UN- Stuffed Peppers

UN Stuffed Peppers are peppers for lazy people, or hungry people because they seem to take a lot less time than the stuffed and baked variety.  Fortunately all the deliciousness of Stuffed Peppers remains so really, unless you are a visual eater ( I think that's skinny people's secret) you wont mind one bit that your rice and  beef isn't neatly packed into your Pepper receptacles.  You also won't mind that it takes at least a half an hour less to make your UN Stuffed peppers  or that this is an easy clean up , one skillet meal  - yeah you won't mind any of it .

UN Stuffed Pepper Recipe 

If you have a favorite stuffed pepper recipe make it , if you need a stuffed pepper recipe than make mine.  Un stuffing your pepper is as easy as it sounds but if you need a little hand holding in the kitchen read on for my super secret way to UN stuff a pepper ..*wink, wink*

Stuffed Pepper Ingredients
1 lb 92/8 ground beef
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tablespoons sea salt
1/4 cup reduced sodium Worcester sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 large yellow onion chopped
2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
1 cup Cherry tomatoes
2 Yellow Peppers cleaned and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup beef broth
2 heaping tablespoons flour
2 cups uncooked rice  (prepare via package directions)

UN Stuffed Pepper Instructions

• Cook your Rice according to package instructions 
• Over medium -High flame Take your ground beef,  1/2 the salt and the olive oil and cook your meat half way add your Worcester sauce , garlic and onion and continue cooking until meat is done. 
• Next add Peppers, Tomatoes, Italian Seasoning , rest of salt -  mix and simmer covered 5 minutes or until tomatoes and peppers soften.  
• Gently smash the cherry tomatoes a bit while shielding your eyes and any exposed skin from the infernal juices that may be projected at your sensitive ocular area ( been there done that ) stir and recover another few minutes until peppers are good and tender.
• Pour broth into the pan and deglaze it . 
• Sprinkle the flour on top and stir until it is all incorporated and the sauce thickens.
  
  We love cheese in out house so we served it with some Italian Blended cheese on top - totally optional ! 

Serve over Rice

Enjoy Y'all !

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German Potato Salad - For red blooded Americans and our Canadian Neighbors

Are you the "Salad Person" at the 4th of July BBQ or Potluck.  Need a recipe that won't give your friends and family raging food poisoning from your mayonnaise based potato salad sitting on a table for a couple of hours, offering safe have to every food borne bacteria known to man...the answer my friends is German Potato salad.  

Don't be mistaken, German Potato salad is no poor substitute for traditional potato salad.  In addition to the lowered risk of post-picnic illness German potato salad is a lower calorie option to its full fat mayonnaise cousin.  Let's not even talk about how much BETTER German potato salad goes with say , German sausages like Bratwurst , knockwurst, and how it's light tangyness pairs with a thick juicy steak .   No German Potato salad is no red-headed stepchild.  Oh yeah and it has BACON , so it's gonna be delicious

German Potato Salad Recipe for Red Blooded Americans ( and Canadians too) 

5 lbs yellow potatoes, sliced, boiled but firm

Vidallia Onion , fine chop

1 lb maple ( for the Canadians ) bacon , cooked crispy , broken into small pieces

Parsley , chopped fine

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup white sugar

Instructions:
Peel your potatoes and slice about 1/8 inch thick.  Add 1/4 salt to water and boil potatoes until they are cooked but firm.

Allow your potatoes to cool and add oil, sugar, vinegar parsley and bacon.

Mix well and let sit in the fridge to set an hour or 2 before serving (overnight is best) 

Enjoy Y'all

Peanut Butter Chicken Surprise

Most Americans cringe at the thought of peanut butter on meat - seriously I did too.  I remember being 6 years old in a restaurant in NYC circa 1979 , or maybe 80  across from my mom's one and only "fancy friend" who brought us to a cool Thai restaurant to try this new  "Chicken Satay" thing. Peanut Butter Chicken - Surprise !

When the peanutbuttery Chicken entered my unsuspecting  mouth and my brain sputtered to the recognition that BOTH chicken and Peanuts had entered my mouth simultaneously it was promptly rejected - aka spat across table at said fancy friend.  Who, on God's green earth would EVER put peanut butter and meat on the same plate , WHO !

