Dinner Tonight

Not very often lately, but sometimes, I just want to cook all day. Today was one of those days. This is a really rough post, but it's late at night. I just want to remember what I did, so sorry if it's a little confusing :) 

Stuffed Peppers and Creamy Corn

Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp

Stuffed Peppers
*I'm really sorry, but I really stink at quantities for stuff. I'll go back and do this again and measure everything sometime, but right now I just want to get it all down.

three large green bell peppers
cooked brown rice
canned black beans, drained and rinsed
canned diced tomatoes
grated monterey jack cheese
green onions, chopped
garlic powder
chili powder
black pepper
seasoned salt
paprika
cilantro

Slice the top off of the green peppers and take out all seeds and ribs. Mix stuffing ingredients (everything else) together and stuff the peppers. Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes. Delicious.
*There are several different fillings you can do for stuffed peppers - you don't have to have cheese in them (steph! :) ). Another way I have done them is to cook bulgar wheat, diced carrots, chopped red bell peppers, onions, and italian herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary) and stuff it with those. It would also be good to do cooked turkey sausage, brown rice, zucchini, spinach, and stuffing spices (thyme, celery salt, rubbed sage, etc) inside the peppers. They're such a versatile dish.


Creamy Corn

16 oz frozen corn (don't need to thaw)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 medium carrot, grated
1 can cream of celery soup
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
black pepper
*needed some garlic powder and chives. would also be good with some parmesan cheese added*

Add corn, onions, zucchini, and carrot to a small-ish crock pot (I think mine is a 3 quart?) and stir to mix. In a medium bowl, whisk together soup, cream cheese, milk, and seasonings. Pour over the vegetables in crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours, then stir well and cook for another half hour to an hour.


Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp


ok, I used Ina Garten's recipe here  for this, but I did make some changes:

- i didn't have any orange juice, so I omitted both lemon and orange juices
- i only had dried lemon and orange zest, so i added about 1/2 tsp of both
- i only used about 1/4 cup sugar in the filling
- i also added about 1/8-1/4 cup of AP flour to the filling
- i used a mixture of golden delicious, granny smith, and fuji apples
- i used quick cooking oats in the topping, but i recommend using old fashioned instead
- i also recommend only using about 3/4 cup of flour. her 1 &1/2 is way too much
- i didn't add salt to the topping, but i did use salted butter
- i cooked it for about an hour and a half instead of an hour

all in all, it was delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream. my two year old son was a big fan :)

Oreo Truffles

This recipe is ridiculously easy, and extremely delicious. These are great for parties because they are easy to make and taste great. I have received many compliments on these, and they're so simple to make!

Ingredients:

1- 8oz. block of cream cheese (allow to soften)
1 package of Oreo cookies
Your preference of chocolate, melted. (I typically use White chocolate, and I found that both Baking chocolate squares and chocolate chips work equally well for this recipe).

Instructions:
Mix the cream cheese and cookies together (crumble and smash up the cookies) until you have kind of a mess of oreo cookies mixed with cream cheese. This is not the cleanest recipe, and I always find myself messy, because I prefer to mix the cookies and cream cheese by hand.

Once you have thoroughly mixed the cookies and cream cheese together, roll into balls about teaspoon sized. Dip the ball into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool (I usually refrigerate them for about 3 hours) before serving.

Enjoy!

Buttercream Frosting

Great for topping cakes, cupcakes, cookies...whatever your sweet tooth desires.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3-4 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Combine in a large bowl, with mixer at low speed, confectioners sugar, butter, milk and vanilla.
Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.
Makes enough to frost 9x13 inch cake or 24 cupcakes.

No-bake Banana Pudding

I know everyone always agrees that oven baked banana pudding is better than no-bake versions. I have made both, and let me tell you, if you stick with this no-bake recipe, you'll never go through the hassle of a double boiler with a baked version again. This recipe is easy, and if you're like me, the benefit of making a pretty presentation with your banana pudding will seal the deal. (Yes, I bought a trifle dish for this very purpose!)

Ingredients:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (room temp)
1(14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8 oz.) container frozen whipped topping (thawed)
1 lemon (juiced)
3-4 bananas (sliced)
1/2 box vanilla wafers

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in condensed milk, pudding mix, cold milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in 1/2 the whipped topping. (Mixture will be thin at this point). Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish (or dish of your choice) with vanilla wafers. Dip banana slices into lemon juice (to prevent browning), and arrange slices evenly over wafers. Spread with a layer of pudding. Repeat layering, making sure to end with a pudding layer on top. Top with remaining whipped topping. Chill in fridge for a few hours until thickened.