Pinned Down: Best Stuffed Peppers Ever

Happy Monday! Hope your week is off to a great start!

So when I was a kid, my mother used ot make Stuffed Peppers for dinner every now and then. Her recipe was fairly traditional -- ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, cheese. They were delicious, and I loved them   . ..  so much that I added her recipe to my repertoire when I started cooking.

When I was cruising Pinterest, though, I found this recipe, boldly labeled the "Best Stuffed Peppers Ever." Curious, I pinned the recipe. I'm a sucker for anything called "best ever."

Then peppers and sausage went on sale at the Hannaford, and I decided to try them out. And holy moly, sweet fancy bananas . . . these weren't my mom's stuffed peppers.

Sorry, mom. I think I have a new recipe.

The recipe comes from the blog Cut Out + Keep, and calls for sausage instead of ground beef, and adds a delicious little spice called Sazon. Why I have never tried Sazon is beyond me. I found it in the international section of our sad little grocery store (which means it's probably not all that hard to get, since I actually had a hard time finding coconut milk at that store a few weeks ago). It's made by Goya, and has a nice little kick to it.

The only change I made to this recipe was to use regular Italian sausage instead of the hot, since the hot tends to be mean to me and aggravates my reflux issues. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter . .. and as the blogger says, total pleasure overdose. These really were the Best Stuffed Peppers Ever.  Here's how they looked:

Looks delicious, no?

Of course, the picky little one wouldn't touch these, so we had plenty of leftovers, which were just as delicious the next day. So I would call this another Pinterest winner!

Until later . ..  happy pinning!


http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/best_stuffed_peppers_ever

Pinned Down: Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I stayed up way too late watching the Oscars last night--which was kind of pointless, since the only nominated movies I actually saw were "The Help" and "Bridesmaids."

Anyway, today I have another recipe to share that I found on Pinterest. This one came from Real Mom Kitchen (have I mentioned how much I love that site?)

The recipe on Real Mom Kitchen is a modified version of a Martha Stewart recipe, and the version I made is a slightly different version of the already modified one. (Follow all that?) First of all, I cut the recipe in half, since making the whole giant pan is just too much for us. I also cut out the sun-dried tomatoes, since I forgot to buy them at the grocery store, but added in some broccoli florets instead, since chicken, cheese and broccoli are among the 10 things that my 3-year-old will eat. Here's how it looked:

Looks yummy, no? My husband pointed out that it's basically souped-up mac'n-cheese, but call it what you want, it's delicious. Creamy, cheesy, with just enough texture from the chicken and veggies. And best of all, the world's pickiest eater actually ate -- and liked it. So I'd call this a winner!

Here is the link to the original recipe. It's a great way to use up leftover chicken, and you could actually make a double batch and freeze one for later.

Off to get more coffee now . . . so until later, happy pinning. 

Pinned Down: Taco Pizza

One of the best things about Pinterest isn't all the great ideas (which of course, are awesome) but I also love that it's introduced me to some amazing blogs and websites that I might not have otherwise discovered.

On of these sites is Real Mom Kitchen. If you aren't visiting this site regularly, you should. It's one of the best sources of simple and delicious recipes I've found in a long time. Like the name says, it includes recipes that are easy for real, busy moms to follow. The ingredients are easy to find, kitchen staples, and most of the recipes only take a short time to prepare.

One of the recipes I found there was for Taco Pizza. We all love tacos and pizza here in the Real Maine House, so what's better than combining the two?

The recipe on RMK suggested using crescent rolls for the crust, but I used a regular pizza crust. I pre-baked the crust for about 10 minutes, then topped it with refried beans, seasoned taco meat, cheese, black olives, tomatoes, and green onions. A few more minutes in the oven, and voila . . . here's what it looked like:

It's kind of a mess, since the kids helped me, but that's half the fun right?

It tasted oky, but was super thick and holy moly, did I get heartburn after eating it. I think if I were to do it again, I would use salsa or taco sauce instead of the refried beans, and shredded chicken instead of the beef. But it was fun, and a different take on regular 'ole tacos or pizza.

Pinned Down: Cinnamon French Toast Bake

So, like just about everyone in the world it seems, I'm obsessed with Pinterest. If you don't know what Pinterest is, you're missing out. Big time.

Anyway, since this is the "launch" week of this blog, I'm introducing another to-be-regular feature: Pinned Down.

See, here's the thing. A lot of people pin like crazy, with hundreds or even thousands of ideas on their boards. But how many people actually DO the stuff they pin?

I figure that if I'm going to spend THAT much time on Pinterest each week, I should spend at least some time trying out the great ideas I find. And I'll share the results here. At least once a week, I'll post one of the ideas that I've tried . .. good, bad, or ugly.

So here is the first one . . .

Cinnamon French Toast Bake from Oh My Sugar High.

So I saw this pin and thought "Yum!" I'm all about breakfast casseroles in general, and as soon as I saw this pin, I thought it would be perfect for Christmas morning.

Usually, when I make a recipe for the first time, I follow the directions to the letter, and then take notes for adjustments the next time. Well, in a case of poor planning, I only had 4 eggs on hand, instead of the 5 that the recipe called for. Turns out that was a good thing, 'cause I think one more egg would have made this too "eggy." I don't like anything too "eggy."

Anyway, this smelled incredible while it was baking, and when I took it out of the oven, it drew the kids away from their Christmas toys. Here's how it looked:

Yum-O. It tasted as delicious as it looked. The kids loved it, probably because it was super sweet.

It's not something that I would make every day, but it's perfect for brunch or a special occasion. In fact, I made it again for a girl's night at my house, and there were almost no leftovers. And the leftovers were still good. The little one gobbled them up for breakfast the next day.

The best part (or maybe the worst?) is that thanks to this pin, I've discovered Oh My Sugar High and I've already saved a bunch more recipes to try.

Until the next time . . .