30 years later I am a bit more open to different food combinations.  While I think I will always prefer my Peanut Butter slathered in Jelly on white bread with a glass of cold milk , this Peanut Butter Chicken ain't half bad.  I will give you one word of warning, don't spring the Peanut butter - chicken combo on unsuspecting children.  I tried it on my 6 year old and it also was rejected , violently . In fact his face twisted into shapes it had never before attempted and the look of What the HELL did you do that to me for actually made me feel a little guilty and proud - he's just like the 6 year old version of his mom

Peanut Butter Chicken Recipe

8 chicken thighs - boneless skinless
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/3 cup milk ( or coconut milk)
1 roll of Ritz Crackers crushed
Salt
2 teaspoons Curry Powder

Place Egg, milk, curry powder and peanut butter in a blender and blend well .  Pour into a shallow bowl
Place Crushed Ritz in a different shallow bowl
salt  Chicken thighs to taste then dredge through peanut butter sauce then Ritz Cracker crumbs
place in a 375 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until chicken is done

It's really no harder to make than any other breaded chicken.  Serve it with some Siracha if you like it spicy and Jasmine rice for a Thai style dinner

Enjoy Y'all !

Upside Down Chicken Pot Pie in the Slow Cooker

Chicken Pot Pie is one of those comfort foods that can make the Apocalypse seem bearable.  Upside Chicken Pot Pie in the Slow Cooker is one of the easiest ways to make it .  To make a traditional Chicken Pot Pie you have to make a Roux and stand over a pot stiring , stiring , stiring - ain't nobody got time for that !  Let's not EVEN talk about making that crust . Upside down Chicken pot pie takes all the heavy lifting out of making Pot Pie and uses all your favorite , pre-made ingredients and your trusty crock pot to make an almost as good as from scratch Chicken Pot Pie.  To make your Upside Down Chicken Pot Pie in the Slow Cooker you'll need

2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 chicken breasts ( about 1.5 pounds) cubed
Pepper
Nutmeg
Salt
1 bag of Frozen Mixed Vegetables and
1 can of buttermilk biscuits or a dozen of your own making

Upside Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Cube Chicken and place in the crock pot, lightly salt
Open both cans of cream of Chicken soup and pour in the slow cooker
add 1 tablespoon black pepper and 1 tablespoon Nutmeg , stir
Cook on high for 5 hour total
after 3 hours pour in bag of mixed vegetables, stir and then cover to cook 2 more hours
Prepare biscuits per package or recipe instructions.

Serve pot pie filling over biscuits.

Enjoy Y'all ! 

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Easy Pot Roast - aka REALLY Easy Pot Roast

Pot roasts are delicious, I think this is something we can all agree on ( unless you're a vegetarian and even then you just MIGHT be drooling a little remembering succulent pot roasts from days of yore)  I mean if loving a fall apart tender beef  roast dripping in flavorful au jus is wrong then I DON'T WANNA be RIGHT! To me Pot Roast is pretty easy to make, but when I get a hankering for that beefy crack I don't want to chop and prep, wait 8 hours for slow cooker pot roast, no SIR , I want my EASY Pot Roast and I want it NOW  ( ok 1.5 hours from now I'm not a miracle worker) .  Ladies and Gentlemen I introduce you to the

Easy Pot Roast Recipe

You need 3 things for this baby to come together Beef, Onion Soup Mix and Water  - BOOM!
Now I threw in some baby carrots because it took me literally 32.3 seconds to do it ( I clocked it) and who wouldn't want to give some tender baby carrots a swim in  a beef drippings/onion soup hybrid liquid then shove those poor infant  tubers into your mouth when they have sufficiently softened and adsorbed that divine juice concoction, who ? I also sprinkled some parsley on top, mostly because it looked nice...but really you JUST need the 3 aforementioned ingredients for pot roast perfection.

For this easy Pot roast to cook right I like to relentlessly stab at it with a knife, mostly to let the onion soup mix penetrate the meat .  Because it's EASY we aren't marinating it over night or endlessly and slowly cooking it in the 'ol crock pot , so we need to up the onion delivery method.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and let my, just shy of 2lb Easy Pot Roast cook away.

Now if you want to add a couple minutes to the process chop up some potatoes , parsnip ( my PERSONAL favorite) and maybe add some more onion to the mix.

I know a lot of people like it put plainly so here it is
Ingredients
2 lb Beef roast
1 packet onion soup mix
1 cup water

Pre-heat oven to 350
knife the living daylights out of your roast
mix water and soup mix , pour over roast

after 1 hour test for doneness with a thermometer ( the kind that goes in the oven , some of you also need me to be REALLY specific about these things, you know who you are)


Don't over cook it ! 

