Easy Pepper Steak

The bell peppers in my garden did really well this year.  It's finally supposed to freeze tonight, so I pulled the rest of the peppers out of the garden this week.  So now I need to use peppers for everything!

So when I picked up some marked down steaks at the store - don't ask me what kind; I don't remember - I figured pepper steak would be just the thing.  Easy pepper steak is even better.

Easy Pepper Steak
adapted from Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:

• Marinade:
  * 1/4 cup soy sauce
  * 1/3 cup water
  * 2 T  white wine vinegar
  * 1 T corn starch
  * 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  * 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 lb. thinly sliced steak, cut diagonally across the grain into thin strips
• olive oil
• 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. Mix all marinade ingredients in medium bowl. Add the sliced steak and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat large pan over medium high heat; add a little olive oil. Remove steak from the marinade with a slotted spoon (reserving the marinade) and saute about 2-3 minutes until browned, stirring occasionally.
3. Add onions, peppers, and garlic; saute until onions start to soften (about 3 minutes), stirring occasionally.  Add reserved marinade and cook for a minute or two, until thickened.
4. Serve immediately with rice.

This really is an easy recipe.  I changed it up a little and just cooked everything together.  Who has time for cooking the vegetables, removing them from the pan, and then cooking the meat - only to put everything back into the same pan in the end?  Not me!  OK, maybe it would make a difference, and maybe some day I'll try it just to see.  Maybe.

I will definitely be making this again.  Next time I think I'll add a few more veggies.  You can never have too many veggies!  I'd especially like to add a bit more color, but the peppers were what I had, and the peppers were all green.  Next time maybe some red.  And some carrots for the orange.  And... whatever veggies happen to be in the fridge.  Isn't that how it's supposed to work?

Sesame Peanut Noodles

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Trisha's blog My Hobbie Lobbie. Trisha loves to bake, and she's married to her best friend - we have that in common.  She's also into crafting and crocheting, and uses her blog to keep track of recipes and crochet patterns.  I never did learn to crochet, but I am amazed by people who can.

I started scrolling through Trisha's list of recipes and found a bunch I'd like to try - and I hadn't even made it down to the baked goods.  Here are just a few that sounded yummy:

• Cajun Chicken Wrap
• Sprouted Moong Salad
• Bean and Spinach Bake
• Oven  Baked Zucchini Fries
• Pickled Jalapenos

Trisha lives in Australia, where it's winter right now, so she's making soups and trying to stay warm.  I may have to go back and look at some of her soups when winter comes to our part of the world, but for now I thought something cool would be better.  Or something to use the produce that's coming out of the garden; I'm getting lots of jalapenos and zucchini.
 
I ended up choosing this Sesame Peanut Noodle Salad because it's both - cool, and it uses lots of veggies. As Trisha said - "You can pretty much alter this salad to accommodate the salad veggies that you have at hand."  Perfect!  The recipe reflects the veggies I used this time, but pretty much any combination or amount would work.

Sesame Peanut Noodles
adapted from My Hobbie Lobbie

 Ingredients:

• 8 oz. angel hair pasta
• a handful of bean sprouts (I forgot to put these in)
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 cup shredded cabbage (or more)
• 2 T chopped cilantro
• 1 T sesame seeds

for the dressing:

• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 T sesame oil
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T soy sauce
• 2 T lime juice
• 2 T sweet chili sauce
• 3 T peanut butter 

Directions:

1. Break pasta in half and cook according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water.
2. Toss pasta and remaining salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Mix dressing; add to salad and toss well, making sure everything is coated.
4. Serve with additional cilantro and sesame seeds to garnish.  Refrigerate leftovers.

 My husband and I had this salad for lunch one day last week, and we both really enjoyed it.  The dressing has a really good flavor, and the combination of soft pasta and crunchy vegetables is excellent.  I will definitely be making this again.  I'm thinking some zucchini would be a nice addition...

