Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

Oh my goodness.  These were so dang good.  I made them a while back and actually, I need to put them back on our menu SOON.  And the cheese sauce is what made this recipe.  Chuck said the leftovers were even better!!

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
from Rachael Ray

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 softball-sized onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 C steak sauce
1 cup beef stock
Salt and ground black pepper
4 dinner rolls
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup provolone, shredded

Directions
-In large skillet over medium-high heat add the oil and then brown the ground beef, about 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and green pepper and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables start to get tender. Stir in the steak sauce and beef stock, season with salt and pepper, bring up to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes.

-Split open rolls and toast 'em up.

-While the meat is cooking, melt the butter in a medium-size pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring up to a bubble and let thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir the cheese.

-To serve, place a scoopful of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the rolls, then top with the cheese sauce and replace the top of the roll.

Classic Stuffed Peppers

I came across this recipe from Joelen and bookmarked it awhile back. Overall, the dinner was good. I omitted the cheese the original recipe called for and forgot to drain the tomatoes. It was a hit with C and both girls, but I feel like the recipe needs tweaking. More flavor, more spice...just something else. But, the peppers maintained a crispness that made it delish! I did not freeze these, but prepared them on Sunday and made them tonight.

Classic Stuffed Peppers
adapted from Food.com and Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
4 medium green peppers, 1/2 inch trimmed off top and cored/seeded
1/2 C long grain white rice
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
12 ounces ground beef
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes, drained with 1/4 C juice reserved (Um...I did not drain nor did I reserve the juice. I will definitely do this next time while I tweak my recipe).
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
black pepper
1/4 C ketchup

Directions
1. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bell peppers. Cook until peppers just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, remove peppers from pot, drain off excess water and place peppers cut side up on paper towels.
2. Return water to boil; add rice and boil until tender, about 13 minutes.Drain rice and transfer to large bowl; set aside.
7. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F.
8. Meanwhile, heat 12 inch heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat until hot, about 1 1/2 minutes; add oil and swirl to coat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef and cook, breaking beef into small pieces with spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds
9. Transfer mixture to bowl with rice; stir in tomatoes, parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
10. Stir together ketchup and reserved tomato juice in small bowl.
11. Place peppers cut side up in 9 inch square baking dish. Using soup spoon, divide filling evenly among peppers. Spoon 2 tablespoons ketchup mixture over each filled pepper. Bake until filling is heated through, 25 to 30 minutes.

*To freeze, prepare peppers and fill as directed. Top with ketchup mixture and place in a freezer-friendly container. To cook, thaw completely and bake at 350 until heated through.

Pasta Primavera

I had quite a few veggies leftover from our crudite platter on Easter and I was looking for a way to use them up when I stumbled across this recipe in Family Circle magazine (yes, apparently I am a 50-year old woman) and it just sounded delicious! I added more cheese to the half-and-half mixture because I didn't feel it was thick enough and also added sauteed baby bella mushrooms to my dish (C loathes mushies). When it says six servings, they aren't lying; we had a TON of leftovers (seems I forgot I was only feeding two people as opposed to our usual four). This was fresh and the perfect spring pasta dish.
Pasta Primavera
adapted from Family Circle magazine
serves 6

Ingredients
1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 sweet orange peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch strips (I used red because i had it)
1 pound spaghetti
3/4 C half and half
3/4 C chicken broth
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 C grape tomatoes, halved
2/3 C grated Parmesan
1/4 C flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Shaved Parmesan, optional

Directions
-Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and green beans; cook for 4 minutes. Add peppers; cook for 1 more minute. Scoop out vegetables with a large slotted spoon and place in a colander. Rinse under cold water.
-Add pasta to boiling water and cook following package directions, about 9 minutes. Drain; return to pot.
-While pasta is cooking, place half-and-half, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a small saucepan, Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
-Heat a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add olive oil and garlic and cook 30 seconds Add cooked vegetables and tomatoes. Cook, stirring a few times about 2 minutes. Spoon into pasta pot. Stir grated cheese into half-and-half mixture. Add to pasta and gently stir in parsely until all ingredients are combined. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Shave Parmesan on top, if desired.

Saucy Pepper Steak

While at Cleveland's West Side Market last weekend, my brother and SIL started talking about their new favorite recipe, Saucy Pepper Steak.  They both raved about it and how they have made it every week for, like, a month.  Since I am always looking to expand my recipe database, I decided to pick up a few peppers and make it this week!  The top round is super tender and the sauce was really great and had a nice zest to it.  I made a few adjustments because our kids have big appetites and used Open Pit BBQ Sauce, which was the perfect decision.  This is something I will definitely be making again.

Saucy Pepper Steak

Adapted from Kraftrecipes.com

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

4 bell peppers, cut into strips (Next time I will mix it up with red and yellow)

1 large onion, sliced

1 1/2-2 lbs well-trimmed boneless beef sirloin (I used top round), cut into strips

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 C lite soy sauce

1/2 C barbecue sauce

White or brown rice

Directions:

-Spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray.  Cook bell peppers and onions 6-8 minutes, until crisp tender.  Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.

-Add meat, garlic and pepper to same skillet and cook meat to desired doneness.  Add soy sauce and heat through.  Add BBQ sauce, and cook until heated through.  

-Add peppers and onions back to pan with meat and toss gently to coat in sauce.  Serve over rice.

Easy Sausage and Peppers

Here is one of my weeknight meal standbys. Sausage and peppers is a favorite of C's so I try to make it once a month for him.

1 package Honeysuckle hot Italian turkey sausage (usually 5 sausages)

3 green peppers, sliced

2 onions, sliced

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 350. Dump everything in a 9x13 pan. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes. It just doesn't get any easier!