Category Archives: Food & Wine

Doesn’t that look delicious? If not, maybe there is something wrong with your video card because I’m drooling all over my keyboard ;-). For the past two weeks I have meant to post this recipe for Slow Cooking Thursday and have forgotten. Thank goodness I remembered today! Two years ago I had my first taste of Stuffed Pepper Soup while on vacation at Woodloch Pines. It was so delicious! We had it again there this year and I vowed to recreate it at home. Well, this version is thicker than a soup, so that’s why I call it “Lazy Stuffed Peppers.” It’s so easy to make, and you can freeze the leftovers for an easy meal another night. Enjoy!

Lazy Stuffed Peppers

1 12-oz package of frozed, diced green peppers (you can certainly use fresh, but this is what I had on hand)
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. ground turkey
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
1/2 jar spaghetti sauce
2 cups chicken broth
Seasoning to taste
1 bag of instant rice (e.g., Success)

Brown the ground turkey and add to slow cooker. Add peppers, onion, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, and chicken broth. Season to taste (salt, pepper, Adobo, garlic powder, whatever tickles your fancy). Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Open up bag of instant rice and add to slow cooker*. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 1 additional hour.

* When you add the rice, be sure to taste test to make sure the seasoning is right.

I made “Red Lobster Biscuits” to go with it and what a yummy, yummy meal. The fact that it is so easy to throw together is a bonus! For more slow cooking recipes, be sure to visit Diary of a SAHM!

It’s that time again! I’m trying to use mostly things I already have in the freezer and pantry because I want to avoid grocery shopping this week, but as always, the menu is highly subject to change!

Sunday: Burgers & fries
Monday: Asian beef & noodles
Tuesday: Southwestern Chicken Salad
Wednesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Thursday: Sandwiches? Jake has an afterschool program AND tee-ball, so it has to be grab & go
Friday: Curried ginger-lime chicken, rice, some kind of vegetable
Saturday: Pizza & salad

For more meal plans, be sure to visit Organizing Junkie.

I love, love, love Indian food, but I’ve never made it at home. (I don’t think that the simmer sauces from Trader Joe’s really count, even though they’re quite tasty). However, after having a delicious Indian buffet lunch at Basera when we saw “Rent” I have been craving it. I remembered a recipe from the April 2007 issue of Everyday Food that I wanted to try and thought this would be the perfect opportunity! Since I had a lot of cleaning to do yesterday, I had wanted to use my slow cooker, and I remembered it being a Crock Pot recipe. Perfect!

Of course, I almost never make a recipe exactly as dictated and this one is no exception. I omitted the tomato paste because I didn’t have any, and neither of us really like the flavor it gives food. I didn’t have any cayenne pepper on hand, so I substituted chili powder. Also, after slow cooking all day, the sauce was really thin and watery so I transferred everything into a large pan on the stove, cranked the heat, and thickened it up with a bit of Wondra. I also adjusted the seasonings. I found it needed more salt, as well as heat so I added some Frank’s Red Hot and sprinkled on a bit more Garam Masala as well. I didn’t have basmati rice on hand, so I just made regular old white rice to serve along with it. Drew loved it! (I did too!). Next time I would probably use chicken breast, though. The thighs were fine, but they have a bit of a stringiness to them. I don’t know… I guess we just prefer the white meat. But even so, it was excellent. I hope you enjoy!

Indian Spiced Braised Chicken

1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs — boneless and skinless
1 medium onion — thinly sliced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes — drained
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. ginger — grated from 1″ piece
2 cloves garlic — minced
1/2 tsp. coriander — ground
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup yogurt — plain
1/4 cup cilantro — chopped
1/2 teaspoons garam masala — optional
Cooked white rice, for serving

In a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker, stir together chicken, onion, tomatoes, tomato paste, ginger, garlic, coriander, and cayenne; season with salt and pepper. Cook on high 4 hours (or 8 hours on low) until fork tender. Stir in yogurt, cilantro and, if using, garam masala. Serve with rice.

A few weeks ago I saw The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Sherried Tomato Soup and I swear I said out loud, “I. Must. Make. That.” I love tomato soup and this sounded delicious. Not to mention all the comments raving about it. How could I go wrong? So yesterday I realized that I had all of the ingredients and I was going to whip up a batch for dinner. I made a few minor substitutions: I used fire-roasted tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes. I cut way down on the butter. Sorry, PW fans, but you do not need an entire stick of butter to sautee an onion. I cut it down to 2 Tbsp. and added a little olive oil because that’s how I roll when I sautee. A little of each. I also used half-and-half instead of heavy cream. None of these substitutions would really have had any major effect on the flavor.

Otherwise, I follow the directions, adding only a scant Tbsp. of the chicken base, as I heeded her warnings about it being salty. It looked great, it smelled delicious. Imagine my surprise when I took a sip and realized how freaking salty it was! I went back over everything I did, e-mailed a chef friend of mine for advice, and between the two of us we figured out the culprit: the tomato juice. Hello, 36% of my daily sodium intake! Ew! So then I thought about the other tomato soup I often make — my friend Kristin’s recipe for Tomato Florentine Soup. I’ve been making this for at least six years now, and it’s always so good. And that is when I realized the difference: her recipe uses chicken broth and when I make the soup I use either low-sodium broth or my own stock.

Mystery solved, Scooby Doo. So yeah… unfortunately my first PW recipe was a bit of a let-down (blasphemy, I know!), but there are a couple others I plan on trying. I think it’s all a matter of personal taste. I just don’t like heavily salted foods. The soup has potential, though, and I might play around with the recipe a little bit.

Maybe we’re doing OK as parents after all. I’ll just direct you over to Drew’s post, Treasure, in which he describes a conversation with Jake.