Home Cookin'

I made a very tasty meal a couple of nights ago without any recipes...

Reese's Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers

2 parts water to 1 part rice (I made two cups of rice tonight and it was about four times what I needed for two peppers): Put the water in the pan, add a package of taco seasoning and bring to a boil. Add the rice, cover, turn burner off and let cook for a half hour.


Meanwhile...back at the ranch...

preheat oven to 350

Cut the tops off the bell peppers - about an inch from the top. Discard the stem and dice the rest of the tops.

Saute the diced tops in a pan with half a white onion, also diced and some olive oil. Add in about four cloves of garlic, diced. Once the onions and peppers start to soften, add in a package of Boca burger crumbles and stir occasionally for about another five minutes, then turn the burner to low.

Clean out the bottoms of the bell peppers. Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of the peppers and in the bottom of a covered baking dish. Place the bell peppers open side up (covered) into the preheated oven for about fifteen minutes. Take them out of the oven and turn them right side down in the dish, cover again and cook for another fifteen minutes.


After the second fifteen minutes, sprinkle the inside of the peppers with a pinch of kosher salt. Layer spoonfuls of the rice with layers of the burger/peppers mixture. Put back in the oven for about five to ten minutes.

Sprinkle a tiny bit of shredded cheddar on top.

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Black Bean Quesadillas...

I mixed a can of diced green chilies (drained) in a bowl with about an equal amount of drained canned black beans.

Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil, put a flour tortilla on the pan, sprinkle a thin layer of shredded jack cheese and place in the oven on the bottom rack (still at 350) for about five or ten minutes - until the tortillas start to get crispy and the cheese is melted. Take out of the oven and move from the pan. Lay down new tortillas, another thin layer of cheese then spoon a bit of bean/chili mix on each tortilla and place the first round of tortillas w/ cheese on top. Back in the oven for about five to ten minutes - until the cheese is all melty.

Serve with guac and sour cream.

Dinner Plans 1, Husband 2, My Own Laziness 2

So here was the plan:
Tuesday - Veggie BLTs on rye, with Morningstar Farms fake bacon strips, swiss and avocado along with the "L" and "T".
Wednesday - Burritos (to use up the last of the home-made chili from the birthday party)
Thursday - Ravioli Lasagna based on a Rachael Ray recipe, but with what I have already in my cupboards, and a Romaine hearts salad with a vinaigrette based on another RR recipe.
Friday - Stuffed Bell Peppers. RR has a recipe for a stuffed pepper and I have one from a family friend, I'll probably combine them and twist it up a bit.
Saturday - Egg Noodles with Mushrooms (another RR recipe) and some sliced fresh fruit.


What ACTUALLY happened...
Tuesday: Scott made chili dogs for friends that came over for a work pow-wow.

Wednesday: I came home and went straight to bed, getting up at 1:30am to check on something at the store and Scott and I went ahead and went to McDonald's and got fries and burgers (mine without any meat).

Thursday: I made the Ravioli lasagna... although with marinara I had in the fridge and sauteed mushrooms instead of spinach. I also made a variation on the vinaigrette, although with lime juice instead of lemon curd, and I added fresh basil in addition to the chives. It was quite tasty.

Friday: I stayed at work until 10:20pm (having gone in at 11:20am) and then went to Denny's by myself and had a large salad and a small grilled cheese sandwich.


Tonight: I haven't decided. I'm spending the evening catching up on my week of Y&R since Scott went downtown to watch the UFC fights with some friends. I'm considering being selfish and enjoying the last box of pierogies in the freezer...

7 Things for Kelsie-Lou...

Thanks to my friend Kelsie for tagging me with a meme...

It's going to be hard though, because I'm pretty open and honest with pretty much everybody.

So, 7 Things You May Not Know About Me:

1. I'll probably become a vegan eventually. I'm a vegetarian now, but am just not quite ready to give up cheese.

2. I can't watch sad or over-dramatic movies. If they are too emotional I can't take it. Same with TV shows like "Moment of Truth". It's just too much drama for me.

3. I have a pet skunk. Okay, if you've read my blog at all, you've probably figured that out!

4. I would love to be an astronaut. It just takes a lot of school and I would have had to start a LONG time ago.

5. I have a very spoiled Hamster. Her name is Princess Tempura Buttfluff.

6. I'm a wanna-be chef.

7. When I was little I wished my name was "Michelle".

How To Fake A Meatloaf

I am a vegetarian. By choice and because I was raised as one.

Meatloaf has always sounded good to me so tonight I googled "Morning Star crumbles vegetarian meatloaf" and came up with a few recipes. I printed them out, read them, and then did my own thing.

Keep in mind that measurements are all approximate, I didn't actually measure anything.

1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 large white onion, diced
celery salt
garlic powder
1 & 1/2 packages of Morning Star Farms burger crumbles
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon basil flakes
1 cup bread crumbs (I didn't have quite a cup so I added about 1/4 cup of crushed cheese crackers)
2 eggs
1 cup fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup ketchup

Set oven to 350 Bake.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine olive oil and onion. Sprinkle with celery salt. Saute for about a minute and add fresh mushrooms.

In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, basil flakes and parsley flakes.

As mushrooms begin to soften, add burger crumbles and keep stirring to thaw crumbles. Once crumbles are thaw and mixture is fully mixed, remove from heat and add bread crumb mixture. Add eggs one at a time and stir in. Add ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle with garlic powder (about a 1/2 teaspoon).

Spray a 9x9 baking pan and press mixture into it. Bake for about an hour.

Very tasty with A-1.

Gourmet

Tonight I made a mushroom alfredo lasagna.

I combined whipping cream with some canned mushroom soup, about 3 to 1 and stirred in some minced garlic.

I layered sauce, lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, thinly sliced and sauteed portobello mushrooms, feta cheese, sauce, noodles, sauteed button mushrooms, sauce, noodles, feta, noodles, sauce and shredded mozzarella and provolone.

It's REALLY amazing. Horribly fattening, but SO good.