Stuffed pepper soup with quinoa

May 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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One morning I woke up craving stuffed peppers. You know the cheesy rice & meat filled ooey gooey kind, that you ate growing up that you can never make as good as your mother made them? But it was a cold and rainy day so I was thinking I would try this stuffed pepper sensation in a good soup. Still having quinoa on the brain, I decided to skip the rice all together for this recipe and opt for a healthier option (quinoa) without sacrificing the flavor.

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I went into the recipe kind of expecting it to be a total failure because I had no guide what-so-ever. But remember how I said my best recipes come from just using what I have on hand, to try and make a new recipe? Winging it when it comes to cooking is kind of my thing, and this recipe is the best proof. I was so surprised at the flavor of this soup and I think Ralph was equally as surprised about how delicious it was. I kept saying things all day like, ” don’t get your hopes up for supper, this may be a total disaster!” Luckily that was not the case.

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This soup isn’t a whole lot of work either. Once you get everything in the pot you just let it heat all day and make your house smell amazing. You could make this in your crock pot instead of on the stove if that’s your thing. The recipe says “chopped” for all the veggies but we like things chunky around here so I left my veggies a little bigger. You can adjust that if you would like.

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Stuffed pepper soup with quinoa
 

Ingredients
  • 1 container chicken broth (32 ounces)
  • ½ cup uncooked red quinoa
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 1 orange pepper, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 jar of chunky, mild salsa
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
  • ½ can of any kind of beer
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ tablespoon salt
  • ½ tablespoon pepper

Instructions
  1. In a large pot on low heat, combine chopped peppers, chicken broth, salsa, parsley and cilantro.
  2. In another skillet, fry up the ground beef. Drain and add to your large pot.
  3. In the same skillet (rinsed out), heat chopped onions and celery with the beer on medium heat until onions are translucent and celery has changed color.
  4. Add entire celery/onion/beer mixture to your large pot.
  5. Add uncooked quinoa, and water to the large pot.
  6. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Cover and heat on low for at least 3 hours but up to 8.
  8. Add cheese 10 minutes before serving.

Notes
You may need to add water once the quinoa cooks.

AHH the weekend is here again and we are excited for it! Last weekend (Mother’s day weekend) was great minus the fact that I was battling migraines all weekend. I made the mistake of drinking REAL caffeinated coffee on Friday after months of drinking decaf, and it welcomed my migraines back almost immediately. NEVER AGAIN. At least I know that caffeine is my migrane trigger I suppose! We still managed to do our family Color Burst 5k, and go to a couples comedy night at church featuring Kerri Pomarolli and her husband Ron McGehee. They were absolutely hilarious…we loved their act! Ralph let me take a good long nap on Mother’s day which might possibly be the best gift ever, because if you know me, I NEVER nap. And then we spent time with the best mom’s in the world–all in all, a dream weekend, migraines aside. My boys treated me well, but then again, they always do.

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Filed Under: crockpot, gluten-free, It's What's For Dinner, life, meals, soups Tagged With: , ,

Merlot meatballs

May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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Did you ever just crave a really good, hearty meatball with an ooey gooey sauce? I know I am not the only one. This recipe will be sure to take care of those cravings, no problem. I usually only make meatballs for holidays but one rainy day I just had a hankering for some comfort food and my husband is crazy for meatballs, especially mine :) –So I whipped these up with some roasted red potatoes, steamed broccoli and they went over really well, even with one picky little 2 year old.

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There is something so comforting and homey about a juicy meatball with the right sauce, I’m not quite sure why.  These meatballs are made using Tastefully Simple’s Merlot Sauce, which has always been a favorite of mine and I think they really make the flavor of this sauce stand out. I love using Merlot Sauce as a steak sauce alone but it is great in my meatloaf recipe and delicious in these savory meatballs. If you need some Merlot Sauce you can find it here.

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Ingredients

Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef, garlic, seasoned salt, merlot sauce, salt, pepper, onion, breadcrumbs, and beaten eggs.
  2. Mix ingredients with your hands and roll into ½inch-1inch balls, depending on your preference.
  3. Place on a baking stone or greased baking pan.
  4. Heat meatballs at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Be sure not to over cook or the meatballs with get tough.
  5. Remove meatballs from oven and use tongs to place them in a slow cooker.
  6. Whisk together maple syrup, ketchup, honey and grape jelly in small bowl.
  7. Pour sauce mixture over meatballs and heat on low-medium for at least 10 minutes or until you are ready to serve.

 

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We have been out all week enjoying the sunshine-y, summery weather, doin’ summer things! I even have a slight tan! Thanking God for this beautiful week! Although it is supposed to cool down for this Mother’s Day weekend, we have some fun things planned! I hope all you mothers out there have a lovely weekend and I tip my hat off to you all. Being a mother is the hardest job ever with the most rewarding results. We all deserve a day totally devoted to us mommys!

 

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Filed Under: appetizers, crockpot, gluten-free, It's What's For Dinner, meals, sauces Tagged With: ,

Cilantro lime quinoa salad

April 25, 2013 by

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This salad completes me. It is everything I love about mexican food with an added boost of protein and that guilt about eating a flour tortilla, GONE. This will surly take care of those mexican cravings of yours without all that extra calorie and gluten nonsense. Oh and the dressing. Don’t get me started on the dressing. Tangy and fresh with a little kick.

quinoa salad mexicanAlong with my quinoa veggie salad with lemon basil dressing, this salad will definitely be on repeat throughout the warmer months. It keeps in the fridge for a good week, you may just have to add a little squeeze of fresh lime to moisten it up a bit. I added a little extra cumin myself because I like it spicy. I also added a bit of extra cilantro to my individual serving because I am the only heavy cilantro lover in my family.

