Stuffed Peppers

I am so insanely lucky I have such a kind and supportive husband! I don't know how I would have made it through this month without him! I have finished off my insane work stint and topped off at 30 days straight working without a day off. However I ended that stint with a night spent in the ER with agonizing back pain. That is also not a night I would have survived without my husband who was so caring and patient. So I got the following day off, and then went back to work before getting another day off during which I did absolutely nothing. However starting next week I will have two whole days off. I'll have regularly scheduled days off again and will have time to actually cook myself. So this should be about the last guest post recipe for a while. Today's recipe is also from my husband, and our adorable niece, Gabby, will make an appearance. Some of the photo credit also goes to my brother-in-law, Clint, who helped take pictures. I was gone for the entirety of this process, but am writing this up because my husband isn't terribly wordy. The pictures are a bit different than I would usually do them, but we'll make it work, eh?

Ingredients:
5 Bell Peppers (One per person - This makes enough filling for more than 5 bell peppers)
Ground Beef (1 lbs)
Rice
Canned Tomatoes (1 petite diced, 1 petite diced with Italian Seasoning, 1 petite diced with chilies; chose for your own preference. You may only need 2 cans, we had lots of extra filling)
Onion
Garlic
Salt & Pepper

Cut the top off your bell pepper and remove the core.

I.e. the white stuff and the seeds.

Par-boil the bottom half of your bell pepper, about 10 minutes.

Once they have been par-boiled and drained of water place them in a baking dish like my pyrex dish here.

You can now set these aside and get started on your filling.

You will need rice. You can either prepare rice in a rice cooker, or do it my way. I toss my rice into boiling water and let it cook like pasta for around 10 minutes, depending on which rice you use, and then drain it like you would drain pasta. Either way, cook about 1 - 1 1/2 cup's worth of dry rice with your preferred method.

While your rice is cooking you can saute your diced onion in a bit of oil or butter, then add in your ground beef and garlic, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

When your beef is browned all the way you can drain it in a colander.

Add in your cooked rice.

Get your canned tomatoes ready. You can see, my husband used different types of tomatoes.

You then add your canned tomatoes.

Mix this all well. The filling can be made ahead of time, which is what my husband did.

When you're ready to make your peppers preheat your oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Start stuffing your peppers. Featuring our niece, Gabby, helping out.

Just fill them up, so they are equally full.

Now go ahead and put the tops "lids" on and stick them into the oven for around 15 minutes, just enough time to heat everything thoroughly.

My husband then served them on a bed of salad in our individual casserole dishes.

Isn't he fancy?


Quickie Summary:

Ingredients:
5 Bell Peppers (One per person - This makes enough filling for more than 5 bell peppers)
Ground Beef (1 lbs)
Rice
Canned Tomatoes (1 petite diced, 1 petite diced with Italian Seasoning, 1 petite diced with chilies; chose for your own preference. You may only need 2 cans, we had lots of extra filling)
Onion
Garlic
Salt & Pepper

Cut the tops off your bell peppers.
Decore and deseed the peppers.
Parboil for approximately 10 minutes.
Set aside.

Cook 1 - 1 1/2 cups of rice.

Saute diced onions.
Add garlic.
Brown ground beef.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Drain meat.

Mix meat, rice, and canned tomatoes.

Stuff bell peppers, and place the tops back onto your bell peppers.
Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until thoroughly heated through.

Serve.

Shepherd's Pie

The first time I ever had Shepherd's Pie was when Brandy (My husband's brother's girlfriend and the mother of his child) made it. Apparently Brandy's sister Brittany taught her how to make it. I don't know if I make it the same way they do, but it reminds me of her. Sadly Brandy recently passed away in a horrific car accident, leaving her 3 children (Nita, Emma, and Carl) as well as my brother-in-law Joey behind. For me This dish is a good memory of Brandy to have and a way to honor her as a caring mother that she was. So here is my tribute to Brandy.
So, now that we're done with all the heavy stuff, lets get cracking!

Ingredients:
Cream (heavy whipping)
Butter
Potatoes
Shredded Cheese
Ground Beef
Green Beans
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Ketchup 
(Maggi if you can get it)
Paprika
Cayenne
Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper

First you need to make your mashed potatoes.

You'll need: cream, butter, and potatoes.

I peel my potatoes and boil them whole. If you're in a hurry and want them to be done faster you can cut your potatoes into smaller pieces.

Make sure you add salt to your potatoes while they are cooking, as potatoes will absorb a lot of salt. That is why you can add a potato to soups or sauces that you've accidentally oversalted in order to absorb exes salt.

While my potatoes are on the stove I begin cooking my meat. As you may know by now I'm a big fan of seasoning, so I get this whole load ready:

Ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce, Maggi, Paprika, Cayenne, Italian Seasoning, Salt, and Pepper.