An InLinkz Link-up

The Secret to a Crispy Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I recently tried making pizza with a cauliflower crust.  The flavor was really good, but the crust turned out a bit soggy.  Not a huge deal - we just ate it with a fork.  But, I wanted to see if I could get it a bit crisper and make a cauliflower crust that could actually be picked up.

Yes, it is possible.  Here are three things that I think made all the difference:

1. Be sure to remove as much moisture from the cauliflower as possible.
   Steaming the cauliflower works better than boiling it, because there isn't as much water in the cauliflower to begin with.  Whichever way you cook it, be sure to drain it thoroughly and then use a cotton towel or several paper towels and squeeze as much liquid out of the cooked cauliflower as you can get.
2. Use a pizza stone.
   The bottom crisps up better, and the crust seems to cook faster.  On the baking sheet, I think we should have cooked it longer than 15 minutes to brown better before we added the toppings.  On the pizza stone, it only needed about 12 minutes.  You will need to pat the crust out onto parchment paper so you can slide it onto the hot pizza stone in the oven, and so you can easily slide it out when it's time to add the toppings and remove the cooked pizza.
3. Cool on a wire rack.
   This might be the most important one.  When you slide the pizza out of the oven and off the pizza stone, it will be nicely browned and crisp.  However, if you leave your pizza on a cutting board to cool slightly before cutting, it will begin to steam and get soggy in the middle.  I noticed mine was doing this and actually slid it back onto my hot pizza stone to crisp back up, then I put it onto a wire rack to cool, still on the parchment.  All that moisture then went down through the rack and onto the counter underneath, and my pizza was not sitting in it.

The result?  Nice crispy crust that we could pick up!

I was just going to have you visit my first cauliflower crust pizza post to get the recipe, but it will be easier just to have it here.  I updated it to reflect the changes.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza
adapted from Dancing Veggies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cauliflower florets, steamed, drained, and mashed
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-1/2 tsp. oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450° F
2. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed cauliflower, egg, and cheeses. Add the garlic and oregano and stir well. Pat out on parchment paper to desired size and thickness.  Transfer to pizza stone and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden.
3. Remove the crust from the oven and top with your favorite toppings and cheese.  We used a simple homemade pizza sauce, grilled chicken, onion, red pepper, feta, spinach, and mozzarella. 
4. Brush or spray the edges of the crust with olive oil and then bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the cheese and crust are nicely browned.
5. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Cut and enjoy!

Pizza with a Caulilflower Crust

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Dancing Veggies, a blog with a focus on healthy, simple, and quick vegetarian dishes on a budget.  Amanda started cooking in high school when her mother declined to fix special meals for her.  If she wanted to eat differently from the rest of the family, Amanda would need to cook her own food.  Smart mom!   

While we don't eat a vegetarian diet - my husband would complain loudly if he didn't get his meat! - I think adding more veggies to our diet will always be a good thing.  Amanda's blog is a wonderful resource full of interesting and tasty vegetarian recipes I will definitely be trying out in the future.   A couple that caught my eye were the Avocado Tomato Grilled Cheese and these Twice Baked Potatoes – Samosa Style.  We did make a version of the grilled cheese, which was super yummy, but when my son mentioned that he'd been wanting to try a cauliflower pizza crust, I decided to check to see if Amanda had one on her blog.  Yes, she did, so we worked together and made an amazing pizza with a cauliflower crust.  We did add chicken to our pizza, so it wasn't vegetarian, but I think it would have been just as good without it.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza
adapted from Dancing Veggies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cauliflower florets, steamed and mashed
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-1/2 tsp. oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450° F
2. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed cauliflower, egg, and cheeses. Add the garlic and oregano and stir well. Pat into the bottom of a pizza pan or cookie sheet; bake for 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove the crust from the oven and top with your favorite toppings and cheese.  We used a simple homemade pizza sauce, grilled chicken, onion, red pepper, feta, spinach, and mozzarella. 
4. Brush the edges of the crust with olive oil and then bake for an additional 15 minutes (or longer), until the cheese and crust are nicely browned.

The flavor of this crust is absolutely amazing!  All that garlic!  Great call, Amanda.

