Delicious, Cheesy, Parmesan Crusted Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

A couple weeks ago I was feeling adventurous. I decided to make stuffed peppers. I found a couple recipes online and decided to take a few things from each and make them with my own spin.  I never know when i try new things, so i was crossing my fingers they would be somewhat edible. Turns out they were, and thank goodness they turned out delicious! My hubby even asked me after he was done eating if I would make them again soon. ;) That's a success in my book. i'll take it.

Here is what you need:
Bell Peppers (I used a variety of red, green and yellow. Use whatever you like more)
1 Cup Quinoa (I used white)
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 cup Corn (can be frozen or 1 full can)
1 cup rinsed black beans (apx one can)
1cup fresh or canned tomatoes, chopped (I used canned)
1 tsp Garlic Powder to taste
1 tsp Onion Powder to taste
Parmesan Cheese
1/2c-1 cup Mozzarella Cheese (optional, but highly suggested ;)


LET'S GET STARTED! 

Preheat oven to 325

Prepare peppers:.
1)Wash peppers, cut in half and remove seeds.
2)In a large pot, fill 1/2 way with water and boil the peppers for approximately 5 minutes.
3) Remove and set in an oven safe dish, cookie sheet or whatever you'd like to cook them in.

Prepare Quinoa
1)Rinse quinoa for a good 5-10 minutes. This helps calm the somewhat nutty taste it can have.
2)Cook Quinoa- 1cup water to 1cup quinoa. Let simmer covered for a good 10-15 minutes. When water has cooked out and your quinoa has 'popped' (look like frog eyes), add chopped onions, minced/grated garlic, corn, beans and if you'd like 1 cup mozzarella cheese.

You are ready to fill your peppers!

Cook peppers for 20 minutes and remove peppers.

Turn oven to broil on HIGH.


 Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top and place back in oven.

 Depending on your oven, broil for around 5 minutes. (I suggest to watch them each minute and once you see the Parmesan looking golden, you can take them out!)

ENJOY!

RAW Almond Cashew Butter

As of late I am addicted to raw Almond butter. I bought some at my favorite little health food store in the west village but it kills me every time I buy a little jar of it because it's $11.99. What makes it so great is all it is is raw almonds. nothing more, nothing less. So, I decided I was going to start making it myself so I didn't break the bank.

We already buy raw almonds at costco (less than $10 for a 4lb bag that has 9 cups of Almonds) and so I started looking on pinterest and googling recipes and trying it out. Well. it was hard. and took forever. and I made almond paste. It wasn't creamy and delicious like the kind I was buying at my favorite grocery store.

So, I improvised and I have come up with a perfect combo. 

Unfortunately, I don't really measure when i cook. I always kind of throw things together and make it until I get my desired consistency. SO here is what you need. 

• Raw Almonds
• Cashews (I use roasted, unsalted)
•  Natural Creamy Almond or Peanut Butter already made (I use store bough for this part, you choose- almond or peanut, doesn't matter which one)
• Heavy duty Blender- I have used both my magic bullet and Blendtech to make it

 Depending on which blender you use and how much you want to make will determine how many nuts to use. (A lot of this is trial and error.) It will shrink when blended, so if you use a cup of nuts, you will get about half a cup of butter. 

I usually use 3:1 ratio (probably about 3 cups almonds, around 1 cup cashews because I LOVE the almond taste) this can be altered to your liking!

1. Blend the Raw almonds and Cashews until smooth, or if chunky consistancy is desired, you can leave little chunks. In the blendtech I put it on #1 and let it cycle for about a minute, then scrape the sides. Make sure it is all smooth.
2. Add a spoonful or two of already made almond/PB butter, stir in, and then blend (setting 1 on blendtech) to mix. You will need to occasionally turn off the blender and scrape the sides to make sure everything is blended. Add another spoonful of almond butter/PB if needed to help the oils saturate and smooth. 

GOOD LUCK! That's it! It's that quick and easy, you have smooth, delicious almond/cashew butter! ENJOY!

Keep it in the fridge to store. 

-Alli

Easy Brownie Cookies with Choco and PB chips

Okay, so if you love brownies and cookies, then this is the cookie for you. 

They turned out so YUMMY. They tasted just like a brownie but with a cookie consistency. My husband absolutely loved them. He basically ate them all. 

I put chocolate chips and reeses peanut butter chips in them. mm

Ingredients:

box of brownie mix

1/2 cup of flour (i used a tiny bit more than that)

6 tablespoons of Canola Oil

2 eggs

2 tbsp of water

1/4 bag of semi sweet choco chips (depending on how many you want in)

1/4 bag of Peanut Butter Chips (i wish i used more of these, they are my current obsession)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix together all of the ingredients. 

