Stuffed Peppers

I recently found a recipe for Unstuffed Bell Pepper Bake that I thoroughly enjoy and have made it several times in the last month. That recipe can be found here. Only change I made was used cooked brown rice. I liked this dinner so much, I wanted to make a real stuffed pepper. I made it vegetarian and my family DID NOT EVEN NOTICE!!!! After I told Israel, he felt cheated, but said he really liked it. In the future, he requested I add some cooked ground beef or shredded chicken, so feel free to do so when you make these. Trust me...you're gonna love them meatless or not!

1 cup canned pinto, black or red beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa (you can buy a 60 second microwaveable cup)
3/4 cup frozen corn
1 medium tomato diced
1 zucchini, diced small
1 yellow squash, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Chile powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp olive oil
4 bell peppers any color or poblano peppers, seeded and cut in half
1 1/2 cups grated Monterrey jack, cheddar or Colby jack cheese
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together except the peppers and cheese. This stuffing can be made a day in advance, covered and kept refrigerated.
2. Spray a large roasting pan or 9x13 with cooking spray. Mound a generous 1/2 cup stuffing mixture into each pepper half and place in roasting pan. Whatever is left over, just divide among the pepper cups.
3. Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes. Uncover and top with cheese. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

this recipe was inspired by one I found in Clean Eating magazine

Tilapia with Tomato, Corn and Kalamata Topper

For dinner tonight at my house...tilapia. On top, we're trying something new to jazz it up a bit.

2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup thinly sliced basil leaves
6 pitted kalamata olives, chopped
cooking spray
4 Tilapia Fillets
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Liberally season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. When pan is hot, add the olive oil. Cook the fish 4-5 minutes a side. Remove fish from pan to a plate. Cover with foil to keep warm.
2. To same skillet, add the garlic and cook 2-3 minutes. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Cook 4-5 minutes until warm.

To serve, plate each tilapia fillet and top with a generous cup of the tomato mixture.

Getting Kids to Eat Those Veggies

I started very early with getting vegetables in my oldest child (who is almost 4). I am very lucky in that she eats very well and isn't picky, but I do have some tricks that I use in my kitchen.

We have a 2 bite rule. If my child doesn't like it, she doesn't have to finish it, but at least she's had 2 bites.

If she doesn't eat well at dinner, she doesn't get a treat after.

I make up stories...for example, kale in my house is called dinosaur bites. The first time I served it to her, I told her a story about how dinosaurs used to eat this very thing and it made them so big and strong. Raegan is almost obsessed with being the biggest, tallest, fastest, strongest, etc. Veggies will get her there! I had one friend who got her daughter to eat broccoli by telling her it will make her hair grow like a princess. Kids love stories. Carrots are high in Vitamin A, which helps keep eyes healthy. My dietitian friend tells her son they will make his eyes sparkle and he'll be able to see like Superman. Google what you're serving and tell your kids what the foods will do for their bodies.

Be sneaky if you have to be. Quesadillas cover up tons of things. Try this recipe here.
Get a box grater or food processor. Grate up raw carrots, zucchini, and squash. Puree raw mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, spinach. Stir pureed or grated foods into soups you already make. Stir grated or pureed veggies into spaghetti sauce. Buy 4 jars of sauce and 2 lbs ground sausage, turkey or hamburger. Brown up the meat. Puree or grate a couple carrots, a zucchini, an onion, a few cloves of garlic and a bell pepper. Stir it into the meat. Pour in the sauce and simmer 1 hour on medium-low. Freeze in glass jars or Ziploc containers and thaw/defrost as needed when its spaghetti night.

My friend Betsy purees a cooked sweet potato and stirs it into boxed mac & cheese. Whole sweet potatoes only take 5 minutes in the microwave. Sprinkle with extra cheddar.

Kids love to dip. Let them dip cooked or raw veggies in ketchup, BBQ sauce or ranch.

Kids love cheese. Cover new foods with cheese and see if they'll like them more.

