Hello...Welcome to my first blog. I can't wait to share my life's successes and failures, a no holds barred truth of the matter, life experiences with you. The "name" was a hard one to come up with till a friend of mine said you can post things from your everyday life. Like my gardening, cooking and crazy life as a band mom ...not to forget the biggest part of my life, my kids and our homeschooling adventures, in-which, Core Curriculum came to mind. Hence Core Cooking and Much More. Hope my blog inspires you in some way. I know others have inspired me and I thank them for it. Who knows, maybe a book might come of this one day.
Denise

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Stuffed Bell Peppers



Stuffed Bell Peppers are another one of our family favorites. In my roaster I can fit 12 big bell peppers as you can see. Cut the stems out of the peppers with a paring knife and remove the seeds and some of the light colored membrane from the inside. I then take the ground turkey, you can use ground beef if you'd like, and put it in a bowl with and all the other ingredients below. Except for the topping that goes on after the peppers are cooked. Take your best tools in your kitchen, your hands and mix together . Once mixed, stuff your peppers, arrange them in your roasting pan and add water about a quarter of the way up the peppers. Put in your 375 degree oven cook till done,about 2 hours. Peppers will be nice and soft and the meat will be popping out of the top, depending on how much meat you put in. Then take your remaining ingredients and stir together and then pour on top of your peppers bake for another 15 minuet or so till you get a little browning going on or till heated through and cooked a bit. When done serve over a bed of rice or mashed potatoes.

12 green bell peppers
2 pounds of ground turkey or beef
2 cups of rice
teaspoon or so of salt (small palm full)
some cracked black pepper
a sprinkle of garlic salt
2 whole raw eggs
Tablespoon or so of Worcestershire sauce ( a few good splashes)
1/4 or so of ketchup (a good squirt all around)
If you have fresh parsley you can add a small palm full of  that. I only use it if i have some.

Sauce for the Top
1 large can of tomato sauce or take a can of whole or chopped tomatoes and blend them up till you have sauce
about a half a teaspoon of sugar
about a half a teaspoon dry Basil
stir them together and take a taste, see if there is enough sugar. I always tell me kids take a sniff, it smell a little like canned spaghetti O's. They get a kick out if.

Top it with Fresh Basil as a garnish if your lucky to have some in the house. We always have a plant or two  growing in the summer to pinch off of when needed. Then you are ready to eat!!


Corned Beef and Cabbage



One of our favorite times of the year...St. Patricks Day...We love to celebrate our Irish Heritage with good ol' corn beef and cabbage with red potatoes,onions,carrots and cabbage.It is so simple to cook. I call it twice cooked corned beef. First cook the corn beef in water and the season packet in a roaster covered for about 2 hours till cooked all the way through. Take the meat out and strain the seasoning out of the water/broth with a wire strainer over another pot to hold the liquid.Then put the liquid back into the roaster and add your veggies . If your like our family we love our veggies so you may have to add water to cover most of the veggies. Some may be popping out it will all cook down. Add the meat fat side up on top of your veggies and cook till veggies are soft and the fat is browned...mmmm enjoy your corned beef with rye bread and mustard, and a pad of butter on your potatoes. salt and pepper to taste.

BBQ Burgers

 



Best BBQ Burgers...Lean Ground beef or in this case turkey with crumbled Blue or Gorgonzola cheese mixed in the meat a little salt and fresh cracked pepper, topped with a slice of reduced fat Swiss cheese. Paired with red bell peppers, sweet onions and sesame bun. Smoked with apple wood chips and a hand full of fresh rosemary  sprigs. No condiments needed. So good.