Fabulous Food Friday......On Tuesday

Our first born loves the farm

It has been a while since my last post. We have been "deep in the heart of Texas," without much Internet access, visiting my hubby's family on his grandparent's farm. We had a busy, but great time on the farm. And let me just say that this is not a place for dainty dames...this is where the tough ladies hang out. It is hard to maintain your "frou frouness" when grasshoppers, etc... are jumping on you left and right (for the record, I only had one minor flip out due to these creatures) and dust reigns supreme.

I say all that to say this......I have been wanting to keep up a "Fabulous Food Friday" part to this blog and decided to go ahead and cook last Friday despite not being able to post it until today. Chance's grandmother was gracious enough to lend me her kitchen for a little while :)

I decided to make the green bell pepper the star of this recipe because it has become a recent fascination of mine. I started thinking of all the things that I seem to enjoy that involve bell peppers and created a stuffed pepper recipe.....We have named the recipe based on the location of it's conception...

Lone Star Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

5 large green bell peppers

2 packages of cream cheese(I used a slightly figured friendly reduced fat), softened

1 lb. hot sausage(can sub. turkey sausage or a mild sausage, the hot was HOT, but we like the spice)

1 small onion, diced

Sun dried tomatoes, a few handfuls, diced (or fresh if you prefer)

4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese

1/3 cup crushed pineapple

garlic powder

Crusty bread

1 cute apron...(g****)

(minus the sausage)

1. Begin by browning the sausage. While the sausage is browning, dice the onion. Add the onions to the sausage mixture until the sausage is completely browned.

Love the cutting board!

2. While the onions and the sausage are finishing cooking begin hollowing out the bell peppers. Cut the tops off of the peppers and using a spoon, scrap the insides out (getting rid of all the seeds). The sausage should be done at this point. Turn off your burner and let it cool while you get the rest of the mixture together.

3. In a large bowl combine the cream cheese, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, pineapple, garlic powder to taste, and then your sausage-onion mixture. I'm guessing that, if you wanted, a can of rotel would also taste good instead of the sun-dried tomatoes and for an added kick...just a thought.

Although you may be tempted to eat it straight out of the bowl, it's worth the wait!

4. At this point you can begin filling your bell peppers with the mixture...I want to mention that if you like really soft bell peppers you can blanch(boil) your hollowed out peppers for a few minutes before you fill them(thanks for the tip, Patty!)...

Happy lil' fellas, aren't they?!



They may need crutches, and if so, toothpicks work quite nicely



                         

5. Bake the peppers at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.

And this is how we found them...BUT we weren't deterred...

6. Serve with crusty bread.....do NOT leave this out....it is necessary to clean up all the gooey goodness that spills out when you cut into the pepper...the bread kinda makes the meal, just saying. I guess you could also use tortilla chips if you wanted....

Caution: Ours was spicy (we loved it)

Enjoy!