Bacon Wrapped/Smokey Peach Stuffed Anaheims

I'm growing Anaheims this summer. Beautiful long green, thick fleshed slightly spicy peppers.

I'm a sweet and hot lover so I 'peaches and creamed' these peppers with savory garlic, smoked paprika and sugar cured bacon. 

What:
Anaheim or Jalapenos 
1 block cream cheese
4oz mozzarella 
1 tsp of garlic
1/2 tsp smoked paprika 
1 peach
sprinkle of salt
BACON!

In a food processor throw the cream cheese, mozzarella, peach and spices! If you're going to grill them put an egg in it also to firm up the filling. 

Boil the peppers for about 5-10 minutes or until the stems begin to feel squishy.

Halve the peppers, stuff and wrap with bacon! Cook on a rack and cooking sheet or grill. IF you don't have a rack look in and drain the liquid/grease 10 minutes in.  

Berry-Nutty-Fresh

I looooove spinach salads. My salads consist of 1 part greens 5 parts STUFF. 

To make this one I always push the leaves against the sides of the bowl and make a well to fill with berries nuts and cheese!  

Bowl: 4in deep, 8 inch across, ceramic souffle dish

Salad: Spinach, Blueberries, Strawberries, Toasted Pecans, Blue Cheese

Dressing: 2 parts balsamic vinegar, 1 part strawberry jam 
         Heated to a simmer for 1-2 minutes then taken off the heat to cool. 

The Great Race: Grilled Pizza

Making grilled pizzas is my fiancee and I's labor of love. 

It's a lot of prep, a LOT of excitement, a break-neck pace of flipping/saucing/dumping, and running through the house/backyard with pizza.

 THEN you have to try every pizza, each pizza comes out totally different and amazingly delicious. You're going to burn your mouth... No Seriously... It's going to suck  but be totally worth it.

GET READY!!!

THIS STUFF IS AWESOME!

 

There is a pizza crust recipe on the side of the box that I use plus: 1tsp of brown sugar, a sprinkle of salt, and a shake of garlic. I roll the crust out on cornmeal because I really enjoy the texture. I recommend you do to at least once!

 One box mix makes 6 pizzas!

Did I say race? I meant marathon! 

Cheese selection is very important. We change ours every time and recommend at least 2!

Pick a stronger one and a melty one: Sharp Cheddar and Havarti! Chopped!

 I think we added some sandwich style slices of Provolone also. 

 Get Saucy! If you find a canned sauce you like that's AWESOME.. I think they are sweet and weird.

Can of Dole roasted tomatoes, fresh garlic, onion, salt, oregano, basil, 1/2 tsp of green olive or banana pepper juice in a food processor.

OR. 

Olive oil, salt, garlic 

[ sometimes simple is a beautiful thing ] 

sometimes we do both

I LOVE my mandolin slicer! *best $8 you'll ever spend*

My fiancee is an amazing sous chef. He's a slicin' fool!

Red onion, green pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, black and green olives, banana peppers, Italian sausage, and pepperoni this go around. 

~I wonder what the fiancee would think of a ham and pineapple...

Maybe a shrimp, tomato, and basil with a spicy oil sauce?!

Cream Cheese with jalapeno,bacon, and green onion?!?!?! ~

*Drrrrooooooolll*

 GET SET!!!

 Clean, light, and oil your grill. Keep a bowl with oil and a oiled paper towel or rag to swab the grill between pizzas. Bring your sauce and toppings out and figure out who is going to be in charge of putting what on the pizza.

GO!!!!!

Oil your crust and throw it on the grill. Wait til its golden to toasty then flip. The flip may have to be a two person ordeal.. spatulas, tongs, fire proof gloves.. It takes practice-Don't worry you have 6 ;)

LOAD THE TOPPINGS QUICK! 

You have to get everything on so the cheese has time to melt! 

SAUCE>TOP>CHEESE! 

If your pizzas need to come off before they are melty and awesome, no worries. Have cookie sheets on hand and put them straight under (A CLOSELY WATCHED)  broiler. If the crust isn't cooked through then put them in a 375 degree oven. 

CrazyEasy MapleBacon BlackBean Chili

This stuff is so good I couldn't get a staged picture of it! I had to take a pic while my boyfriend was stirring sour cream into his second bowl! 

Ingredients 
10 oz maple bacon
1/2 lb 80/20 ground beef
1/2 red onion
1 yellow onion
1 28oz can dice tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
2 cans beef broth
2 cans black beans
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp minced onion
1 tsp thyme
adobo sauce to taste 

Dice bacon to 1/2 inch pieces, render fat almost completely at medium heat and add chopped onion and beef. Cook til beef is browned.

Add the rest of the ingredients draining and rinsing one can of black beans but not both.

Simmer at least an hour and a half!
Serve with sour cream and chipotle tabasco! I make my PopOvers with this recipe and they turn into little buckets of chili! 
Enjoy!

The Jumpy Monkey!

Love me some coffee! And sometimes I just need an afternoon pick me up!

The Jumpy Monkey only has 4 ingredients and its just wonderful!

