Then top with bread crumb mixture (melt butter in microwave and the add in bread crumbs and Parmesan and mix with a fork) .  Put the stuffed peppers back in oven and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Then turn the temperature down to 350 and bake for an additional 15 minutes (total bake time - 30 minutes).

Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow with a renewed focus!

-Bethany

DON"T FORGET TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY-DRAWING THIS FRIDAY!!!!

Powell Brower Interiors is a full-service interior design firm focused on residential and commercial interiors.  Contact us for help with your home or office.  We'd love to work with you!

13 comments:

  1. Mmmmm. I wanted to go to culinary school when I was in my 20s but like your husband I realized that I really did not want to be a restaurant chef. I have just started reading food blogs, cuz I have time for that.:P

    ReplyDelete
  2. the stuffed pepper recipe seems exactly like something my hubby would love! I would love to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm definitely going to try this! Pinning it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I so wish I were better at planning everyday meals...the peppers look delish!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks fantastic! My husband is the cook here ... I throw down the food for the kids ... but when we want something yummy he is in charge!! xo

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for the recipe! Can't wait to try these. I love different things, especially after Thanksgiving.
    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Nancy and Bethany.
    Teresa
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'll definitely give them a try. Peppers, onions, sausage and cheese! How can you go wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would eat this any ol day of the week! or year!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Nancy, thank you for visiting my blog : -)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your not alone Bethany - we waste food unfortunately all the time - either it expires on us or spoils on us:-( Yup, shame, shame, shame. Will try to change too, thanks for reminding me of that. The stuffed peppers looked YUM!!!!THanks

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can't say that I will be back tomorrow, so Happy Thanksgiving. I have company and am being rude at the moment....but I wanted to stop by.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This looks so good and I can hardly wait to try...Happy Thanksgiving to you ladies and your families!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sounds so yummy....have a great Thanksgiving.....

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment and support our blog! You all make our day!