Stuffed Bell Peppers

These bell peppers are so tasty and quite simple to throw together as well. It's one of our go-to meals, and one pepper can easily feed two kids. The leftovers are great as is or rolled up in a flour tortilla with a little salsa and sour cream.



Stuffed Bell Peppers

6 large bell peppers (any color)
1 lb. ground meat (beef, turkey, or whatever you like)
1/2 small onion, diced
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
garlic salt
oregano
basil
parsley
2-3 C. cooked rice
mozzarella cheese

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Cut off tops of bell peppers, straight across. Trim around the stem and dice remaining usable parts from the lid. Discard stem and seeds. Place whole peppers in an oven-safe dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Brown ground meat in a pan. Season with garlic salt, oregano, basil, and parsley about halfway through cooking. Add onions and diced bell peppers. Cook til soft--shouldn't take long. Add tomato sauce and rice. Stir to combine, then heat through.

Fill whole bell peppers with this mixture until full to the brim, then place in a sprayed baking dish. Top generously with cheese.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the cheese is done to your liking. (We like it crispy on the edges and lightly browned on top.)

Honey Orange Chicken

I love trying to figure out how to use ingredients that I already have, especially ones that I am trying to use up. (e.g. frozen veggies on their last leg, that can of beans that's been sitting around forever, a bag of crushed tortilla chips)

We have a giant container of honey that we purchased awhile back and haven't quite finished. It's getting to that stage where we have to microwave the container everytime we want to pour it, so I'm trying to use it up as fast as I can. Thus, adding it to chicken seemed a good idea. The rest of the recipe sort of came together as I looked around the kitchen.


NOTE: Yes, a better picture would have been nice, but we dished it up so fast that night (it was a quick dinner) that I didn't even think to take a picture.

Honey Orange Chicken
2 large boneless chicken breasts
1/4-1/2 C. honey (don't measure, just pour enough to cover the chicken)
2 clementines (small, easy-peel oranges)
1 scallion
Onion
Apples
Salt

In a dutch oven (or deep pan with a lid), place frozen chicken breasts side by side. Pour on the honey and sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Juice clementines into the pan, getting all the pulp you can onto the chicken as well. Cover.

Cook on medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes, then turn. Add thinly sliced onion, apples, and scallions. Cook the other side for 10 minutes.

When the chicken is done, turn off the heat, remove chicken from the pan and slice somewhat thinly across the grain of the meat. Return to pan and toss to coat in the velvety, sweet honey-orange sauce. Serve over rice if desired.

Fried Rice

Fried rice is one of the few Asian foods my husband will eat. Coming from a Thai culinary heritage, this is tough for me. But at least he's willing to pick SOMEthing he likes from Asian cuisine. Of course, there is no other fried rice that will do except my own. He can't stand fried rice from a restaurant. So here's my version, changed and adapted over the years from my mom's original recipe:



Fried Rice

Meat (ground beef, chicken, pork, kangaroo, whatever you like)
Onion, Carrots, Celery (diced)
Frozen peas
Garlic
Eggs
Cooked rice
Soy sauce
Tomatoes (diced)

In a large skillet or wok, cook veggies (except peas and tomatoes) in a bit of oil for a few minutes til almost softened, but still firm. Push veggies to the sides of the skillet, then brown meat in the center. (Look at you, you're stir frying!)



In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and a couple splashes of soy sauce together until smooth. The number of eggs you use greatly depends on how much egg you like in your fried rice and how much you're making. For example, my mom's original recipe calls for two of the white ovoids. With the way my husband likes his fried rice, I am now up to using seven eggs for one batch.

Push the meat and veggies up to the sides of the skillet. Pour in the egg mixture in the center and stir constantly until it begins to firm and form like scrambled eggs. It's fine at this point if some of the meat and veggies from the edges decide they're destined for an omelet. Just try to keep the eggs in the center of the pan.



Once the eggs are almost set (they will finish cooking as you finish stirring), go ahead and mix it all together, then add the rice by cupfuls until you have an even ratio of rice to vegetables/meat. Add peas.

Pour on the soy sauce and keep stirring it up. Taste as you go until you get it to the saltiness you prefer. Toss in diced tomatoes at the very end.

Fried rice goes with many different things, as well as stands up just fine on it's own thank-you-very-much, served along with some cool, sliced cucumbers. YUM.