I like to preseason my meat on one side with the dry seasonings before I throw it into my preheated pot/pan,

The black stuff on here is actually salt.

Charlie's oldest brother Clint and his family gave us this Hawaiian black salt for Christmas amongst other things. It tastes mostly the same as regular salt, but it looks way cooler! Shout out to Clint, Brenda, their daughter Gaby, and especially to their son Justin who picked it out!

OK, back to cooking. I'll stop bragging about my cool family! So you threw your meat into your pot seasoning side down.

Add your second layer of seasoning.

Start breaking up your meat into smaller pieces as you brown it.

Once you've gotten it mostly browned...

...add your liquid seasonings

Ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce, and Maggi if you have it.

I just throw in a bunch of squirts of all of them.

You could also add some mustard if you feel like it. I like to cook it down some, so it isn't too liquidy, but I do want there to me some, so it stays nice and juicy. As you will be baking this for half an hour, and you don't want it to dry out.

Once you cooked the meat all the way through, put it in your casserole dish. Your first layer is complete.

Nomms.

Next we are adding the green beans.

So, I used fresh beans. They didn't cook all the way through in the oven, but I like the crunchiness. If you however don't want that texture, you can parboil your beans or use canned ones.

Layer them on top of your ground beef.

You could also use different veggies if you choose. Carrots are really good too, or peas, or anything else you can think of.

Now your potatoes should be cooked. Time to mash those suckers! I'm a big cheater because I have lovely kitchen appliances. I stick it into my kitchenaid and whip it. That makes the potatoes super light and fluffy. However you can totally use a potato masher and do it by hand.

I add a bunch of butter, cream and a bit of salt. I just keep adding butter and cream until it reaches the desired consistency.

See how fluffy it is?

Now layer your mashed potatoes on top of your green beans.

I add globs of potatoes all over the top, and then smooth it out. If you try and spread it, the beans will stick to the potatoes and get dislocated.

Last layer: Add copious amounts of cheese, 'cause cheese!

Stick it in the oven at 350 for half an hour. (Please don't judge my oven, it has spots that can't be cleaned off, believe me, I tried!.)

Now look at your ooey gooey goodness!

My husband holding his first bowl full of Shepherd's Pie.

It's easily reheatable in the microwave and makes for great leftovers! You could also make this whole dish in advance and refrigerate it till you're ready to make it. Just up the cooking time in the oven a bit to make sure it gets heated all the way through.


Quickie Summary:
Ingredients:
Cream (heavy whipping)
Butter
Potatoes
Shredded Cheese
Ground Beef
Green Beans
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Ketchup 
(Maggi if you can get it)
Paprika
Cayenne
Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper

Make your mashed potatoes.
Boil your potatoes.
Whip with butter and cream.

Cook your ground beef.
Season it with your dry spices. (Cayenne, Paprika, Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning)
Brown the meat.
Add your liquid seasonings. (Ketchup, Soy Sauce, Worcestershire, Maggi if you have it)
Cook it down a bit.
Layer the meat into the bottom of your casserole dish.

Layer your beans on top of the meat.

Layer your mashed potatoes on top.

Sprinkle cheese liberally on top.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for half an hour.

Taco Packets

I've still been struggling a bit with the blues lately. So I did the thing that always makes me feel better: I cooked something new, did a bit of experimenting, and fed people. I cooked for my husband and one of his friends.
This is the recipe I roughly followed:
Chimichangas
However it's not fried. I also modified the recipe and used ground beef I cooked up with Mexican seasoning instead of the shredded chicken the recipe recommends. I cooked up the ground beef with paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and a bit of oregano. Then I mixed in a thing of whipped cream cheese, a bunch of sharp cheddar cheese, a bit of Mexican blend cheese and filled the tortillas. My husband hates beans, so that completed his set. But for his friend and myself I first put down a layer of refried beans, and then the meat and cheese mixture.
I served them with pico de gallo, sour cream, and slices of avocado. I was surprised by how delicious they were. Spraying them with the cooking spray gave them a kind of crunchy shell which I really liked! I may be weird, but some of the cooking sprays really weird me out when they have all those ingredients I can't pronounce. So I bought one that is just olive oil. They were also extremely filling. My husband managed to eat two of the ones without the refried beans. His friend and I both only managed one each of the ones with beans and felt completely stuffed afterwards.
I bought the large winco pack of ground beef, the larger size of cream cheese, one regular sized bag of shredded cheese, and a bit extra cheese, and a small can of refried beans. This made 8 of the baked burritos, or taco packets as I like to call them. 5 with the beans and 3 without.
Here are two pictures of what they look like. These are the ones with beans, the ones without are a bit slimmer.