Dinner last night

Everyone loved these stuffed peppers,

even Taylor who typically complains about

all vegetables. The recipe was adapted

from Giada's recipe here. I added sweet

italian sausage, fontina cheese and fresh

basil instead of mint, and a little tomato sauce

topping. I will definetly make this recipe again.

Didn't get a finished photo though,

the kids were to hungry to wait.

o

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce

2 zucchini, grated

3 sweet Italian sausages

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese,

plus more to sprinkle on top

1 cup shredded Fontina cheese

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cup Orzo

2 Tbl. brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

4 cups chicken broth

6 sweet bell peppers

Remove sausage from casing and cook in

saute pan till brown. Drain & set aside.

Cook Orzo in chicken stock for about 5 min.

remove from broth and place in a bowl. Add

tomatoes, grated zucchini, garlic, basil,

parm., fontina, & sausage. Mix to combine.

Cut tops off of peppers and remove ribs and

all seeds. Cut a bit off the base to help

them stand up straight if you need to.

Spoon the orzo mixture into the peppers and

place in casserole dish. Mix the brown sugar with

the small can of tomato sauce and spoon about half

over the top of the peppers. Pour the rest,

along with the left over stock, around the

peppers. Cover with foil and bake at

400 for 45 min. Remove foil and sprinkle

with more parm. cheese and put back in the oven

for about 15 min. till cheese is golden.

Served with bread & butter.

Halloween festivities

Pumpkin carving

Happy boy & Happy pumpkin

The finished pumpkins.

A little snack before trick or treating.

Inspiration from yesterday, my version

turned out beautiful too, & tasty.

Made a big pot of Pasta Fagioli

soup for dinner - delish!

Taylor's drunk pumpkin

Batman

Taylor, Logan & Dad

Me, Mom, Darryl & Logan

Sugar meltdown.....

It was a great day!

o

Pasta Fagioli

1/2 lb. ground beef

4 strips of bacon

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 lrg. onion, diced

1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans

1 (15 oz) can kidney bean

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 small sprig fresh rosemary

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 Tbl. olive oil

1 cup ditalini pasta

6 cups chicken stock

Parm. cheese

**

In large soup pot, brown bacon. Remove

from pot, leaving about 1 Tbl. of the bacon grease.

Add ground beef, s & p and cook till brown.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes.

Remove meat mixture and set aside.

In same pot, add olive oil and saute onions

for a few min. then add carrots & celery and

more s & p and saute for a few more min.

Add back in the meat mixture, then add

both beans, tomatoes, herbs and the

chicken stock. Simmer for a few hours.

Add pasta about 20 min. prior to eating.

(Sometimes I need to add a bit more stock,

just depends on how thick you like your soup.)

Fish out the herb stems.

Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Eat your vegetables

(photo Eddie Ross)

o

Love this idea.

May do something like this tonight.

Just for the adults I am sure, the kids

will be noshing on candy.

Happy Halloween

Picture from last night - we went to a

Halloween party at Dan & Melissa's.

Today we carve pumpkins and get ready

to dress up again and go

trick or treating with the kids.

o

Happy Halloween!

Sugar snap peas

Sesame Sugar Snap Peas

Place Sugar snap peas in a pot of

boiling, salted water. Cook for about 2-3 min.

Drain & drizzle with about 2 tsp. of

sesame oil. Toss with some sliced red

pepper and top with a sprinkle of

black sesame seeds. I usually serve

these with grilled salmon.

Pumpkin picking

We went to a little local farm

to pick up a pumpkin. We didn't

stay long though, it was a very warm

day and Logan was hot & thirsty and

got a little cranky - I must say.

0

Birthday dinner

Flowers for the dinner table.

A little bread & cheese appetizer.

Taylor made the brown flower vase and

the little purple/blue bowl in his ceramics

class at school. I think they're really beautiful.

A delicious bottle of wine.

A wonderful birthday dinner for D.

Menu:

Grilled steak & shrimp

Baked potatoes

Steamed carrots with butter & dill

and coconut cream pie for dessert.

(pie from Marie Calendar's)

Happy Birthday Honey,

we Love you!