 It's so good my son said he was going to marry this pizza.  We are already thinking of ways to improve it, though.  We were in a hurry, so we didn't remove enough of the moisture from the cauliflower after steaming it.  Some recipes mention squeezing it out in a dish towel.  I don't know that we'll go to that extreme, but the crust did have a little more moisture than we liked, so we'll take that extra step of draining it thoroughly, at least, next time.  Also, we cooked it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper - instead of on the pizza stone that I have right there in my oven.  So, I will be using the pizza stone next time, and maybe cooking the crust a bit longer before adding the toppings.  We're hoping those little tweaks will get the crust just a bit crisper on the bottom.
 

This is definitely a recipe I will be using again.  I'm so glad my son was wanting to try it and willing to help me.

Update:  I tweaked it a bit and we had cauliflower crust pizza you can pick up and eat!

An InLinkz Link-up

Southwest Barley and Black Beans (Slow Cooker)

I've made this a couple times so far, and it is really good.  I love all the flavors, and I especially love how easy it is.  Slow cookers are the best!  I usually mix all the ingredients in the slow cooker and refrigerate overnight - or longer - and then start it cooking the next day or whenever needed.  It's great for potlucks or taking food to share.  It would also make a great weeknight meal.

Southwest Barley and Black Beans(Slow Cooker)
adapted from 365 Days of Slow Cooking

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chicken (or turkey), chopped
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup pearl barley (NOT quick)
• 1 cup frozen corn, rinsed
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (red is prettiest)
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 T chopped cilantro
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 2 cups chicken (or turkey) broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• salt & pepper
• juice of a lime
• 1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cook 4 hours on High, OR 6-8 hours on Low, until barley is cooked and tender.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste if needed.
3. Serve with desired toppings: cheese, sour cream, additional salsa, cilantro, avocado, and/or tortilla chips.

The original recipe called for less liquid and none of the veggies.  I just had to add some corn because it goes so well with chicken and black beans.  And then I had a pepper I needed to use and some onions and cilantro, and I just had to add those too.  And cilantro goes with all of it!  It looks really pretty too.  This is before I added the broth and salsa:

If you want to keep it really simple (not that this isn't simple) you can skip any or all of the added veggies and just use the chicken, barley, black beans, broth, salsa and seasonings.  Either way it will be good.  The seasonings are great.  I will definitely be making this again - in one way or another. (It depends on what I have in the house, but don't all recipes?)

Chicken Quesadillas

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Sid's Sea Palm Cooking.  Sid lives in a small town 30 miles from the nearest Mexican or Chinese restaurant - or probably any other good restaurant, so she makes her own food at home.  I bet it tastes better anyway!  And Sid is really good at making the recipes simple and easy-to-follow so anyone can do it.

I kinda got stuck in the Mexican food section while trying to narrow down my choices. Southwest Casserole and Acapulco Chicken were two that caught my eye, but I finally decided on these yummy quesadillas.  I'm always on the lookout for easy but flavorful dinner ideas, and these fit the bill exactly.   Serve these with a nice salad, and you have a quick and delicious dinner.

Chicken Quesadillas
adapted from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a medium onion, diced
• 1/2 a bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 a cooked chicken breast, diced
• 1 to 2 T chopped cilantro
• minced jalapeno (optional)
• 2 flour tortillas (8 or 10 inch)
• Shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Heat a little olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add diced onion and peppers and saute until onion starts to soften.  Add diced chicken and cilantro and heat through.  Set aside.
   
2. Place 1 tortilla in a larger skillet over medium low heat.  Add a layer of cheese and then half of the chicken and vegetable mixture, covering the entire tortilla.  Heat until the cheese starts to melt and then fold tortilla in half.  Add the other tortilla to the skillet; half of it will be resting on the first one.   To the half sitting on the bottom of the skillet, add a layer of cheese, the rest of the chicken and vegetable mix, and then another layer of cheese.  Fold over.
   
3. Heat until cheese is melted and tortillas are starting to brown.  Flip over and  brown the other side.
4. Once they're browned to your liking and all melty, remove quesadillas from the skillet and cut into wedges.  Serve with salsa and sour cream if desired.

