Tag: Rotel tomatoes

Wow, it’s been a while – and a few Super Bowl snacks!

I promise, I never intended to take such a long break. But, the holidays kind of got in the way and then a vacation and then a sickness … and here we are! I hope that you all had the most fantastic holidays imaginable. Mine was great!

Every year is different – because every year, my daughters are older. Christmas with small children is very different than with adult (and almost adult) children. But, still magical none the less. One tradition that we’ve had since my girls were little is that I make them Christmas PJs every year. I’ve tried to stop doing it – but, they insist that I continue. That said, I thought that I would share a picture of their 2019 PJs. Rae Dunn inspired!

Now – onto a few snacks for the super bowl. To be fair, these were actually things that I made around the holidays – but, they work GREAT for a Super Bowl (or any) gathering.

The first is a sour cream dip that has to be one of my most favorite ‘snack’s ever. And, it is so simple! Just a few ingredients and you have one of the most delicious dips that you’ll ever taste. All you need is: 1 large container (I didn’t have a large container, so I used 1 1/2 of the normal sized containers) of sour cream (you can use fat free if you like, but full fat is definitely the most tasty!), 1 can of RoTel tomatoes and 1 packet of ranch dressing mix.

Just throw it all in a bowl (don’t drain your tomatoes), mix well – chill and serve with ruffles!

The second is something that we’ve been making for Christmas gatherings for as long as I can remember – but, also, great for a Super Bowl gathering. Again, just a few ingredients: 1 packet of flour tortillas, 1 container of whipped cream cheese (you can use regular cream cheese, but if you do, make sure that it sits out for a while to soften), deli ham slices and green onions.

All you do is lay out each tortilla, cover it with the cream cheese, lay ham on top and one green onion.

Roll them up as tight as possible. Put the rolled tortillas in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

After they have chilled for a while, just cut them into rounds and serve! Apologies that I don’t have a ‘final’ picture – I suspect we were running late to a family gathering, and I didn’t think to get the picture.

Well – those are a few of my options for a Super Bowl gathering! If you try any of them, I would love to hear about it!

And, despite the fact that I’ve been away, I have cooked some – and will be adding more recipes. I just have to get back into the swing of things! I hope to be back, regularly, soon!!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!

by Michelle

Stuffed Bell Peppers

The other day, I bought some bell peppers – these were admittedly ‘value’ peppers, all in one bag, that were a LOT less expensive than the $2.99 (green) – 3.99 (yellow and red) PER BELL PEPPER that they wanted, otherwise (** side note, not sure what was going on there, I don’t recall ever seeing peppers that expensive before). The ‘value’ bag had one yellow bell pepper that was used for another recipe, the remainder were green. I mention the ‘value bag’ status of these peppers because, they are the funkiest shaped peppers I’ve ever seen in my life. That said, probably not the prettiest to use for stuffed peppers – but, you work with what you have!

One thing that I really don’t like, with regard to stuffed bell peppers, is when the pepper doesn’t seem to be cooked through fully – that said, I decided to ‘precook’ my peppers in the oven. I simply halved the peppers, tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper – and cooked them in the oven for 20 minutes, sliced side down. At that length of time, they maintain their integrity, but cook long enough that they will be perfect after baking them stuffed!

While the peppers were cooking, I got started on the filling. This consisted of ground beef, onion, mushrooms, a can of Rotel tomatoes (I missed it in the picture below, but I’ve included a picture separately in case anyone doesn’t know what I’m talking about), cooked rice (I had some frozen, I used that), garlic, salt and pepper.

The filling started with a little bit of oil in a large skillet – once the oil was hot, I added in the onions, garlic and mushrooms. I cooked this mixture for about 10 minutes.

Once the vegetables were on their way, I added in the ground beef and cooked it through.

The next step was to add in the rice. As I was using frozen rice, there were some clumps – I just allowed the warm ground beef to break it apart and stirred until the rice was separated and warmed through.

Finally, I added in the can of Rotel tomatoes and mixed everything through. I reduced the heat to simmer, covered and allowed it to cook for about 10 minutes. This should be about the same time that the peppers are ready to come out of the oven.

***Note, for the next time I make this, I’m thinking I will add some cheese to the mixture, itself, as well.

While you’re letting the filling simmer, you can take that time to grate some cheese (use whatever cheese you like, I used monterey jack), if you’re not using pre-grated cheese.

Once the filling is completed and the peppers are out of the oven – it’s time to put things together! It couldn’t be easier – just flip the peppers over in the baking dish, fill with as much filling as you’d like – top with cheese and you’re ready to put it back in the oven!

Cover the baking dish, loosely, with foil (you want to try to avoid the foil touching the cheese, so you don’t ‘loose’ your cheese when you remove the foil) and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you’ll want to remove the foil, return to the oven and cook for a final 10-15 minutes (until the cheese starts to brown).

Stuffed Bell Peppers
Total cooking time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

4 Bell Peppers, halved
1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
2 cups cooked rice (I used frozen rice that I’d made earlier)
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
olive oil

  • In large baking dish/pan – add halved bell peppers, spread a little bit of olive oil on both sides, salt and pepper. Bake peppers @ 375 degrees for 20 minutes (sliced side down)
  • Add small amount of oil to skillet – then add in onion, garlic and mushrooms to pan. Cook for approx 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
  • Add ground beef, salt and pepper to pan and cook the beef thoroughly
  • Add rice – stirring, allow rice to warm through (will take longer if you use frozen rice like I did)
  • Add in can of Rotel tomatoes, stir – cover and simmer for 10 minutes
  • Once mixture is done simmering (10 minute) and timer goes off for the peppers – remove peppers from oven
  • Flip pepper halves over in pan (peppers should be somewhat cooked, but not mushy)
  • Add filling to each pepper
  • Top with shredded cheese, add pepper if you like
  • Loosely cover pan with foil (try to ‘tent’ the foil so that your cheese doesn’t melt to it in the oven) and return to oven for 20 minutes
  • Remove foil and cook for another 10-15 (or until cheese starts to brown)
by Michelle