A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

I Just Couldn't Wait..


Here are a couple of simple ideas for things to fix to eat. I couldn't wait till tomorrow...I might forget them :) Here goes...

I had a bag of those tiny peppers in my crisper. I've used them on veggie trays and as appetizers before, but I thought that there might be a use for them.. as a main course. While I was waking up this morning...it came to me. Stuffed mini peppers! Here's how I did it.....First I cut the tops off  the peppers and took out the tiny amount of seeds. I had a bag of frozen meatballs in the freezer...left over from a party that we went to. I took a tiny meatball and put it in the pepper. Some of them had to have a slit cut in them to fit the meatball.
 I sauteed the cleaned and trimmed tops along with a small onion till tender. This took only a few minutes.
 I had a jar of Paul Newman's tomato and basil sauce...not a big jar.... and I added it to the pan and mixed it with the veggies. I poured the sauce over the peppers and topped the dish with pieces of a chunk of Parmesan cheese. Put some foil on top and slow cooked it at 275 for a couple of hours. Took the foil off and turned oven up to 400 and browned the top a bit. Then I forgot to take a picture...so you will have to use your imagination here. It was bubbling like crazy when I took it out of the oven. The reason I slow cooked it was because I had errands to run and wanted it to cook while I was gone...You could bake it at 350 if you wanted. It was delish. The peppers are a little sweeter than green peppers but very tasty. I thought the meatball trick was clever...and I'll take a bow. 

Next is something that I haven't made yet. Yogurt parfaits. A friend told me that she layers Dannon vanilla yogurt and berries in a parfait glass.




 She sprinkles a few nuts or granola in the layers too. Now, I've seen this done many times before, but this is different. She puts it in the freezer and gets the yogurt almost frozen and she takes it out and eats a little at a time, during the day.

I think this sounds delicious...I eat a lot of yogurt and lately have been eating Greek yogurt. 


I guess this recipe could be made using any flavor yogurt. I have a couple in the freezer right now. The picture is Rachel Ray's yogurt parfaits. So pretty and good for you.


Now this next easy treat is one that I made up while I was doing the dishes. I love s'mores. I make them in the house not over a campfire....using the microwave. Every once in a while, Joe and I have a taste for something sweet and I make a couple s'mores. They call for Hershey bars and we seldom have them in the house. Nutella was on sale this morning and I bought a jar. I got to thinking...how about a s'more with Nutella instead of a Hershey bar? I took a square graham cracker and put a spoonful of Nutella on it. Then I put a few mini marshmallows on top of the Nutella...put it in the microwave and nuked it for 10 seconds. Put another cracker on top and squished it. That creamy Nutella was hanging over the edge of the cracker...just waiting for me to lick it off. Yum...delicious! A little different flavor than a Hershey...but in my opinion better and you don't have to have the candy bars handy.From now on there's always going to be a whole jar of Nutella right next to the peanut butter.
Now I think that these are my very own creations dreamed up in my little gray head. So, please, if you've been enjoying them at your house for a long time...just humor me and don't let on.
Balisha

9 comments:

Judy said...

I wish I still thought of things to cook--especially S'mores!!! I didn't know you could make them in the microwave!!! I have Hershey's chocolate bars in my stash, but no graham crackers or marshmallows--wish I'd seen this before I went to the store. YUMMY!!!

CraveCute said...

I love your post, such wonderful ideas! Sometimes I get stuck in a rut of making the same things over and over. Nice to have some new recipes to inspire me! Love those little peppers and I also eat a lot of the Greek yogurt especially in the warmer months. Thank you for visiting my blog ACC too!

Margie's Musings said...

Oh Balisha, you are so clever!

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

My goodness those all look yummy!

Blondie's Journal said...

All of these are great, innovative ideas! I like the way you think! First off, where do you find those tiny peppers? I've never seen them! I would love to try these little stuffed goodies, I bet they would make wonderful appetizers at a party!

The parfaits are awesome. Greek yogurt is really catching on and I am a big fan of frozen yogurt, so this is a great way to do it yourself!

And the s'mores! I love Nutella but never had a lot of ideas for using it. I have to give this a try. We have fires outside at the lake all the time. I keep a plastic container in the freezer with my marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey bars in it. That way I can grab it and bring everything outside at once. And of course everything stays fresh for weeks.

Keep sharing these clever ideas!

XO,
Jane

debra @ HOMESPUN said...

yes go ahead and take a bow! :)

Balisha said...

I first found the little peppers at Valli Produce in Rockford, but now I have seen them in lots of stores. If you ask your produce manager...I'll bet he or she could get them for you.

They make wonderful appetizers stuffed with cream cheese spread, crab etc.

Take some smoked sausage...grill it and chop it up and add mozzarella cheese... spread on pepper half,and put in micro...or on grill for a couple of minutes.

For some of these I slice the peppers in half so they lay flat.

Sauteed, chopped mushrooms with fresh thyme and cheese.

Goat cheese, topped with panko breadcrumbs

Cream cheese and crumbled bacon

Black beans, Monterey jack cheese
and salsa

I would imagine that you all could come up with so many clever ideas using these little peppers.When I first bought them, I did so because they were so cute. I didn't have a clue what I would do with them. They look so pretty on a tray for a party.
Or....you can just eat them as is.
Balisha




One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

THANKS FOR SOME NEW IDEAS...

Lona said...

Those parfaits look so yummy Balisha. Now I want one. LOL! Have a lovely weekend.