If your kids dissect every color and question "what is this red thing?" I would start with casseroles and add pureed vegetables.

Check out some new cook books from the library or from amazon like these.

Check out these links for more info, tips and recipes:
Sneak in Healthy Food
Healthy Eating for Kids
Kid Friendly Recipes (that You'll Love Too)
Picky Palate Recipe Index
There are tons of recipes that pop up when you google kid-friendly recipes

Remember food jags, where they only want 3 things over and over, are normal for toddlers. Raegan used to go nuts for Nutri-grain bars. It was the ONLY thing she wanted to eat. It got to the point where there were melt downs if she didn't get a few a day. She was obsessed with them! Needless to say, I quit buying them. She didn't have them as an option and would eventually ask for something else. She's like this way about a lot of packaged food, and it helps if I either hide them in a cupboard or don't even buy them in the first place.

Post your veggie tips in the comments...

Cook Once, Eat Twice...Chicken and Summer Vegetables

Cook Once
Grilled Chicken and Summer Vegetables
Serves 4 with 2 chicken breasts leftover

For the Chicken:
2 Tbs vinegar, try balsamic, red wine or apple cider (you could also try lemon juice instead)
3 tsp dried herbs, try thyme, oregano, rosemary, or dried Italian herbs
2 cloves garlic minced fine or 1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 yellow or red onion minced fine or 1 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup olive oil, or try grapeseed or safflower oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
6 (4 oz each) chicken breasts

For the Vegetables:
2-3 zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch-thick slices
2-3 yellow squash, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch-thick slices
1 red or sweet onion, cut into 1/2 inch-thick slices
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch-wide strips
1 small eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch-thick slices
2 Tbs olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder

1. Put all chicken ingredients in a gallon ziplock bag. Refrigerate 1 hour at least or up to 12 hours. You could also freeze the chicken with the marinade and then thaw overnight when ready.
2. Brush sliced vegetables with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
3. Remove chicken breasts from bag and grill 4-6 minutes per side on med-high depending on thickness. Grill vegetables alongside 3-5 minutes per side. Enjoy with a baked potato.

Eat Twice
Grilled Chicken and Summer Vegetable Pasta Bowls
8 oz whole wheat pasta; farfalle, rotini, penne or macaroni
1 Tbs olive oil*
1 pint grape tomatoes*
2 leftover chicken breasts from recipe above, cut into cubes
all leftover vegetables from recipe above, chopped
1 Tbs pesto, homemade or store bought (i have a nut-free recipe under "Freeze for the future" blog post)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta according to package directions.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in grape tomatoes. Cover with lid and simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until most grape tomatoes pop and soften. When 10 minutes is almost up, you can help along the process by smashing some of the tomatoes with the back of a large spoon. Stir in chicken, vegetables, pesto and half of the cheese. Cook 2 minutes to warm the chicken.
3. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Put pasta back in large pot with the stove off. Pour the sauce mixture over pasta. Stir well to coat the noodles. If mixture seems dry, stir in some of the pasta water. Divide into 4 bowls and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

* For an even quicker variation (or if you're not a tomato fan), omit step 2. Put cut up chicken and vegetables in a covered microwave safe container and heat 2 minutes. After you drain the pasta, stir in the pesto, cheese and chicken and vegetable mixture. Increase pesto to 2 Tbs. If you want a less intense flavor, keep the pesto to 1 Tbs.

Sweet Potato Maple Muffins

This makes a great breakfast on the go or good snack option for busy days. I freeze them and throw a couple in my bag for Rae and me. By the time I'm ready to enjoy it, it's thawed out. Or if you can reheat in a 325 degree oven for 10 or so minutes.

2 eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 Tbs olive oil

½ cup crushed pineapple with juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup grated raw sweet potato

½ cup raisins

½ cup sunflower seeds or chopped walnuts

1 ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour

¼ cup wheat germ

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1. In a large bowl, blend together the eggs, syrup, olive oil, pineapple, vanilla, sweet potato, raisin and seeds. In another bowl, stir together the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.

2. Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 regular muffin wells. Combine the wet and dry ingreditens and mix only until just combined. Spoon into prepared muffin tin. Divide all the dough into 12 muffin cups.

3. Bake 20-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Recipe note: if you want a smoother muffin, put the pineapple and sweet potato in a blender or food processor before stirring them into the flour. You can also blend the raisins if you want to disguise them.

Summer Eating- Part One

As the temperature rises, I want to be in the kitchen less. There are great seafood options in this post because they don't take long to cook. Also included are some summer sides that go with anything, especially things that come off the grill. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Grilled Fish Fillets with Chimichurri

6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots or red onion 

1 clove finely chopped garlic

6 tablespoons olive oil

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/8 tsp pepper divided

4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets, or try with salmon, tilapia, tuna, cod, steelhead trout or chicken

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. *Quick Tip- if you don't want to chop all the ingredients separately, put first 6 ingredients in a food processor and pulse until its incorporated; stir in 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
 2. Heat a grill pan, counter top grill or an outdoor grill over medium-high heat. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper over fish. Add fish to pan or grill; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with sauce.
3. Pour the leftover sauce into an ice cube tray and freeze. Use it later to top other fish, shrimp, chicken or even grilled beef.

"Go with anything in the Summer" Rice-
Cook 1 cup long-grain brown rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup thawed frozen whole-kernel corn, 1/2 cup chopped onion and 1/2 cup chopped zucchini to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until vegetables are charred. Stir in 1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes or diced tomato; sauté 1 minute or until tomatoes almost wilt. Combine vegetable mixture, rice, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

Open Faced Cajun Fish Sandwich
1 1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's or other type of Cajun seasoning
4 (6oz) fish fillets- tilapia, catfish, halibut, cod, or any white fish
1 Tbs olive oil
1 bag pre-shredded coleslaw mix with dressing
4 thick slices French or Sourdough bread (or you can even do Texas Toast garlic bread ,YUM!)

1. Sprinkle fish fillets evenly with Tony Chachere's. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbs olive oil.
2. Cook fish fillets about 5-7 minutes per side depending on thickness. Fish will flake easily with a fork when done.
3. Meanwhile, stir the coleslaw and dressing together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
4. If using French bread, toast each piece. If using Texas Toast, cook according to package directions.
5. To serve, place a piece of toast on each dinner plate. Top with fish fillet and a scoop of coleslaw.

Salmon en Papillote
This may seem fancy, but it is sooo easy and tastes delicious. You're cooking fish in a paper pouch. Try different assortments of veggies too, like fennel, yellow squash, carrot, tomato, olives, capers...the options are endless. If you have it, pour a splash of white wine on top of fish before closing up.
1/2 red onion, sliced very thinly
1 zucchini, sliced very thinly
4 oz mushrooms sliced very thinly
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced very thinly
4 (4-6oz) salmon fillets (halibut or tilapia would work too)
1 lemon, sliced very thinly (you could also use 1 small orange)
salt and pepper
parchment paper (found next to foil at grocery store)

1. Preheat oven to 425. Take 4-15 by 36-inch pieces of parchment paper and fold in 1/2 like a book. Draw a large 1/2 heart on paper with fold of paper being the center of the heart. Cut out heart and open. Lay sliced vegetables on parchment in center to 1 side of fold. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Top each vegetable pile with 1 slice lemon first, then salmon fillet. Liberally salt and pepper each salmon fillet. Divide remaining lemon slices and place over the salmon to cover it.
3. Close each heart of parchment. Starting at the top of each heart, fold the edges over; overlapping each fold with the last to make a tight seal. When you get to the bottom point, fold under. Place each on a baking sheet.
4.  Bake 8 minutes for a fillet less than an inch thick, or 10 minutes for a thick fillet 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick. To serve, carefully transfer the package to a dinner plate and simply unfold or cut the parchment open. If you’d rather remove the package before eating, cut or tear the paper alongside the fillet, and slide the fish right onto the plate.


