Bad *** pasta

Do you have an inner bad-ass that is just dying to be let out?  You know, that little voice inside your head that says things like, "daaaaayum, you GO girl".  See, I may be a crunchy, granola, Mother-Earth kind of girl, but don't be fooled.  I've got some serious inner bad-ass.

So the other day I was getting my first opportunity of the day to sit down and relax.  As I happily reached for my iPad to log into Pinterest, I realized it was 5:30 and I had 3 minis staring at me, expecting me to feed them.  Being the loving mom that I am, I set aside my iPad (telling myself that I was getting these 3 minis into bed ASAP because my Pinterest account was screaming my name) and went to work in the kitchen.  And that's when my inner bad-ass told me to crank up the Flo-Rida and start cooking.

So I started by roasting some bell peppers that I had harvested from the garden that morning.  

As soon as I saw my peppers blackening under that open flame I knew that I was a force to be reckoned with that night in the kitchen.  So I chopped up some garlic and onion and sauteed them in some olive oil.

At this point, Flo-Rida was singing Wild One, and I was inspired to tap into my inner wild side, so I reached for a package of chicken sausage.  And, guess what?  My inner wild side doesn't care that this chicken sausage has more than 5 ingredients, so it got chopped and sauteed as well.

At this point, I was on a roll, so I threw in some sundried tomatoes as well.

I tossed it all together with some whole wheat pasta noodles, and topped with fresh shredded parmesan.

Delish.  Seriously.  Flo-Rida would be proud to know that he inspired such bad-ass pasta.

I loved this pasta.  Mr. McGhee loved this pasta.  My minis loved this pasta.  My sweet snuggly middle mini LOVED this pasta.  And, now I am a little concerned that he has a screamin' inner bad-ass as well.

Heids McGhee's bad-ass pasta

• bell peppers (I used red, orange, and yellow)
• diced onion 
• diced garlic (2-10 cloves, depends on how bad you really want to be!)
• olive oil
• chicken sausage, sliced
• sun-dried tomato packed in oil (sliced)
• whole wheat pasta
• fresh shredded parmesan cheese

1.  Roast bell peppers.

2.  Saute garlic and onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes.  Add chicken sausage and saute until browned.

3.  Add sun-dried tomato and saute an additional minute or two.

4.  Toss chicken mixture with roasted peppers and pasta.  Top with cheese.

Lunch Lady!

So, yesterday's post has gotten rave reviews.  I have gotten several messages from readers that are excited to have their own Tuesday tomato soup and grilled cheese dinner at home.  And, I had many readers that loved walking down memory lane with me to revisit school lunches....so in honor of all of you, here's one of my favorite Adam Sandler videos.  And from now on, I am Heids McGhee, aspiring lunch lady.  Are you thinking, "Heids McGhee, unprocessed kitchen, blogger, biker, and lunch lady....how do you do it all?"  Well, the answer is, I am an overachiever by nature.

**sidenote**  You may not want to watch this video with your children.  My kids think it is hilarious, but I have questionable parenting at times.

So, today is Friday.  To me, Fridays scream cocktails Mexican food.  Tonight's dinner is going to be a breeze because the bulk of dinner is frozen in my freezer.  Remember the crockpot bean recipe from last week?  I froze half of that batch.  As I was pulling the beans out of the freezer, I saw a bag of frozen taco meat from a party we had in December and a bag of frozen corn. 

So, I thawed and reheated the frozen taco meat. It was even better this time.  I got the recipe from allrecipes.com.

Taco meat

• 1 (4 pound) frozen rump roast
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 (7.75 ounce) cans Mexican style hot tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons crushed garlic
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro        

**sidenote**  I never found hot tomato sauce.  I used regular tomato sauce and added some diced jalapenos and onion. 

1. Place the frozen roast in the slow cooker. Pour the wine and Mexican style hot tomato sauce over the top. Season with garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 9 hours. When done, the roast should shred easily with a fork. Shred the roast into the juices, and mix in the chopped green onions and cilantro.               

Serve on tortillas with cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers, etc. 

And, even though I am stretching myself a little too thin with the new lunch lady/biker/blogger roles I am taking on, I thought I really should make something homemade for this meal.  So, I decided to finally tackle homemade tortillas.  I got this recipe from my friend, Deb.  Deb has a 7 year old and 5 year old triplets and makes her own tortillas.  We're putting her up there with Astrid, in the "women who have more hours in their day than the rest of us" club.

Flour tortillas

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp veg shortening or lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

1.  Mix.
2.  Knead.
3.  Roll. 
4.  Cook on hot skillet.

Seriously, how can you not love the directions in Deb's recipe?  I'm thinking Deb has triplets, she could assign steps #1-3 to them, step #4 to the 7 year old and pour herself a cocktail fresh squeezed juice and supervise. 

I know if I was going to be all healthy, I would have used whole wheat flour.  But, today is Friday Funday, so we got all crazy in the McGhee house and used all purpose.  And, don't you love the looks of these....screaming homemade!!!!