Makes 2

Sid added the minced jalapeno to her quesadillas, but I chose to leave it out - even though I would have loved a little heat, too - because I didn't want these to be too spicy for my husband.  I seasoned the chicken breast with adobo seasoning when I cooked it and added some chopped cilantro to the chicken and vegetable mixture for a bit of extra flavor without getting too spicy.

Heat or no, the flavors were really good.  I had mine with a bit of salsa and sour cream, and extra cilantro and some avocado, but he ate his just the way they were.  We'll be having these again.

Soon - since I used half an onion and half a pepper, I only used half the chicken breast I cooked, so that means I got to make them again!  They make a really good lunch, too.  I added the jalapeno to those - because my husband wasn't home - and a squeeze of lime.  So good!

An InLinkz Link-up

Easy Fettuccine Cacciatore

This recipe was on the same page of the Kraft Food & Family magazine with the Beef Noodle Bowl, which I now make quite regularly.  And this week I finally got around to trying this one.  I had mushrooms that needed used and a green pepper in the fridge, too, so it was the perfect time.

This is a very simple recipe and very tasty.

Easy Fettuccine Cacciatore
adapted from Kraft Recipes

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. fettuccine
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 T dried basil
• 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup Italian Dressing

Directions:

1. Cook fettuccine as directed on package.
2. While fettuccine is cooking, heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 to 6 min. or until no longer pink. Add sliced peppers, onions, and mushrooms; cook 3 min., stirring occasionally. Add basil and cook for a minute or two, until fragrant.  Stir in tomatoes and dressing; simmer on medium-low heat 5 minutes or until chicken is done.
3. When pasta is cooked, add some of the pasta water to the chicken and vegetable mix.  Drain pasta and toss with chicken mixture; simmer a couple minutes to blend flavors.

I added the sliced onion, because the original recipe didn't call for any onion - and it just needed some onion.  (doesn't everything?)

Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese, serve with a vegetable and some crusty bread, and you have a very delicious meal.   I think I'll be making this one on a regular basis, too.

Hot Chili Oil

Some friends gave me some of this Eden Foods Hot Pepper Sesame Oil a while back.  They eat it on practically everything, pizza, etc.  I'm not quite so serious about it, but my bottle is running on empty, and I started looking for some more.  I haven't found it in my grocery store, but I did find it available on Amazon (see link above).   Then, I was browsing Pinterest and found this recipe for Hot Chili Oil.  So, of course, I had to try it.

Hot Chili Oil
from A Dash of Soul

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of oil of your choice (I used 2 T. sesame oil and the rest sunflower oil)
• 1/3 cup of dried peppers of your choice

Directions:

1. Pour oil into small pan or sauce pot. Heat on low heat for a few minutes to warm.
2. Crush the dried peppers as finely as you would like. All that matters is that the peppers are broken open so that the spicy membranes on the inside are exposed to the oil.
3. Add the crushed chiles to the heated oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.  Do not let the heat get too high.  You want to infuse the oil with the chili peppers, not fry the peppers.
4. After 10 minutes, remove pan from heat and allow oil to cool before pouring into a jar or container.

 This makes enough chili oil to keep in a small jar.

This was really easy to make, and the oil is really good.

I used my Ninja to chop the chili peppers, and that seemed to work really well.  Remember to wash your hands thoroughly after handling the chili peppers - or wear gloves.  Dried peppers can be just as painful as the fresh ones if you touch your eyes (or nose) afterwards!

So far I've used it to pop some chili spiced popcorn and drizzled it on my Beef Noodle Bowl.  Now that I'm no longer running low on my chili oil, and I know how easy it is to replenish it, I am going to have to start using it on everything.  I know there are a lot more uses for it than I've tried.  Yet.

Do you use Hot Chili Oil?  What do you like to use it for?  I'd love to hear some great ideas.

Homemade Salsa

I have a couple other recipes for homemade salsa, but decided I better save this one too when I saw it on facebook today.  It looks really easy and good.