• 8 Frozen Coffee Ice Cubes
• 1/2 of a Frozen Banana
• 2 tbsp Lite Hersheys Syrup
• 1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze

Put Cubes, Nana, and Syrup in the blender and blend until chopped, add almond milk slowly until a wonderful slushy!

That's how I roll!- Shrimp Spring Rolls

This is my combination of my favorite Vietnamese restaurant's spring rolls and the ones you would buy at a sushi counter. Not fried, lots of colorful veggies, shrimp (I hate imitation crab!) and served with hoisin sauce with chopped peanuts! 

 ** These are so good my allergic-to-avocado-brother coughed, gasped, and sputtered through a half dozen before taking a break to let his airways open again! HA HA!

Ingredients

A sharp mandoline is a $10 piece of heaven in this recipe!!

• Rice wrappers
• Romaine Lettuce
• Shrimp
• Carrots
• Cucumber
• Red Cabbage (or Napa if you prefer) 
• Avocado
• Cilantro
• Bean Sprouts
• Jalapeno (The big mean one in the picture is a cayenne)
• Hoisin Sauce

Doing It

1. Using a knife, mandoline, veggie peeler, etc... get all the veggies you are using into small strips or shaved slices.
2. Cook shrimp (if needed and let cool) 
3. Rehydrate rice wrapper by passing it under the faucet for 1-3 seconds a side then lay it on a plate or cutting board. It WILL soften up! You probably aren't going to listen and soak it or something but don't be silly! Or be silly... they are cheap so go ahead and experiment! 
4. Lay a layer of lettuce, the spring roll is basically a bound together lettuce wrap!
5. I lay my flattest stuff first, just small bits of each layering the shrimp and avocado last. 
6. Roll the spring roll "subway sandwich style" Rolling one have over the spring roll, holding it tightly while you fold the sides in and then finish rolling until it is wrapped. 
7. Let sit a few minutes then cut in half at a slight diagonal! 
8. Serve with Hoisin! 

Notes

• People go crazy for these! I like to pour the hoisin in a bowl and serve the rolls all around on a plate. (See first picture) I made them for my nieces 1st birthday (yeah my family rolls like that!) and people still talk about them! 
• Practice Practice Practice!!!! No matter how many times I've done these my first one looks HORRIBLE! So I eat it right away!
• Most of this recipes time is prep. Buying shredded veggies and already cooked shrimp cuts your time in half!
• You can add or subtract anything you want!



Not my proudest examples but they look great after cutting!

• The avocado gets a little squishy.. the first time I bit into one with extra avocado I got a little weirded out by the texture! 

Ohhhh soooo nice! - Red Beans and Rice

*This is Roman, our 7 month old Berner. He's plotting how to get his paws on some awesome red beans and rice!


This is a pretty mild recipe (We had a few PANSIES at dinner)


The Oh So Nice Ingredients
1 lb Red Beans
14 oz pack smoked sausage *or Andouille links if you can find them!!! I couldn't :( *
1 lb of ham steak with bone and fat left on!!
**Bones from a roast with fat left on
2 medium onions chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
1 Fresh jalapeno  
1/4 cup beer
2 can beef broth
2 cans diced tomatos
2 bay leaves
2-3 cloves garlic diced
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cayenne or more

2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 salt
2-3 tbsp fine chopped onion
1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
 
Doing it!

1. Check beans for pebbles and sticks (not joking.. it happens.. very painful to bite a rock!!)
2. Pour beans into a large pot with at least 6 cups of water, Bring to a hard boil for 10-15 minutes and let simmer 1 hour. After an hour add to the crock pot
3. In a seperate pan add cubed ham, and sausage (I cut my sausage on a diagonal for maximum browning surface area) start to brown.
4. Chop onion, celery and 'pena and add to meat. If the meat begins to stick us beer to loosen from the pan.
5. When thoroughly browned add to a large crock pot and use beer to get all the stuck bits off the bottom of the pan then add to the crock with bones, tomatoes, broth, garlic, thyme, bay, pepper and cayenne.
6. Let cook in the crock pot on high for 10-14 hours 
7. Heat olive oil, salt and onion in a pan. Add rice, constantly stirring until the rice gains some color. Add water, bring to a boil, turn to low and cover for 15 minutes.
8. Serve beans over rice with tabasco close! Maybe some fried okra, corn bread, blackend shimp or fish, or salads!

** I had made a loin-end roast weeks ago, cut all the meat off, wrapped it up and stuck it in the freezer with bits of meat and fat left on it. Makes a HUGE difference but you could use hocks or bacon or my favorite get a cheep pack of neck bones and rub them with olive oil and salt, put them under the broiler until you get some brown or fat sizzling then add to your crock pot.

• Notes!!! 
• If you want it milder take the seeds and veins from the jalapeno.
• Spending the extra $0.50 on better beans is totally worth it. You will have less odd ball crunchy beans if none at all.
• The beer I used was a strong IPA. But unless its a stout I don't ever notice a difference in the end product with different beers (Stout would be AWESOME in this though!)  
• Really flexable recipe.. I've used left over smoked pork in it... no jalapeno and no ham... Its a great dish you can adjust for what you have. 
• If you like to add okra or sour cream to top things those would be great!