When I was scrounging in the freezer for beans and meat, I noticed a bag of frozen corn.  Now, this isn't frozen corn you buy in the grocery store...this is corn that I froze.  There's a difference.  Where I live, in the Middle, we have really amazing sweet corn in the summer.  Anytime there is leftovers I cut it off the cob and freeze it.  Brilliant, I know!  So, I got to thinking about what could I do with this corn, and then I remembered this recipe from canyoustayfordinner.com that I have been wanting to try. 

Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

• 2 small peppers- any kind you’d like
• 1/2 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1, 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch cayenne pepper for a little heat
• 1/2 cup sweet corn
• 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese, or any cheese you like
• fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream for serving

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut a slit through the entire length of each of your peppers. Place them on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, until the skins are softened and beginning to blister.
2. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add your onion and saute for 3 minutes, until beginning to soften and turn translucent.
3. Add garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
4. Stir in your black beans along with the water.
5. Add your cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and cayenne. Stir, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer the beans for at least 15 minutes, but up to 30 minutes.
6. Stir in corn. Divide the bean mixture evenly among the two peppers and sprinkle with cheese.
7. Broil for 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Garnish with fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream if you’d like.

**sidenote** I brushed peppers with olive oil and broiled after step 1 for a couple of minutes.  I like my peppers a little charred. 


Oh.  My.  Goodness.  These peppers were so good. 

Delish!

A full day of cookin'

Today was a busy day in the kitchen.  I started out making a batch of yogurt, I will know tomorrow if it was a success.  I also made a loaf of honey wheat bread in my breadmaker.  I got the recipe from 100daysofrealfood.com, and she claims it tastes just like the bread from Great Harvest Bread Company.  Not sure if I believe that, but I will let you know tomorrow when we eat it!  I also made two batches of granola today, bars and crumbled. 

So, you're probably thinking, "Heids McGhee, you are a rockstar.  Sit down, take a load off, buy a new handbag online."  Listen readers, I am just getting started. 

For dinner tonight I had stuffed bell peppers planned.  I was planning on following a recipe from a new cookbook I got and then it dawned on me, Heids McGhee, you are a blogger with readers and followers.  You don't need a recipe, you need to make your own recipes.  So, I did just that.  And not to toot my own horn, but if there are single ladies out there hoping for a proposal....I promise this meal will get you one.  And if it doesn't, you need to move on.

Heids McGhee lamb, spinach, and goat cheese stuffed roasted bell peppers (I know!  I rock!)

• bell peppers, I used a yellow, red, and orange
• olive oil
• ground lamb meat, 1 lb
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• spinach, 2 handfuls
• salt and pepper
• goat cheese

1.  Roast your bell peppers.  I started doing this years ago following directions from allrecipes.com.  Here's what you do.

Coat bell peppers generously with olive oil.  Put them on a baking sheet and broil them under flame until they begin to turn black.  Turn peppers until each side has been blackened.  Remove from baking sheet and place in a bowl.  Cover bowl with saran wrap. 

Let the peppers sit for a while, at least 30 minutes.  Take peppers out of jar and pull stem off.  Dig inside of pepper and remove the seeds.   

Carefully peel the outer skin off of the pepper.



After peppers are all peeled, set aside.  Resist all temptation to eat them.  They're worth the wait.

2.  In a pan, heat a small amount of olive oil.  Add garlic and spinach.  Cook in oil until spinach is wilted.  Take spinach/garlic out of pan and set aside.  If you're lazy like me, wipe pan with a paper towel.  If you're ambitious, wash pan with soap and water.

3.  Cook ground lamb in pan.  Once lamb is cooked and crumbled, add spinach/garlic mixture.  Add in goat cheese (depending on your taste, add as much or little as you want) and some salt and pepper.  Add in any other spices you would like.  Get creative.  I think next time I will add some thyme. 

4.  Stuff the meat mixture into the peppers.  Tell yourself you are amazing, because, really, you are.

Delish.  I never said these puppies were pretty.  Delish, yes.  Pretty, notsomuch.

We had ours with zucchini, squash and onion.

1.  First slice veggies.  You'll want to slice the onion too, I just hadn't gotten there yet. 

2.  Heat up some vegetable oil (cringe, I know!) in a pan.  Add veggies and saute to your personal prefered tenderness.  Then drizzle soy sauce over veggies.

Delish.

And for dessert, we had homemade graham crackers.  I told ya, I hit it out of the ballpark today!  I got the recipe from the kitchn.com. 

• 1/2 cup white flour
• 2 cups cup graham flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/4 cup water

1.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until the texture is dry and crumbly. (Also, you can do this in a food processor; just blend the butter in short bursts.)

2.  In a small bowl, mix the honey, molasses, and water. Toss this with the dry ingredients until well blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl with your fingers and form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

 

 

3.  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll the dough out on a counter or on wax paper, sprinkled with whole wheat flour. Use a pastry scraper or an index card as a guide to cut the dough into small rectangles. Poke each cracker with a fork, then place them on an ungreased baking sheet.

 

**sidenote** My dough was really crumbly so I drizzled a couple more tablespoons of water in it.  And my pastry scraper was a pizza cutter, worked perfectly. 

4.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy. If stored in an airtight container these will keep for a couple weeks.

 

 

**sidenote**  This graham cracker dough is perfect for little ones who love to help.

 

That's it for today!  Happy cooking!