Monday means laundry... Unstuffed Peppers

I'm trying to get in a good cleaning routine.  So far, it's working.  Monday is laundry day.  It's grocery day.  It's errand day.

It's a busy one.

But the laundry is done.

The dishes are done.

The fridge is full.

The errands are done.

And dinner was good.

Unstuffed peppers with quinoa and chorizo.  We all liked it.  Little Guy thought it was a little spicy, but ate half of his.  It was worth a try.  And it makes a ton!!!

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 1/4 c water

1 lb chorizo- We used mild.
2 green peppers
1 onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 can diced tomato

Instructions:
In a small pan, heat the quinoa and water over low heat.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

In a large pan, cook chorizo. 

When both the chorizo and quinoa are done, add the chorizo to the quinoa pan.

In the large pan, saute the peppers and onion until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes (or is it tomatos, neither look right!).

Add the quinoa and chorizo back to the large pan.

Simmer 5 minutes.

Serve with some milk and a biscuit.  (gotta have something to cut that little bit of heat!)

Enjoy!!

And monday menu planning.

And it's Monday again.  Here's what we're trying this week... how about you?

Monday- Unstuffed Peppers with quinoa
Tuesday-Meatball subs
Wednesday- work
Thursday- work
Friday- gnocchi wtih spicy tomato sauce
Saturday- Tostada bake
Sunday- Pizza cook off

If you need more ideas, check out the menu plan links on Org junkie.

The weekend... Broccoli cheese soup

There aren't many meals that I make more than once or twice.  I just like cooking and love experimenting with new foods.  But I make broccoli cheese soup... and that recipe is one that Husband told me I have to make again.  So every so often I pull that recipe out. 

This weekend we had friends over and so I pulled it out again.  It's so good when you make bread bowls to go with it too.

Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic, minced

3 cups fat-free low-sodium chicken broth

1 head of broccoli

2 1/2 cups milk, we use skim

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

8 ounces velveeta, we use the 2%

Instructions:

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil.

Add the chicken broth and broccoli.  Simmer 10 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the milk and flour.

Add the milk mixture to the broccoli and broth.  Cook 5 minutes, or until slightly thick.

Remove from heat and add the cheese, stirring until it's melted.

Using a blender or immersion blender, blend half the soup until it's creamy.

Eat with friends!  Enjoy!!

So grateful today... my Kitchen Aid mixer

Today, I've spent a lot of the day in the kitchen with my buddy.  Her name is Kitchen Aid Mixer.  She's lovely.

She helped me make this.

And these. 

At the end of our time together she got a bath so she'd look gorgeous.

A real date!...chicken salad

Tonight, Husband and I are going on a real date.  Or kind of a real date.  It's early so we can get a sitter (Love my Auntie!!) but it's a dinner and a movie, so it works!!

So I thought I'd share my lunch with you.  I'm having a friend over for lunch so I made Chicken Salad.  Healthy, yummy.  Good.

Ingredients:
Thickened yogurt
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp feta cheese
salt and pepper
red pepper chopped

Instructions
Mix the thickened yogurt and the spices.

Gently mix in the chicken.

Add the peppers and feta.

Let sit for at least an hour to get all the flavors to be all happy like in the bowl.

Enjoy! 

Switching it up.... Beef and snow peas

It wasn't on the menu for tonight.  But the veggies were calling my name.  They looked so good.  And then we decided to go to the movies on Friday night, which means we wouldn't all be eating together.  So I decided to go ahead and make it tonight.

You'll notice that dinner tonight is beef and snow peas.  But mine has orange peppers.  Please, don't tell The Pioneer Woman that I changed her recipe.  Because I think her recipes are pretty good as they are.  But I had that pepper and it was calling my name. 

Maybe I'll rename the dish... beef with snow peas and that yummy orange pepper.

Ingredients:
1 lb sirloin steak, sliced thin
1/2 c soy sauce
2 TBSP Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Corn Starch
1 tsp ginger powder (but please feel free to substitute 1 TBSP fresh ginger)
8 oz snow peas, trimmed
1 orange pepper, sliced
5 whole scallions, cut on the bias
3 TBSP olive oil
Crushed red pepper for sprinkling
Brown rice

Instructions:
Start by prepping all your meat and veggies... it makes life go smoother.  And we'd all like life to be a little smoother, right?

In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch and ginger together.  Add the beef and set aside.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet or wok over high heat.  Add the snow peas and pepper.  Cook for 45 seconds.  Remove from pan.

Let the pan get very hot again and add half the beef (leaving the marinade in the bowl) and half the scallions.  Don't move it for 1 minute, letting it get some really good color and flavor from the heat.   Turn it over and cook 30 seconds more.

Remove beef from the pan and set aside. 

Let the pan get screaming hot again, and then add the second round of beef and scallions.  Let it sit for one minute and then turn it over.  At this point add the marinade to the pan.

Add the veggies.  Let it sit for 30 seconds and then turn off the heat. 

Let it sit a few minutes to thicken the sauce.

Serve over the brown rice.  Add some pepper flake to give it some heat.

Enjoy!!

Thanks to those who followed the link from Good Cheap Eats!

Sometimes I suprise myself!... Vegetable beef Soup

I never liked veggies much growing up.  Especially cooked ones.

So tonight when we ate our dinner and there were EIGHT! veggies in our soup, I was suprised at how much I loved it.  Each of the veggies were either fresh or frozen fresh last summer.  And it was SO good! 

Our Eight veggie Vegetable Beef soup.

Ingredients:
2 lbs beef (we used cube steak because I have a few in the freezer.)
2 c diced tomatoes and juice
2 c beef broth
salt and pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsbp worchestershire sauce
1/2 c onion
1/2 c green pepper
1 c celery or celery greens
1 c carrots
3 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 c green beans
1 c corn kernals

Instructions:
Heat a pan over medium high heat until very hot. 
Add beef and seasonings.  Let it sit a minute before you stir it around.
Add worchestershire sauce.
Add onion, pepper, celery, carrots and potato.   Let simmer for 30 minutes.

Add green beans and corn.

Let simmer another 10 minutes.

Serve with this really yummy bread.

And Enjoy!