Let The Cooking Begin: Part Three...

I have come to like the gathering that happens in the kitchen.  I look forward to hearing the reviews of my family.  There is something about knowing; my meals are well liked by my siblings and mother.  Not to say, I loving hearing my sweety say "Mmm Baby, that was good".  My head might have gotten a little bigger, and my pride is over flowing.  

I can not seem to stop myself. 

Ground Beef for Stuffed Bell Peppers

It's disgusting. 

It's madding.

It's time consuming.

And I love it.   

So, maybe "love" is a strong word to use.  I hate spending the time cooking and then having to clean up the dishes.  Not the cooking dishes {utensils, Pots/pans, measuring cups and spoons} but, the lunch dishes.. and the dinner dishes... and I've failed to add; the breakfast dishes. 

Otherwise; I am having the time of my life trying new dishes.  Making meals.  Baking.  Learning.  Yep, this is better then what little I learned in high school.  None of that cooking stuck with me.  Not even the kitchen lingo. 

2 cups of Rice for the Stuff Bell Peppers

I went grocery shopping with my mother at a local Spanish store.  The Village.  I could have shopped in there for hours, in fact I am almost positive we did.  The store was not huge; like Walmart or Publix, but man was I in Spanish heaven.  The peppers was such a pretty color, so I bought some saying "I am going to make Stuffed Bell Peppers.  Did I know how to make Stuffed Peppers, no; and that did not stop me.  I picked up the brightest Green Bell Peppers.  Yellow Bell Peppers.  Red Bell Peppers.  and the prettiest Red Pablanos Peppers I have ever seen.   Not, in truth, I have no idea what to use a Pablano Pepper for; regardless of the color, but the color was so pretty that I was going to show it off.  So they are currently sitting in my Veggie Basket while I figure out their use, and I will figure it out.

With my Green and Red Bell Peppers, dinner for next week was in the making.  With the help of my daughter Tabitha and the online web site {Allrecipes.com}  she provided me with,  a combination of a few ideas was placed together, and before I knew it; my Stuffed Bell Peppers were in the making.

Stuffed, and over stuffed, Green Bell Peppers

First,  as I cooked the ground beef , the ingredients were added:  all season {two shakes from the bottle}, black pepper {1/2 TBSP}, paprika {1/2 TSP}, Oregano {2 shakes from the bottle},  Diced Onions {1 cup} and Goya Sofrito Criollo Seasoning {2 Tablespoons}.

While the ground beef was cooking, I started the rice ~ 2 Cups.

During the cooking time of the ground beef and the rice, I started on my Bell Peppers and Chicken {there will be an explanation for the chicken later}.

Multitasking in a small kitchen is very hard.  I have to say, and stress strongly, my mothers kitchen is big but the counter space is VERY SMALL.

 
I cut a hole in the top of the Peppers, cleaned out all the seeds and membranes {of course saved the seeds so the natural green thumbs can grown more peppers}, rinsed out the insides and placed them in a steamer above boiling water.  Now, I let the water come almost to the bottom of the steamer, put the lid on and let the water boil fully BEFORE I added my Bell Peppers to the steamer.  Once the water was at a good boil, I added the Bell Peppers.  Because the Peppers were so big, only three fit at a time, and this was just fine.  I let the peppers steam for 5 minutes.  Then took out the first 3 peppers and added the last 2 peppers

When the ground beef was fully cooked, I drained the fat and added the cooked rice to the pan of ground beef.  Mix ground beef and rice together well.  You now have your Bell Pepper Stuffing.  Mm mm Yummy!!

~ Added ground beef and rice mixture around Bell Pepper ~

I spooned the Bell Pepper Stuffing inside each pepper {I stuffed it full}, spooned tomato sauce {or spaghetti sauce} over top of each Bell Pepper, topped it with plenty of shredded cheddar cheese, dont be afraid to fill the Bell Pepper opening and over fill it.  Nothing is better then melted cheddar cheese.  Beside, I am talking three hungry men here... there can never be "enough".

When all the Bell Peppers were stuffed, I put them in the oven at 325 for 1 hour.  The stuffing will get nice and hot, the Bell Pepper wont be to soft, and not to crunchy.

Your family will  L O V E  {harps are playing as an angel sings in the back ground}  them. 

Garnish your bowl with what ever you'd like.  I added a few additional spoons full of my ground beef and rice mixture around the bowls.  But you can add crackers or sliced toast.  What ever your heart desires. 

My brother Mark, doesn't like Stuffed Bell Peppers ~ so I made him oven baked chicken.  He loved that.

I cleaned the chicken first, beat two eggs {added 1 TBSP All Season, Black Pepper [just a shake], dipped the chicken in the egg/seasoning mixture, poured season bread crumbs in a zip lock bag {about 1/4 way up the bag}, added the dipped chicken to the zip lock bag and shook until the chicken was covered with bread crumbs.  I put the chicken in a round baking dish {a pie pan to be exact} and baked right along with the Bell Peppers.  Poof, Dinner for Mark was well on it's way to cooking.

Dinner was done, and another meal learned.  I could really get use to this cooking idea.  To use to it.

****  Note ***

 The dinner turned out awesome.  I could not have asked for a better meal to make a group of hungry men, and my mother loved the Stuffed Bell Peppers.  Only thing.. My sweety slept through dinner time.  My brother Fred, well he was out like a light as well.  As for Mark, he did not come home until much later.  So the only one who was able to enjoy the Bell Peppers out of the oven, was my mother... Who loved every single bite.  Funny thing is ~ my mother and I worked in the yard ALL day long.  Cutting grass at her neighbor Lois yard, and weed eating our yard.  I was burnt {still am} and she was worn out; yet we were the only ones in the house awake.  Ha, silly men.. though they could out work a women.