Let me know what you thought about the worlds easiest Pot Roast Recipe
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Leftover Ham Recipes

Ham , the meat of Easter, Christmas and sometimes Turkey day companion.  Leftover Ham - rife with possibilities.  From breakfast to dinner ham can play a starring role in all your leftovers creations. Can any other meat claim that ? No, and if you don't believe me try a chicken thigh with eggs over easy and a side of rye without feeling a little nauseated ..Ham, ONLY Ham is a welcome site at Big 3 Meals and for some of us for a snack as well.  So in honor of this versatile meat here are 3 recipes to make with your leftover holiday ham, if there is any.

Breakfast Ham Bake
 Prep A  9x11 pan with butter and Oven heated to 400
That's right we bake our breakfast ham , sliced right of the bone and layered lasagna style with swiss cheese, buttered toast and drizzled with beaten eggs ( salt and peppered of course) . 

You'll need for the Breakfast Ham Bake
8 eggs beaten , salted and peppered with a splash of milk
12 pieces of toast , lightly toasted and buttered ( we prefer rye)
2 cups swiss cheese 
2 cups chopped ham

Start with toast and cover bottom of pan
spread 1 cup of ham
next spread a cup of cheese on top
pour 1/2 of egg mixture
layer with remainder of toast
Add Ham,Cheese then remainder of eggs

Let sit for 15 minutes then place in oven for 30-45 minutes until eggs are done and it's puffy and golden but not burnt!

Ham and Split Pea Soup
1/2 stick butter

1 large sweet onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped peeled carrots

Ham bone and 1 cup Chopped ham ( especially the fatty parts)1  cup green split peas 

4 cups veggie stock and 4 cups water 
Saute Veggies in butter until soft .  Add liquid, peas and ham to crockpot, cook covered on high 8 hours or until peas are soft. When done remove bone and 2 cups of soup.  Blend and return. Serve hot with salt and pepper to taste.


Ham and Potatoes  Au Gratin
Got leftover mashed potatoes , great  If not make some- NOW !
2-3 cups mashed potatoes
1/4 stick butter
sliced ham
1 cup cheddar
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Get a 9 x11 buttered pan and layer mashed potatoes on the bottom with thinly sliced ham on top. Sprinkle a cup of Cheddar cheese on top .  Melt a 1/4 stick of butter and mix with seasoned bread crumbs , spread on top of the casserole dish.
Pop your Ham and Potatoes Au Gratin in the oven for 30 minutes on 400 . Gooey and delicious recipe for your ham leftovers right there !

How are you going to fix your Ham leftovers?

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce is the stuff that runs through Italian veins, and you thought it was regular ol' blood huummph! Fortunately for all you non italians Marinara sauce doesn't require an entire day of cooking like a good meat sauce.  In fact you can whip up a yummy marinara sauce in just a half an hour and be drowning your pasta in it in a flash.

Marinara Sauce Ingredients

1 box Pomi sauce ( not your store brand or any other brand...it will NOT be the same)
2 teaspoons diced garlic
2 tablespoons EVOO
5 leaves of sweet basil , rough chopped
1 large carrot , peeled and cut in 4s
Dash of sea salt

Warm EVOO on Medium high flame and saute your garlic in the hot EVOO for a minute to leach some of the flavor out.
Pour POMI ( and ONLY Pomi) into your pan, add basil, carrot and salt
cover and turn the flame to medium
slow boil your Marinara Sauce until the carrot is soft, stirring VERY occasionally
remove the carrot and serve over Pasta.

How to make Pasta like an Italian 

Here are a few tips so you don't screw up your pasta and waste all this beautiful Marinara Sauce

1 SALT THE WATER ( don't skimp on the salt)  In  fact OVER SALT the water .
2. Don't turn your pasta to MUSH , AL Dente folks.  That means when it starts to bend around your pasta claw and a piece will stick to your cupboard if you fling it from across the room it is DONE .  If it is MUSHY throw it out and start again.
3. Oil your pasta , it tastes better and if you have leftovers they wont stick together
4. You are actually supposed to TASTE the pasta.  So put a few tablespoons on top of your pasta serving, don't mix it all together.
5. Use the good cheese, that shaker crap should be banned

Enjoy !