Recent Posts

Lentil Soup
November 11, 2017

Lentil Soup

1 hour || My rating: 4/10 || Difficulty rating: Easy I followed this recipe:https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lentil-soup-recipe-1947017.amp Made a few tweaks:I only added the cumin per the recipe of the seasonings listed since I didn’t have the other two. I also added some Tabasco sauce because I like …

Dinner, Lunch
Grab-bag Salads
November 7, 2017

Grab-bag Salads

Salad doesn’t have to be boring and tasteless. Use a variety of toppings and textures to get the most out of your salads! Directions: Add Greens. There’s so many options of greens for salads, so find your favorite! Pro-tip: I personally like to avoid iceberg …

Dinner, Lunch
Chorizo and Mexican rice stuffed Poblano Peppers
November 3, 2017

Chorizo and Mexican rice stuffed Poblano Peppers

1 hour 20 minutes || My Rating: 10/10 || Difficulty rating: Intermediate

Poblanos are my favorite pepper!! They have amazing flavor without being too spicy.

Directions:

  1. Cook Mexican rice
    1. In a skillet, add some olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, be liberal. Add ¾ cups of rice and heat in the oil until the rice turns golden brown.
    2. Add 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup spicy bloody mary mix (I use Mr & Mrs Ts Bold & Spicy) to the rice. Stir so the liquids are mixed evenly.Cover and simmer on medium low. DO NOT stir, open the lid, or even look at it!! Just let it do its thing. 
    3. When liquid is absorbed, turn off the heat and take a fork and fluff the rice (just gently mix).
  2. Brown ½ pound of chorizo
  3. Clean the poblanos (remove the seeds and guts), so you can stuff them. Pro-tip: cut a V shaped opening on the top of the pepper, so you don’t waste any of the pepper. This also allows you to have “mini” stuffed peppers on the side as well. See picture. 🙂
  4. Fill your peppers ½ way with the rice first and then fill the other half with the chorizo. 
  5. Top with shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese. Place them on a sheet pan and cover with foil.
  6. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Eat up! I served mine with some avocado, but you could do Greek yogurt or sour cream or just as it is!

Dinner
Braised Swiss Chard
June 10, 2017

Braised Swiss Chard

20 minutes || My rating: 10/10 || Difficulty rating: Easy This is the side dish in the picture. The rest of this dish is roasted chicken thighs and rice. Directions: Chop up 3 pieces of bacon and brown in a deep pan. Chop up a …

Side Dish
Hash brown bake
January 14, 2017

Hash brown bake

60 minutes || My Rating: 10/10 || Difficulty rating: Easy I live for hot breakfast. This is my personal favorite; cheesy and delicious! Directions: Brown 1 pound of bulk breakfast sausage. I love my grocery’s deli country sausage, but Jimmy Dean’s or whatever will be …

Breakfast
Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti
October 8, 2016

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

45 minutes || My rating: 10/10 || Difficulty rating: Moderately Easy

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cut the squash in half the long way, remove all seeds and guts
  3. Spray with olive oil and sprinkle garlic salt and black pepper
  4. Place on a sheet pan face down and in oven for 30 minutes
  5. While squash is baking, brown ½ pound of Italian sausage. Add 1 pint of sliced mushrooms until cooked down. Pro-tip, you may need to add some extra olive oil to the pan if your sausage isn’t very fatty; the mushrooms will soak up the moisture when cooking.
  6. Add your favorite pasta sauce to the sausage and mushrooms. My favorite is the Italian Sausage Prego. Cook until hot on medium-low heat.
  7. When squash cooked, flip over and check that it is soft (Pro-tip: poke your fork in it to check like a potato). Scrape the squash with a fork to break the squash up. It will appear stringy like spaghetti.
  8. Place your sauce mixture into the squash, a couple spoonfuls will do in each.
  9. Sprinkle mozzarella or provolone cheese on top and put back in the oven until cheese is melted, about 8 minutes. Serve hot.

More pro-tips:

  1. The squash can get watery, so you can skip steps 8 and 9 and just pull the squash out of the skin. Be careful, it is hot!
  2. You can microwave the squash if you don’t have time to bake it! Cut the squash the opposite way, remove the seeds and guts, place in a deep bowl with the cut side facing up, fill ¾ way up with water, microwave for 8-10 minutes. This will result in less seasoned squash, but you can always season after removing from the squash. 
  3. To make this into a lasagna, mix cottage cheese (or ricotta if your into that) with Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and pepper. Put this mixture into your cooked squash before adding the sauce and shredded cheese. Cooked at 375 degrees instead of 400 degrees, and for 20 minutes to ensure the cheese is melted.
Dinner