Homemade Salsa

Chop 5-6 Roma tomatoes,1 small onion and 1/2 cup fresh Cilantro. Mince 2 seeded Serrano or Jalapeño peppers and 1 clove of garlic. Add 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything together and let sit overnight for flavors to meld.

Related articles

• Homemade Fresh Tomato Salsa
• Smooth Restaurant Style Salsa

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and so far I've made it twice.  In the last couple of weeks.  It's that good!

Not only is it good, but it's so easy to make.  All you do is mix spices together - chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc. - and rub them on a flank steak.  Place the steak in the bottom of your crock pot, put chopped onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno on top, and cook it for 8 hours.  After 8 hours, you take the steak out, shred it with two forks, and return it to the crockpot.  You can either serve it then or keep it warm in the crock pot until you're ready to eat.  Serve with corn tortillas, salsa, avocado, cilantro and lime. 

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas
from eat, live, run

Ingredients

• 2 lbs flank steak
• spice rub: 
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
  
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

Directions:

1. Mix together all spices in a small bowl.  Place steak in the bottom of your crock pot and rub the spices all over your flank steak.
2. Cover the steak with the chopped onions, bell peppers and jalapeno pepper. Turn heat on LOW and cook for 8 hours.
3. After 8 hours, remove meat from crock pot, shred with two forks, and return to crock pot. You can either serve as is or keep the shredded meat warm in the crock pot until you're ready to eat.
4. To serve, heat your corn tortillas in a skillet on the stove. Spoon some carnitas on a tortilla then top with salsa, avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

You can prepare this the day before - rub the spices on the steak, chop the onion and peppers, and throw everything into the crock pot.  Then it's easy to just pull it out of the fridge the next morning and start it cooking.  Another option is to prepare everything, let it cook overnight, and then it's ready to shred when you get up in the morning.  Also, your house will smell amazing when you get up.

The meat is seasoned so nicely and is even good cold, but the leftovers also heat up nicely.  I put enough meat for two tacos into one half of a large skillet and two corn tortillas in the other side and heat on medium heat until the meat is warmed through and the tortillas are warm.

The first time I made this, I followed the recipe, using 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, and 1 jalapeno.  The second time I just pulled some diced green peppers out of the fridge and didn't worry about the red one.  I don't even know how many peppers I had diced - just put the onion, frozen green peppers, several pieces of frozen hot peppers, and a clove of garlic into my food processor and chopped them up good.  It turned out really good. 

Ricki's Spicy Slaw

My friend Ricki shared this recipe on facebook - and he just kept talking about it.  It seemed that he was making this stuff all the time and eating it just as quickly as he could make it.  Of course I had to try it, right?  I'm so glad I did.  This stuff is amazing!  I've made it several times so far...

Ricki's Spicy Slaw

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium head of Green Cabbage, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 large Tomato, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup Red Onion, finely chopped
• 3 Green Onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of Claussen Kosher Dill Pickle juice
• 1.5 Claussen Kosher Dill Pickles, finely chopped
• 2 - 4 Pickled Pepperoncinis, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of Ranch Dressing
• 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Salt
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 2 dashes (or more, to taste/burn) Cayenne Powder
• 1 - 2 Serrano Peppers, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Directions:

1.  Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl
2. After mixing thoroughly, let it sit for an hour or so (if you can!) and let the flavors blend.  Then mix it again, each time, before eating.

So many great flavors all blended together!

A few notes: I've never measured the cilantro; just washed and chopped up a bunch.  I used regular, ordinary, yellow onion, and I used the dill pickles I had on hand, in my case Vlasic, and I'm not sure if it is supposed to be 1.5 pickle spears or 1.5 whole dills - so I just used 1 really big whole dill pickle each time.  I, of course, used 2 peppers each time (sometimes jalapenos because that's what I had) and 4 Pepperoncinis.  Even with those the slaw isn't overly spicy, just very nice and flavorful.

With all the ingredients and chopping involved, I supposed you could use a food processor, but I love my knife and cutting board, so I just chop everything that way.  It really doesn't take too long, and you get to enjoy all the lovely aromas as you do it!

