Jalapeno Popper Quinoa Bites

  This recipe was found on Alida's Kitchen.  Quinoa was in the cabinet and I picked a few jalapeno's from Rita's garden. 

I buy red quinoa from Trader Joe's. For the cream cheese I subbed Laughing Cow creamy mozzarella sun-dried tomato & basil cheese.  My changes are in red.



Ingredients:

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed used red quinoa 
1 1/2 cups Chicken broth ( or water)
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped jalapeno peppers
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese
1 tablespoon Laughing cow cheese- see note below
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning of your choice


Directions:

 Cook quinoa in a medium size sauce pan according to package directions. I always rinse quinoa a few times and cook the quinoa in chicken broth.  When cooked, set aside

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.

 Combine cooled quinoa, onion, peppers, garlic, eggs, cream cheese and cheese in a large bowl and mix well.

Put a heaping tablespoonful of quinoa mixture into prepared muffin cups. 

 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes and then gently remove from pan to cool completely.

The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of cream cheese cut into small pieces.

Featured August 4, 2015 on Teach Me Tuesday

Featured August 5, 2015 on From my front porch to yours

Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole

 I picked up green peppers at Winn- Dixie for 69 cents each
 
Gregory gave his Dad  a huge box of cajun food this Christmas and boudin balls was included in the package, AND THREE boxes of Zaps!!!!!


I've made stuffed peppers and I wanted to try something different and this was perfect for what I had on hand.

This is the original recipe which I adapted .
 
1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey( I used a package of boudin balls)
small package frozen corn kernels( 1 14 oz can corn-drained)
2 cups prepared brown or white rice( I don't like rice so I only added 1/2 a cup)
3-4 green peppers, cut into thin strips( 2 large pepper, the first one I sauted  and the second one I put in raw
1 large can tomato sauce ( I can rotel sauce)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese( used a mexican blend)
I also added about 2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 onion-cut into small pieces

I browned the boudin balls in a small amount of EVOO, which I  added the onion and garlic to a med. size pan.
Once cooked I added to a large bowl.
Added the first pepper, which did a whirl in the food processor into the pan a saute until soft.
Added that pepper to the meat mixture.
The second pepper wanted a ride in the food processor and when it was done I added it to the meat mixture.
I added my can of drained corn and the rotel sauce and the tiny amount of rice.
I added a few hand fulls of the Mexican cheese mixture and put it in a 9 inch dish.
To the top I added more Mexican cheese till the entire mixture was covered.
Baked it at 350 for 30-45 mins.


Other ideas - would make a good dip.

My Divingabe said next time it would be great over nachos!  Now that's an idea that I'll definitely try.

Pork Boudin Balls This is the type I used




 

Onion Fritters and Stuffed Peppers

I had a few bags of onions that I bought at a great price. Hoped that my friend Rita would have more jalapenos for me- she did.
Guess who's making jalapeno relish?

                                                    Last of the jalapenos
 I went to my TOHBB files and found this. It was orginally posted 2009 by Salsarose!

The finer you chop your onions the better they cook this batch made
about 12 patties these are just awesome.


Taste Just Like Onion Rings

3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt or less
3/4 milk
2-1/2 cups finely chopped onions


Directions:
2-1/2 cups finely chopped onions

Mix dry ingredients together; add milk.
Batter should be fairly thick. Add onions
and mix thoroughly. Drop by tablespoons
into 1/2 inch of oil in skillet.
Flatten slightly when you turn them.
Brown both sides till crisp.

I fried up a few and they just didn't have the kick we enjoy. I added some cajun spice ( Tony Chachere's)  and also added more cornmeal.


I had a few "onion fritters" leftover. Found a recipe on Pinterest for stuffed peppers. I adapted the recipe from Peanut Butter Fingers. Made a crockpot chicken early in the week and had plenty left so added the chicken to the stuffed peppers. The leftover onion fritters- light bulb moment- mix them into this recipe! In place of the onion I crumbled a few fritters. I also used a 1 whole egg.
This was an excellent recipe. Divingabe said it was a
make again. No photos of this. As soon as it came out of the oven it was gone!

1 lb. ground chicken
1 medium onion, chopped( used a few leftover onion fritters)
1/2 c chopped mushrooms ( 1 small can)

1 packet Knorr vegetable soup mix
1/2 c. marinara sauce ( 4-cheese marinara)
3 egg whites( 1 egg)
3/4 c. salsa ( didn't use because I spiced up the fritters)
2 – 4 large bell peppers

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix chicken through salsa in a bowl
3. Cut off tops of peppers and remove the insides
4. Fill peppers with chicken mixture and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, until chicken mixture is fully cooked
5. Enjoy as is, or top with ketchup or hot sauce
6. Note: You may cook any leftover chicken filling in a loaf pan and enjoy it as a chicken meatloaf.