Chicken and Couscous

This is another family original and staple. So yummy and easy to make. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs or breasts
1 cup dry couscous
1 cup chicken broth
1 small sweet onion
Oregano
Garlic salt
Black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Cut up onion and lay on bottom of glass baking dish. Recommend to spray with Pam first.

3. Lay chicken on top of onions and pour all the broth over chicken. Season generously with three seasonings. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1-1.5 hours.

4. With 5 minutes left add couscous and make sure it gets submerged in broth. Recover and finish remaining five minutes.

We enjoy this with a nice roasted or steamed vegetable!

Stuffed Peppers

My husband has a fond memory of his grandma's stuffed peppers, and one day asked me to make them. With no recipe I googled my way around the Internet and came across KalynsKitchen.com. This recipe is so yummy and easy to make...especially ahead of time, which is always nice. Dinner was made today while the kids napped, and I will place in the oven tonight. Easy.

Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
4 large bell peppers (any color, have fun)
1 large onion, diced
3 oz white pearl mushrooms, chopped
3 tsp olive oil
3 links of turkey Sweet Italian Sausage
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozarella
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cook rice according to package directions.

2. Preheat oven to 375. Trim bottom of bell peppers if necessary to stand up on their own. Cut of the top and remove the veins and seeds from the inside, save the caps. Place peppers in an oven safe dish, roughly the size of all your peppers so they fit snug.

3. Dice up the caps of the peppers (not the stem), the onions and the mushrooms. Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a skillet and add peppers, mushrooms and onions. Saute until soft. Remove mixture and set aside.

4. Add remaining tsp of olive oil to pan and squeeze the sausage out of its casing. Cook until brown, breaking up as much as possible. Add, rice, pepper mixture, dried spices and Parmesan cheese to the pan. Cook until well blended, about 2-3 minutes.

5. Stuff peppers with mixture, pack tightly with a spoon. Bake peppers for 30 minutes, remove and add a generous pinch of mozzarella cheese to the top of each one. Put peppers back in oven for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned. Serve.

This dish is not well received by my toddlers, even though the like all the ingredients. So they get their sausage on the side, with rice and roasted broccoli...which is made as a side for the whole family.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Courtesy of allrecipes.com I found this delicious recipe. My main focus is to cook a meal for my family that we all will enjoy; however, their are some things my husband and I love that the kids just don't. To be honest, they do like it, they just don't like its presentation. Chili is one of those meals; so to circumvent that issue I place their chili in a tortilla with some cheese, roll it like a taquito, toast it and hooray, they love it! Another successful dinner that is nutritious, has plenty of veggies and is enjoyed by my 2 and 3 year old...

Ingredients:
2 TBS canola oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 oz chicken broth
18.75 oz tomatillos, drained and ran through the food proccesor
7oz diced green chiles
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 can vacuum sealed corn
1 pound chicken breast
15 oz white beans
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Boil the chicken until cooked through, 20-30 minutes. Use the water as your broth when done. Shred the chicken and set aside.

2. Heat oil and cook onion and garlic until soft.

3. Add ALL ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until flavors blend, about 15 minutes.

4. KIDS STEP: Place  a strip of shredded cheese on an open whole wheat tortilla. Top with chili and more cheese. Roll the tortilla as tight as you can and place on baking sheet seam down. Spray with Pam cooking spray and then sprinkle with salt. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or until slightly crisp.  

The great things about this dish is you can cook it earlier in the day when you have time, and leave it on low all day, it won't hurt it. It also freezes and thaws very well.

This Mama's Meatloaf

This dish is by far one of my favorites to make and one of my favorites to eat. Probably because of all the hidden veggies and my kids desire to devour it every time! This is a staple in our home, and maybe it will become a staple in yours. Enjoy this Gina original...

Ingredients:
10oz of 95/5 ground beef
1/2 bell pepper
handful fresh parsley (if measured maybe 3-4 TBS chopped)
3oz baby pearl white mushrooms
7 baby carrots
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1/2 small sweet onion
1 tomato on the vine
1 egg
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Chop all veggies (including parsley) in food processor

3. Mix ALL ingredients in a bowl and then shape into a loaf.

4. Bake for 1-1.5 hours or until done. It will be done after an hour, but because all the veggies the consistency is mushier then regular meatloaf and a little longer in the oven helps to alleviate that.

We enjoy this with a side of summer squash and sweet potato fries!