Did I say that I really love this stuff?  No wonder Ricki was making it and talking about it so much.  Try it - you'll talk too!

Related articles

• Spicy Jicama Slaw
• Sweet N' Tangy Cabbage Slaw
• Raw Butternut Squash Slaw

Jalapeno Poppers

I made these Baked Jalapeno Poppers last year.  They were so good that I planted jalapenos this year just so I could make them again!  (Yes, I know I can buy jalapenos in the store, but I know these are so much better!)

My garden has been pretty pitiful this year, but the jalapenos produced quite well.  I picked a bunch of them today, along with a few sweet peppers, one decent-sized tomato as well as some really little ones, and a small cucumber.  I cut some chard, too, though it's not pictured here.

Then, I got busy making Poppers.  First I mixed cream cheese and Mozzarella with cumin and cayenne.  Then I made bread crumbs by putting a couple slices of bread in the Ninja and then mixed the resulting crumbs with the seasonings in a pie plate.  Then I mixed up the eggs and milk in a small bowl and mixed the seasonings and flour in another pie plate.  And then I cut up some of the peppers.

The original recipe said 12 jalapenos, but I noted that I used more last year, so I started with 18.  Then I started putting the cheese mixture into the jalapeno halves.

After I'd filled all the jalapeno halves, I still had cheese left, so I cut up a few more peppers, for a total of 22.  And I put cheese into those, too.  Then it was time to roll the filled jalapeno halves in the egg mixture, flour, and bread crumbs - first the egg mixture, then the flour, then egg mixture again, then bread crumbs - one hand for wet and one hand for dry.  Even doing it that way, it was messy!

I put the finished poppers on cookie sheets lined with waxed paper.

Then all of the finished jalapeno poppers - except for the three I baked and ate for lunch - went into the freezer.  Once they're frozen, I'll put them all into a container (or containers) and they'll be ready any time I want some yummy Jalapeno Poppers.  Just pull them out of the freezer and bake them for a delicious treat!

That's what I love about these - they're baked, not fried!  Here's the recipe, as I made them today.

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients

• 22 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise, stems, seeds and membranes removed
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or less, to taste
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 6 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
• 3 cups breadcrumbs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese, Mozarella cheese, cumin, and cayenne.
2. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, and 2 teaspoons of the Essence. In a shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs with 2 teaspoons of Essence. In a third dish, combine the flour and 2 teaspoons of Essence. 
3. Spread cheese mixture into the middle of each jalapeno half. One at a time, dip into the egg mixture, dredge in the flour, dip into the egg mixture, then dredge in the bread crumbs, pressing to coat. Place the coated peppers, cut side up, on lightly greased a baking sheet and bake at 350° F until the filling is runny and the crust is golden, about 30 minutes.  (or place them on a waxed-paper lined cookie sheet and freeze.  Once frozen, layer them in a container with waxed paper between layers.  When ready to use them, remove from freezer and follow directions for baking.)
4. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with cold beer.  (or milk)

*Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

I made the Essence seasoning last year when I made these.  I still had plenty to use this year.  The recipe makes way more than you'll need just for the poppers.

I only used about half the jalapenos I picked today, and there are more, smaller ones still on the plants, so I'll probably be making at least one more batch of these - once I get the cookie sheets cleaned off so I have somewhere to put them.  That ought to give us enough jalapeno poppers to get us through for a month or two!

Pasta Salad (w/ Feta)

I needed something to take to a potluck - some kind of side dish.  I'd seen a recipe on GMA for a pasta salad, and the only ingredient I remembered was feta -besides the pasta, of course.  I found that recipe, but I didn't have all the ingredients or it wasn't what I was wanting, so I went looking for a pasta salad with feta.  I found a whole list of them, but I decided to go with this one, kinda.

