My First Bachelorette Party

Ok, so the title of this post may not seem food related, but just wait...becuase it is! My bridesmaids (who all live in different cities) and I all met in Marietta, OH where we all went to college together. They had a bachelorette party for me since they can't come in town for my other one. This picture is of my out of town bridesmaids along with my sister who is my matron of honor and another one of our friends who came along:) I could go on and on about this weekend...but this is a food blog!!!

While visiting...we had to go to the Rossi Pasta store. My friend Kim said, "Hey Laney, am I going to see this on your blog?" OF COURSE!!!

I bought some pasta and made it last night...Southwestern Chipotle Fettuccini. It was great!...but I forgot to take pictures :( I served it with a vodka sauce that I found at the grocery store along with pork chops and sauteed vegetables...I ate WAY too much of the pasta!!!

Leftover Steak with Chicken, Mexican Side, and Sweet Potato Fries!

My parents had us over for my uncle's birthday dinner this past weekend. I think my parents had 5 cows...there was enough steak for an army! So, we had leftovers! We ate leftovers the next day, and then I decided to make something different with the leftovers the next. I Sliced up some chicken and steak and sauted them together with some onion. I seasoned them with salt pepper, and a seasoned pepper mix that I have. Melted cheese on some hoagy rolls in the oven until the bread was a little crispy and made sandwiches.




I made sweet potato fries...YUM! Just peel and slice them, spray with cooking oil, and season however you like. I used garlic salt and seasoned pepper. Bake them in the oven at 350 for about 40-45 minutes. Here is a great tip I learned from my cooking board...her nest name is amief...instead of baking the potatoes on the cooking sheet, place them on a cooling rack ontop of the cooking sheet...then you don't have to flip them! Thanks for the tip!





Now, for my somewhat mexican side...I took two cans of corn, one can of black beans, a bag of frozen okra, one jalepeno chopped, and one diced onion. I sauteed them all together until everything was cooked and hot! I seasoned with lots of dried cilantro, seasoned pepper, and a little bit of garlic.





Dinner was pretty tasty!

Moroccan Inspired Stuffed Peppers

This recipe has been adapted from a fellow nestie's blog, http://cookingcutie.blogspot.com/ Hers looked good and easy, so I had to try it! In her post she used yellow peppers, and being on a budget, every tiny thing helps....so, I decided to use green peppers since they are always cheaper. She also mentioned in her post that it seemed to be lacking something since there was no sauce to kind of hold it all together. I decided to try using cream cheese in it...it always seems to work for me, but of course, might not be the healthiest choice :)

I thought these were pretty good, but I do like my other stuffed peppers better. These were nice to have as something different though. Of course my fiance didn't care for them...for some reason he doesn't like couscous. So, of course, he automatically judged them when I told him there was couscous...should have left my mouth shut! I told him that's fine, I will eat the leftovers until everything is gone, and you can get fast food :)

Thanks for the idea Chelley!

Moroccan Inspired Stuffed Peppers:

4 peppers

1 onion

salt

pepper

minced garlic

dried parsley flakes

1 1b chicken, cubed

1-1 1/4 cup chicken broth, fat free reduced sodium

1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained

8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, very soft

4 oz feta cheese

2 tomatoes

1 box whole wheat couscous, I used garlic and olive oil flavor

Cut peppers in half lengthwise. Place in oven at 350 until they become a little tender. Saute diced onion and cubed chicken until chicken is done. Season heavily while cooking. Add chick peas and one diced tomato. Mix together. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Mix in couscous, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes. When done, fluff it up! Add the feta and very soft cream cheese and mix all together. Spoon into pepper halves and garnish with a slice of tomato. Put in oven at 350 for about 10 minutes to reheat everything.

Cheating :)

Well, I guess this is another post that only half way counts. I buy my pork roast already seasoned and marinated, so all I have to do is cook it. Kroger actually had it on sale this week, so I stocked up! The one we had tonight was teryaki. They also have honey mustard and peppercorn.

To have with the pork, I sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, and onions in seasoned olive oil. I served them over whole wheat thin spaghetti and mixed in plenty of feta cheese! It was quite delicious!