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Cilantro lime quinoa salad
 

Ingredients
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1½ cups frozen corn, thawed
  • 1½ cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 5 green onions, diced
  • ¾ cup chopped cilantro
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • Juice from 1 lime
  • ¼ tsp. salt

Instructions
  1. Cooke quinoa according to package.(add 2 cups of water per 1 cup of quinoa, bring to a boil, and simmer until quinoa is tender or about 20 minutes)
  2. While quinoa is cooking make your dressing.
  3. In a bowl whisk together olive oil, cumin, garlic, lime juice and salt. Store in fridge.
  4. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked quinoa, peppers, green onions, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, corn and black beans.
  5. Pour dressing over ingredients and stir to coat.
  6. Store in fridge for at least an hour and serve cold for best results.

 

And the sun is still hanging on over in our neck of the woods! Yesterday we played outside all day with some friends–boy do I appreciate the days we get to play outside, bedtime is such a breeze! Tonight we are heading to a cook out and this weekend is supposed to be sunny and in the high 60′s….we’ll take it! I like to really get excited about little victories, being a stay at home mom of 3, and right now the weather is one of them! Happy weekend to you all!

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Filed Under: appetizers, gluten-free, It's What's For Dinner, meals, sauces Tagged With: , ,

Sloppy Joe spaghetti bake

April 14, 2013 by

sloppy joe bake (1) sloppy joe bake

Did you ever start to make sloppy Joes and halfway through realize you didn’t have hamburger buns on hand? Yep. Totally happened to me you guys. And so sloppy Joe spaghetti (what??!) it was. I was weary that this would just end up tasting like a BBQ flavored spagetti, but it didn’t. It is everything you love about a sloppy Joe along with the comfort of a big dish of noodles. I made this for my family one night when I had to leave at supper time to be at church for a meeting, so I didn’t even get to taste it until I got home. Sometimes my boys can be picky so I crossed my fingers and left the house a little worried about this last minute creation. Well the boys just thought it was spagetti with cheese so naturally, they loved it. Let me tell you that this is one of those dishes that may even be better the next day warmed up in the oven, so there is that too. Yum. It kind of has a spaghetti/lasagna feel to it with the taste of a sloppy Joe, and by that I mean it cuts in nice little squares like a good lasagna. So give your body a break on those carbs and use gluten-free rice noodles to make this dish gluten- free if you’d like, without compromising the taste of a real good and messy sloppy Joe.

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Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground sirloin
  • 1 packet sloppy joe seasoning
  • ⅓ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 box prepared spaghetti noodles
  • shredded cheddar cheese
  • ¼ cup diced green onions

Instructions
  1. Heat ground beef and diced onion in a skillet on medium heat until meat is no longer pink and onions are translucent.
  2. Drain grease from beef and onion mixture.
  3. Add sloppy joe seasoning, BBQ, ketchup and water. Mix to incorporate.
  4. Turn heat to low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, cook your noodles and drain.
  6. In a greased 9×13 pan, lay the noodles.
  7. Top with sloppy joe mixture and then sprinkle with a generous amount of cheese.
  8. Sprinkle green onions on top and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Notes
*use organic ingredients and grass-fed beef whenever possible.


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Quinoa patties with Greek yogurt sauce

April 10, 2013 by

Quinoapatties

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I know I say this a lot but this is SERIOUSLY one of my new all-time favorite recipes. These are so refreshing and light but filling at the same time. The flavor is incredible! And the sauce is that of a gyro yogurt sauce with a garlic flare. Ugh that sauce! Quinoa patty recipes always made me run the other way in fear of them being really bland because quinoa can be very bland in the wrong recipes. But that is why this recipe with the yogurt sauce appealed to me so much, I knew I could spice it up with some garlic. So far from bland! These have even more flavor the next day re-heated. And can you even imagine all the protein that is in these puppies, with the Greek yogurt and the quinoa? You guys we are never getting enough protein in our daily diets, in fact to get the right amount of protein we need daily we would need to eat about 20 eggs, in one day! I anticipate these being a hot menu item over the summer in our house. They are really pretty simple too, it sounds like a lot when you look at the recipe, but it really isn’t. And you can mix it all ahead of time and store it in the fridge if you’d like, because if your weird like me you will need to have supper just about ready around lunch time (or what I call “oven ready) to eliminate dinner time stress and mess.

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Ingredients
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 3 large handfuls of spinach, washed & chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more for frying)
  • ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½ cup cheese of your choice (I recommend feta, gouda or mozzarella)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • ⅛ of a teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
  • black pepper to taste
  • 2 cups plain greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoons Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
  • 1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
  • ½ tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
  • ½ tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions
  1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet.
  2. Add onion and garlic and heat on medium until onions are translucent.
  3. Stir in the spinach and heat for 3 minutes.
  4. Transfer mixture into a large bowl.
  5. Cook quinoa according to package and let it cool.
  6. While quinoa is cooking mix together yogurt, garlic garlic, dill, mint, ½ tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice and salt and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
  7. In your large bowl of spinach and onions, add your eggs, cheese, parsley, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and quinoa once it has cooled.
  8. Finally add the bread crumbs and let the mixture sit for a few minutes to soak in the moisture.
  9. Scoop about a tablespoon of the mixture to make your patties.
  10. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on a hot skillet or pan and press quinoa patties on the skillet.
  11. Heat for about 5 mintes on each side or until slightly brown.
  12. Serve warm with yogurt sauce. (remember when reheating always use your oven or stove top instead of your microwave because the microwave will kill all the nutrients in your food)


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Filed Under: appetizers, gluten-free, It's What's For Dinner, meals, soups Tagged With: ,
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