Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

This is one of our go to recipes and, even though he doesn't usually love bell peppers, Husband really enjoys this recipe. We love it because it makes lots of extra stuffing that you can eat with chips or as a taco or something. It is also really good as left overs. Thing 2 loves it and Thing 1 likes the filling on chips. I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: simplylovefood.com

Course: Main Course

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• 1/2 lb lean ground turkey breast
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 heaping tbsp of homemade taco seasoning or you can use the packaged type if you like
• 2 cups cooked rice any type you like – I like brown
• 3-4 organic bell peppers halved and seeds removed
• 1 can black beans drained & rinsed
• 1/2 cup organic frozen corn
• 1 (15 -16 ounce) jar salsa
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• fresh cilantro
• sour cream
• sliced avocado

Directions

1. Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat the peppers with olive oil and roast in a baking dish about 20-25 minutes just until cooked thru. Remove the peppers from the oven and allow to cool until you can handle them.
2. *****Note – make sure you cook your turkey ahead of time that way you do not have to worry about it later. Also, I sauteed the onions until cooked thru, I then added in my cooked rice, black beans and corn.
3. In a bowl add the taco seasoning, cooked ground turkey, chopped onions, black beans, corn and rice. Add in the jar of salsa and mix well.
4. Carefully spoon the turkey mixture into each half of the bell peppers and place back into the baking dish. Cook the peppers for another 15-20 minutes or until the peppers are cooked all the way thru. Before removing from the oven sprinkle the tops of each pepper with shredded cheddar cheese. Place back into the oven just until the cheese has melted.
5. Remove from the oven and top with fresh cilantro, avocado slices and/or sour cream just before serving.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 185
Fat: 4
Carbohydrate: 32
Protein: 9

Lasagna Soup

A lot has happened since our last post but the most noteworthy is that Thing 2 and I have gone gluten free! I've lived gluten free before but it has been slightly difficult getting back into the swing of things plus adding a 2 year old's palette to the mix. So my point is all of the recipes I will post will now either be gluten free or can be made gluten free. This soup is no exception. Husband really liked this soup and I enjoyed it more and more the stuffier my nose got. It was SPICY! I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that we used cut up Italian sausages rather than turkey sausage since that is what we had on hand but I think I will cut back on the crushed red pepper next time. We used brown rice lasagna noodles and left off the bread sticks to make this gluten free. It was good and hit the spot with the freezing cold weather outside. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: thedeenbros.com

Course: Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound Italian turkey sausage casings removed
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 4 ounces broken whole-wheat lasagna noodles about 4 noodles
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 Whole-wheat breadsticks or grissini, optional

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick saucepot or Dutch oven. Add the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is crumbled and browned, 8 – 10 minutes.
2. Add the broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Add the noodles; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly and the noodles are tender, 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in mozzarella, basil, and the Parmesan. Serve with the breadsticks, if using. (whole-wheat lasagna noodles take a little longer to cook.)

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 225
Fat: 7g
Cholesterol: 53mg
Sodium: 826mg
Sugar: 4g
Carbohydrate: 17g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 23g