Crab Cakes were requested, but I haven't made any in years. Wouldn't remember what recipe I would have used anyway (two pregnancies later)! I found Food & Wine's best 3 crab cake recipes on the web. Check them out here. A secret for getting them to turn out just right is to combine all ingredients EXCEPT crab first. Then gently stir in the crab last. You want chunky crab meat too, as opposed to finely shredded, so there's good meaty bites in there.
Something that caught my eye when I was looking in my books for crab recipes was...
Crab Artichoke Dip courtesy of my Good Friends, Great Tastes cookbook
1 (14oz) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
2 cups Hellman's Real Mayonnaise
4 oz fresh lump crab meat
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup white onion, sliced paper thin
2 Tbs melted butter
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 fresh lemon
Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning

1. Squeeze out moisture from lump crab meat or if using canned, rinse and squeeze out moisture. Mix together first 5 ingredients.
2. Mix melted butter with the bread crumbs in a medium size bowl. Top the crab mixture with the bread crumbs and bake in a pie plate until bubbly (25-35 minutes) at 350 degrees.
3. Squeeze with lemon and sprinkle Tony Chachere's on top when done. Serve with your favorite crackers.

Summer Orzo Primavera courtesy Eat Clean Cookbook
Orzo is a delicious and versatile grain that isn't a grain at all. Orzo is a pasta formed in the shape of rice, but a little larger.
1 cup whole-wheat orzo, dry
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup frozen baby peas and/or edamame, thawed
1 small red pepper, diced small
1 Tbs chopped fresh dill or 3/4 tsp dried dill
2 Tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice
pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Stir in orzo and salt. Return to a boil and cook 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Grains should be tender but firm when done.
2. Drain and transfer to a colorful serving bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Chill 2 hours before serving.

Another Summer side...
Black Bean and Rice Salad
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs oil of your choice: avocado, canola, olive, grape seed, vegetable
1 1/2 cup corn kernels
1 1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium green zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions
3 cloves garlic, minced fine or pushed through garlic press
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
pinch red pepper flakes
3 cups cooked brown rice
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a small bowl combine lemon juice and oil. This is the dressing
2. In large serving bowl combine all remaining ingredients. Toss lightly to distribute ingredients. Pour dressing over salad and toss again.

Roasted Garlic
as many full bulbs of garlic as you like
extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400. Using a sharp knife, cut off the pointed end of the garlic bulb, exposing the flesh. Remove the loose papery skins, but not all the skin. Arrange bulbs in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over each bulb. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the bulbs appear soft and golden in color.
2. Remove from oven and turn bulbs over, cut side down. Bake 10 more minutes.
To use: Squeeze the garlic out of the skins into a bowl once the bulbs have cooled down.
You can use as a spread on bread instead of butter or instead of mayo on a sandwich.
Stir it into soups, guacamole, salsa, salad dressings, hummus, marinades, mashed potatoes...the possibilities are endless.

Rainbow Couscous (or rice, quinoa, pasta, orzo)
If you have never had couscous, you are missing out! Couscous is a teeny tiny pasta that cooks in 5 minutes and goes with everything. I buy the whole wheat kind, but they have plain and flavored varieties. Pick some up the next time you're in the pasta or rice aisle.
1 Tbs olive oil
1 red or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, depending on your preference
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 small or baby eggplant, chopped
salt and pepper
2 cups cooked couscous, rice, quinoa, pasta or orzo

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Pour olive oil into pan along with bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently about 4 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies. Cook, stirring frequently about 5-8 more minutes, until veggies are tender. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Stir rainbow veggie mix into whatever cooked grain you have chosen. Feel free to omit or add any number of vegetables.

Not a seafood fan? My cousin Lindsay told me about this great summer dinner option Chicken-Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese