Crock Pot Orange Chicken!

New Recipe Orange Chicken for the crock pot!

Well I thought this was going to be an awesome blog, had beautiful step by step pictures and the food did not turn out very good! I wasn't impressed.  So it definitely did not make it in my blog!  I Saw it posted on facebook and thought I would give it a try!

So I am hoping to get something else posted this week to for you to view!

Homemade Meatballs

Homemade Meatballs!

 

 

 

I haven't made these in awhile and had a craving for them, so here we are lol. I thought I would share my recipe with you since it turned out amazing.  I always try and spice my meat with different spices to always keep things new. I feel these were the best ones I have made to date! They were so flavourful and moist, even my hubby & kids commented on how good they were!

 

I think as you are reading my blog you will notice I cook in bulk lol, having 3 growing kids, being 1 young adult and 2 teenagers, I am a big fan of left overs. 

 

Ingredient's

 

5 or 6 pounds of lean ground beef (fresh)

3 or 4 cloves of fresh garlic

2 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons pepper
4 or 5 teaspoons of Cajun spice

1 1/2 cup of bread crumbs

2 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil
fresh mushrooms
parmesan cheese

2 or 3 large cans Marinara sauce (I used 2 large jars of  Classico 4 cheese  sauce)

1 bag pasta (boiled and strained, what ever kind u want to use)



Prep & Cook

1)In a bowl combine the ground beef, garlic, salt, pepper, Cajun spice, bread crumbs, eggs and mix    well.
Spices are a personal thing, you can always add more salt, pepper or Cajun spice if desired. 
Also you can add more bread crumbs, but don't over do it because it will dry out your meatballs.
2) Roll into balls, size is up to you on how big you want them, I made mine about 2 inches round since they will shrink in size while in the oven.
3) Place the finished meatballs in an oven proof pan and cook for 1 hour or until cooked, drain off grease.
4) Pour you sauce over top all the meatball's, set aside.
5) Clean and slice mushrooms.
6) In a frying pan add your olive oil, heat, then add in 2 cloves of garlic, cook till slightly browned.
7) Add in your mushrooms and season with salt and pepper, stir till mushrooms are cooked and browned.
8) Pour over top of the meatball mixture.
9) Add parmesan cheese, as much as you want. I just lightly covered the mixture,
10) Put back into the oven at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes, just for the sauce to get hot
11) Boil pasta, drain and leave in pot.
12) When meatballs are cooked add to the pasta in the pot and gently mix until
13) Enjoy with what ever extra toppings you desire, parmesan cheese, olives, tomatoes, sky is the limit.

I also sometimes make my meatballs a larger size and just have them on the side without pasta and have garlic bread with them! Tastes just as yummy!

Sorry I wasn't thinking but should have taken a picture of the rolled meatballs before the sauce lol, I wasn't blog thinking until I had the sauce on them.





                                                      Mushrooms frying

                                            meatballs mixed with sauce and mushrooms   

                                                       parmesan cheese added on top

                                                     pasta cooked and strained

                                             finished product (topped with olives optional)

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers with honey garlic sausage!

Stuffed Peppers with Honey Garlic Sausage

 

 

     We knew we had some red, yellow, orange and green peppers and wanted to do something with them, but not the “same old stuff”. Normally we have prepared stuffed peppers with tomato based sauces, spicy meat, ground beef, rice and various cheeses and they are always a hit.

While we had all of the fixings to make our normal “go to” stuffed peppers we decided to do something different, we enjoy walking out in the kitchen and looking through the fridge, freezers and cupboards to see what building materials we have and then combining them in interesting ways.

Because the peppers have a nice sweet flavour, instead of the spicy or tomato based stuffing we decided to try something that was a little sweeter to match the natural flavor of the peppers. So here is the recipe we have come up with! Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

 



 

 

 

 

Ingredients 

 

Rice (5 minute rice)

Mushrooms (fresh)

Sweet corn

Parmesan cheese (shaker)

Medium cheddar cheese

Provolone cheese slices

Honey garlic sausages.

Peppers

 

 

To prep:

 

 

1) Remove the meat from the sausage casings

2) Clean and chop mushrooms - you want them fairly small as it is going in a stuffing and you want 

    lots of all the ingredient's in your peppers. 

3) Depending on the type of corn you have (frozen, cob, canned) get a cup ready to add to the mix

4) Grate some of the medium cheddar cheese ½ cup or so should be fine.

5) Match the number of provolone slices to peppers, they will be going on the top at the end.

6) Cut the tops off the peppers (keep them) cut neatly around the top and you can get most of the seeds out easily

 

 

 

To cook:

 

1) Add some olive oil to a hot pan

2) Add a teaspoon of garlic and fry for a few seconds 

3) Add the mushrooms, mix thoroughly

4) Add sausage meat 

5) It has all of the flavors you need so you do not have to add any additional spices

6) Add corn

7) Fry until sausage meat cooked completely

8) Depending on how much liquid is left in the pan add enough water for 2 cups of rice

9) Add rice and simmer for 1 min

10) Cover and remove from heat for 5 mins

11) Once rice is mostly done add the medium cheddar cheese and the parmesan cheese

12) Mix while bring back up to temp

13) Once the mixture is hot, stuff the peppers, put lids on put in oven

14) Cook for 10 – 20 minutes depending on how far done you would like your peppers

15) Take out, take off lids, put on provolone cheese and cook until cheese brown peppers with honey 

       garlic sausage.

 

 

We didn't drain the grease from frying the honey garlic sausage, you can, it would be healthier for you, just the extra grease adds more flavour to you meal. If you keep the grease then use less water when you add the rice and if you drain the grease make sure you add more water when you add the rice to balance the liquids.

 

We always find that having the left over peppers the next day had so much more flavour because it sat all night so all the flavours blend longer.  You could always make them a day a head and eat them the next day, or you can make the stuffing the day before and let it sit in the refrigerator over night and stuff the peppers the next day. What ever you find easier.

 

I want to thank my husband for all his help with making this meal! I enjoy our time cooking, having a glass of wine and catching up!

 

 

                                                        

                                                   All ingredient's cooking in frying pan. 

        

                                                   Peppers stuffed with sausage stuffing.

      

                                               Peppers with the lids on ready for the oven.

      

 

                                             Finished product! Enjoy, these were amazing!

 

Happy Holidays!

Happy Canada Day! I hope all my fellow Canadian's had a great July 1st Holiday!

 



 

 

 

 

 

Happy July 4th to all American's celebrating their Holiday! I have family and friends living in the US, hope you have a great day!

 

 

 



 

 

Holidays are always my favourite time to make cool and yummy treats! Enjoy you celebrations!