Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Found these on Our Best Bites and made them last night, kids and parents LOVED them. A new family favorite and while they may look/seem time consuming they weren't.


4 very large or 6 medium sweet peppers (red, yellow, or orange)
1 Tbs salt
1/2 C white rice (or brown if you want to take the time to cook it), quinoa also works
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 – 1 jalapeno, minced (or you could sub a small 3oz can of mild green chilies)
1 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 green onions, sliced
1/2-1 tsp chipotle chili powder (you can start with 1/2 and add more to taste) *Emily's note: I used regular chili powder*
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 black pepper, plus more to taste
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, preferably fire roasted
1 1/4 C jack or pepperjack cheese, divided
3-4 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
tortilla chips, just a handful and more for serving if desired.

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare peppers by washing, slicing tops off, and removing insides. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Boil whole peppers for about 3-4 minutes, until they begin to soften. Remove from water with tongs and place on paper towels to drain.

Add rice to boiling water and cook until tender, about 13 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeno (or chilies) and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add corn, beans, green onions, chipotle chili powder, kosher salt, and pepper. Stir until corn and beans are heated through, about 5 minutes. Place peppers in a baking dish. Remove skillet from heat and add rice, tomatoes, 1 cup cheese, and cilantro. Stir to combine well and give it a taste. Add additional salt, pepper, and chipotle powder to your liking. Then evenly divide mixture between peppers.

Top peppers with remaining 1/4 cup cheese (or more if you can fit it on there :) and crushed tortilla chips.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Raspberry Cream Filled Cupcakes


Made these for Easter. Yum! The recipe said to fill with the raspberry filling and frost with a vanilla or cream cheese frosting, but truth be told I LOVE the raspberry creme and needed some of it in every bite so I frosted some of them with it and those were my favorite, so you'll just have to decide for yourself. I'm also tempted to try this as a big cake with the filling between the layers and the outside frosted with a vanilla buttercream?

Cupcakes:
1 box cake mix of choice (I used white)

Raspberry Filling:
1 block cream cheese (softened)
1 to 2 cups powdered sugar
fresh or unthawed raspberries (I used about 7 or 8 oz of frozen)
1 small box vanilla pudding (just dump in the powder)
milk to thin

Frosting:
1 can frosting of choice or homemade

Directions:
Prepare and bake cupcakes of choice. Let cool. Mix above ingredients and inject cupcakes with a cake decorating tip!!! I first used the bottom of a 3/4 inch funnel to punch out a small hole of cake and then injected it with the filling. Then frost cupcakes with frosting of choice to hide injection hole. Keep refrigerated.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Toffee Apple Dip


1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-1 (11oz) pkg Heath milk chocolate toffee bits

Beat cream cheese, sugars and vanilla together until fluffy. Stir in toffee chips. Serve with sliced Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples. YUM!