Pasta Salad w/ Feta and Olives

Ingredients:

• 16 ozs bow tie pasta (farfalle)
• 2 cups broccoli florets 
• 15 ozs kidney beans (drained)
• 4 ozs black olives (sliced, drained)
• 1 bell pepper (seeded and diced) 
• 1/2 can diced tomatoes
• 4 ozs feta cheese (crumbled)
• 1 cup Italian salad dressing

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Add broccoli florets to the boiling water during the last 2 minutes. Drain, and run under cold water to cool.
2. In a large serving bowl, stir together the kidney beans, black olives, bell pepper, tomatoes, feta cheese and Italian dressing. Stir in the pasta and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Chill and serve.

This would be great with fresh broccoli and tomatoes, but I didn't have any so I used frozen broccoli and canned tomatoes.  I used an orange pepper, because that's what I had, and I think it added a nice color to the salad.  I also forgot to run cold water over the pasta and broccoli, so I mixed it in hot, but I'm thinking that might help blend the flavors better - or at least that's what I'm telling myself.  I'll probably use the cold water next time, if I remember.

The salad is chilling now, so I haven't tasted it - except to sample a couple pieces of pasta, and those were great.  It smells amazing, and it will make a nice cool side-dish this weekend.

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it looked so good and so easy that I just had to try it.  Plus I had a couple red peppers and a green pepper that needed used...  I added some garlic and used fresh lime juice, but otherwise followed the recipe.  Here's mine with those slight changes:

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 3 sweet peppers, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1lb. boneless chicken breast or thighs
• ½ cup chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

1. Combine sliced onion, peppers and garlic in the bottom of a crockpot. Lay chicken on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over top. Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder. Squirt the lime juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. 
2. When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into juices. Serve on tortillas with your choice of fixings.

Fixings:

• shredded cheese
• salsa
• sour cream
• cilantro
• sliced green onions
• other (whatever you like on your fajitas or tacos)

Seasonings on top

Let me just say that these are amazing!  A-MAZING!  They are so easy, and they taste so good.  I'm not completely sure I'd call them fajitas, but they do have the sliced onions and peppers that are traditionally in fajitas, so we'll just go with it - and that's what the original recipe was called.  I served them with some Cilantro Lime Rice - stir chopped cilantro, lime juice, and a drizzle of olive oil into cooked rice - and they were perfect!
 

After the chicken has been shredded

Then I stirred the leftover chicken mixture into the leftover rice, and we had that a couple days later - again wrapped up in tortillas with all the fixings.  Oh, and I stirred some black beans in - perfection!!

I will definitely be making these again.  YUM!!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

My friend Peggy posted this recipe for Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip on my facebook wall a few weeks ago.  She knows me well - anything cranberry, and I'm all over it!  I finally got a chance to make this last weekend, and it is amazing! All the flavors just combine to make your mouth happy...

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 12-oz package fresh cranberries (3 cups)
• 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 small jalapeno pepper
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 t cumin
• 2 T lemon juice (or lime)
• dash salt
• 2 8-oz packages cream cheese

Directions:

1. Coarsely chop cranberries in Ninja or food processor and place in medium bowl
2. Chop onions, cilantro, and jalapeno and add to cranberries
3. Mix in sugar, cumin, lime juice, and salt
4. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight
5. When you're ready to serve: soften cream cheese and spread it on a plate, serving platter, or the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish; spread cranberry mixture evenly over the top.
6. Serve with Ritz (type) crackers, Wheat Thins, or tortilla chips

  I cut the sugar down significantly from the original recipe - from 1-1/4 cups to just 2/3 cup.  I think it could be cut down a tiny bit more, but then I like the tartness of the cranberries, so it's probably a good balance.  I used lime juice, because I had a lime I needed to use and no lemons.  It all worked together really well.

We tried it with Wheat Thins, tortilla chips, and the Ritz type crackers, and it tastes good with all of them - but the Ritz type are the best.  Everyone who tasted this thought it was great - my husband who does not like cilantro, my friend Peggy who sent me the recipe and doesn't even like cranberries, my son who - well, I expected him to like it!  I never would have thought to mix these particular ingredients together, but the combination really is magic.  I will be making this again!!  I don't expect it will last long...