Another Stuffed Pepper Success

For dinner tonight, I made a recipe that I got from my "fat doctor" aka Metabolic Medical Center.  It's low carb and turned out to be something that I definitely want to make again and again! I made a couple of changes which probably upped the fat content.  Once again, I apologize for not having any pics.  Rick just got a new laptop, and I haven't been brave enough to try to sync my camera....especially after my most recent sync of my iphone that wiped out everything.  You gotta love technology.  It's awesome until something dies.  Anyway...back to the peppers....  They combined two things that I love:  stuffed peppers and Philly Cheesesteak!  It was so good that Rick even ate all his Baby Bella Mushrooms (and he hates mushrooms)!  You can either do one pepper per person or have 1/2 per person depending on the size of the peppers.

Here's what I did..

Philly Cheesteak Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
8 oz Sliced Roast Beef
2 Large Green Peppers
1 Sweet Onion, diced
4 oz Baby Bell Mushrooms, diced
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil (I used our garlic-infused one)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
4 slices of provolone cheese
6-cheese blend shredded (Italian blend)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F.

Slice peppers in half lengthwise, remove ribs and seeds

Heat olive oil in a large pan.  Add garlic, onions, mushrooms, and salt and pepper.  Satue until onions and mushrooms are caramelized (around 20 minutes).

Slice roast beef into thin strips and add to the pan.  Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Sprinkle each half of the peppers with the 6 cheese blend.  Fill each pepper with another

Fill each pepper with the meat mixture until they are nearly overflowing.  Top each pepper with a slice of provolone cheese.

Bake on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Chicken Pasta with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

I was going to make this recipe over the weekend, but I ended up spending my Friday night helping Kelly decorate her visor for the Dragon Boat Race on Saturday.  Her visor turned out really cute!  I was quite impressed with myself.  Saturday night, I just wasn't feeling like cooking so I had leftovers.  When Sunday rolled around, I was really want to make this recipe that I had found on myrecipes.com from Cooking Light, and I decided to make it for Rick and I for dinner last night when he got back from his trip to visit his parents.  As usual, I made a few changes that are reflected in the recipe below.  Not being the mushroom fan, Rick picked most of them out from his serving, and I took them!   When I was putting together our leftovers, I was nice enough to give him chicken only.  Are I sweet?  We ended up making the whole box of pasta (which is why I'm suggesting 1/2 the box in the recipe), and we're planning on using the rest of it when we make Chicken Parm this week.

Chicken Pasta with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 3/4  cup  coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
• 1  cup  water
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1 1/4  teaspoons  salt, divided
• 1 pack of skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes
• Garlic and herb spice grinder
• 1  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  cup  finely chopped shallots
• 1  (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 box of pasta of your choice

Directions

Place pecans in a food processor; process until smooth (about 1 minute), scraping sides of bowl once. With processor on, add water, then milk, and 3/4 teaspoon salt; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl.

Season chicken with Garlic and Herb Grinder.  Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Add basil, shallots, and mushrooms to pan; sauté until mushrooms are tender. Stir in pecan cream, pepper and add chicken back to the pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 1/2 minutes.  Serve over 1 cup pasta.

Enjoy!

NCLEX Dinner ala Carte

So tonight I went over to my friend Kelly's house after a long day of work and NCLEX studying.  She was making dinner, and unfortunately, I had Chinese food before I came over.  She was preparing a dish from Cooking Light with some Brussels sprouts on the side.  I had a sample of it because the main course involved mushrooms (and you know how I miss mushrooms since Rick doesn't like them!).  It was so good that I had to share it here!

Here's the recipe!

Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy 

Ingredients

• 2  cups  uncooked egg noodles
• Cooking spray
• 1  pound  top sirloin steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 2  tablespoons  finely chopped shallots
• 1  (8-ounce) package presliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1  teaspoon  minced garlic
• 1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
• 3  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1/2  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 3  fresh thyme sprigs
• 1  teaspoon  fresh thyme leaves (optional

Directions

Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

While noodles cook, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak; sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan; cover.

Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in soy sauce. Sprinkle flour over mushroom mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Add pepper, salt, and thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Return beef to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Discard thyme sprigs. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

Kelly's Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts

olive oil

sea salt

pepper

Spice Island Garlic and Herb Blend

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. Soak whole brussels sprouts for 20 minutes in cold water.

Drain and rinse Brussels sprouts.  Half Brussels sprouts.  Tossed until well coated in olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic and herbs to taste. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  If desired, you can add Parmesean cheese.