Then you will place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet. I personally used the I can't Believe its not butter spray, and it worked great. 

It may be a little gooey. 

Then use a spoon and drop the cookie dough on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. 

Only bake for 9-10 minutes, just until the cookies have just lost their gloss. You don't want to overcook these. 

I like to just place them randomly... i put some a little too close... oops... good thing I wasn't too worried about the presentation!

Wait about 1 minute for them to cool, then enjoy! 

CROCKPOT Spanish Italian Chicken with Rice

I made a delicious chicken, which the recipe was supposed to taste like Cafe Rio's Chicken, which I've never had before (because the pork is too yummy), and I made it a little differently. So I couldn't tell you if it tasted like it or not, but I can tell you that it was great! It was different, but still good enough to eat. We ate it over rice, then as leftovers we had it as salad and also burritos. So many uses!

Ingredients:

2lbs of Chicken Breast (I used the tenderloins and not as much chicken because we have a miniature crockpot)
3/4 bottle of Italian Salad Dressing
1-2 tsp of Minced Garlic
1 packet of Ranch Dressing (dry)
1/2 cup of water
about 1Tbsp chili powder





Place all of the ingredients into the slow cooker on high for 5-6 hrs, or if you keep it on low, have it on about 8 hrs.

This is what it looked like all together. 

After it has cooked for said time, then just shred the chicken. I used two forks to do so. (I also let it cook just a tad bit longer so that the juices are well into the chicken) 

Then serve and enjoy!! 

(don't mind the blurriness, it still was delicious!) 

Easy Springtime White Chocolate Pretzel Bites

who doesn't love an easy, quick springtime treat? Pretty sure my husband and I ate all of these within a couple of hours. oooppsss...

Here is what you need: 

Pretzels- Choose any type you like, the square type are fun, but all I had were the original shape.

Hugs or Kisses

M&M's or Sixlets

Preheat oven to 275 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, pretzels and unwrapped chocolate. (Feel free to eat some as you unwrap, that's half the fun :)

.

Once preheated, place the cookie sheet in the oven for about 3 or 4 minutes.

Gently place M & M's/Sixlets on the soft chocolate and Voila! cute little nests. You can see I left my chocolate in the oven for a tad too long so it was good and melted... this is where the parchment paper came in handy... less clean up! But once it cools the chocolate actually fills the crevices better so my mistake turned out ok i think ;)  

Love the spring colors. :)

-Alli

Low Sugar, Cool Whip-Pudding Frosting

We love all things sweet and flavorful, so like everyone else we are always looking for ways to cut a few calories, but we aren't willing to give up flavor. We love searching out and modifying our favorite recipes so we can still enjoy the things we love without feeling guilty.

While 'pinteresting', I found a pin that claimed you could mix pudding and cool whip, so I thought I would give it a spin! I modified it a little bit to cut a few more calories, and it turned out amazeballs. Here is what you need:

1 Packet Sugar Free Instant Pudding (I used French Vanilla Great value Walmart Brand) 

1 small Tub (8oz) low fat whipped topping

Milk- 1 cup

Whisk 1 cup milk and pudding together until thick consistency- this should be pretty quick. You will then fold in the cool whip. All done! easy Peasy. I then grabbed a ziplock bag, filled with the frosting about half way, closed the bag, and cut out the corner. I then swirled onto my cupcakes, starting from the outside and making my way toward the inside.. Top with a little bit of sprinkles, and viola! Easiest, Tastiest, low-cal recipe ever.

Once I was done frosting my 24 cupcakes, I had about 1/4 the tub of cool whip left over. So for breakfast yesterday I made German pancakes and we had fruit and the Cool Whip-Pudding to top it off with! Absolutely delicious. ENJOY!

-Alli

St. Patricks Day Eggs! (healthy)

For St. Patty's day, we decided to treat our husbands to some Green Eggs and Ham (minus the Ham)...
This recipe is so simple and easy, it was just fun to add a little color to them!



What the recipe consisted of: (serves about 4)
-10 egg whites
-1 to 2 Tbsp of Milk
-Shredded cheese
-a couple drops of green food coloring
-salt and pepper to taste

1. beat egg whites and milk in seperate bowl and add 4-5 drops of food coloring like so:

After the eggs are well beaten, spray a little butter into the pan (we used "I can't believe its not butter" 0 calories) on a lower heat, and stir with a wooden spoon to make sure they don't burn and stick to the bottom. 

They look a little freaky, yes

Our Green Mush!

While they are cooking you may add Salt and pepper and some cheese to mix around. 

Then top it off with some cheese to melt on top, and enjoy!! 

YUM!

We like to enjoy our eggs on toast

:)

 MMM MMM GOOD!