Mexican Style Stuffed Peppers...

Last night I tried my hand at a different stuffed pepper recipe. Lately when I have made "traditional" stuffed peppers they have been kind of "blegh"...so I thought lets kick it up a little. 


Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 6 medium green or sweet red pepper
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1-1/4 cups salsa, divided
• 1 tablespoon chopped green chilies
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
• 
  
• Directions
• Cut tops off peppers and discard; remove seeds. In a Dutch oven or large kettle, cook
• peppers in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water; set aside.  In a nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onion and celery over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the rice, 1 cup salsa, chilies, chili powder and salt. Spoon into peppers.
• Place in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Add 1/4 cup water to dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until heated through. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese and top with remaining salsa. Bake 2-3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 6 servings.

Ok...for my "alterations" to this one. 

• I only did 4 peppers because they were gigantic peppers (thank you Brigottas)
• I did not have any green chilies on hand so they were not a part of this
• I only used maybe 1 tsp of chili powder...last time I followed a recipe when it came to chili powder I couldn't see straight because my eyes were watering
• I also added a small can of V8 juice because the rice/meat mixture just seemed too dry...
• no mexican cheese blend...just good old fashioned shredded cheddar tonight
• I also only cooked them for maybe 30 minutes in an 8x8 pan since I was doing four instead of six...AND I "pre-cooked" the peppers in the microwave, we don't have a dutch oven (I keep meaning to get one of those :op)

They were definitely very good...so good that Aaron said they were by far, and this recipe is by far, his favorite when it comes to Stuffed Peppers for dinner.

I made cheesy garlic bread to go with it...

Overall, another successful recipe! Woo hoo :O)


Recipe from Taste of Home 

Time to catch up...

It certainly feels like the end of the school year...and boy was that evident today. Lots of tests, lots of flashcard making, study guide making, and study games being played. In between that, Memorial Weekend, a wedding, and a picnic/bbq I managed to do a few things (both in the crafty and cooking department).

Recently Aaron and I disagreed on whether something would fit in the trunk of my car. He was adamant that said item would NOT fit...and I was pretty sure it would...or at least I wanted to try. With some quasi-reverse psychology I told him that if he could get the item to fit I would make him a Boston Cream Pie (one of his favorites). It fit of course...and so Boston Cream Pie it was.

Instead of making an entire cake I decided to make mini cakes. I made a yellow cake mix, custard, and a chocolate ganache...and went for it.

Here's the process pictorially...

I also made one kick butt dinner the other night...Chiavettas Chicken Shish Kabobs...check out these beauties :O) And these were definitely NOT premade at the store, even though Wegmans does do a fine job...these were made by moi.

The wedding I spoke about earlier...well I made the gift for the happy couple.
I took a few ideas I saw floating around here in blog world and made them my own...

And up close all together...