Fried Cabbage With Sausage

This is not my original recipe...it's from Pinterest. There were quite a few exactly the same or almost the same so I assume this is a common recipe somewhere in the country. Where I'm from in Louisiana, we had coleslaw, cabbage in soup, and smothered cabbage. I've been wanting to try something different and came across this recipe. I made it tonight and Bob and I had to make ourselves stop eating! It's DELICIOUS!!!

Fried Cabbage With Sausage

1 stick butter (I used half and will cut down even more next time; might even use veggie broth instead of any butter and just put a tablespoon of olive oil)
1 small head of green cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced into round pieces (I used 3 hot dog sized links)
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes (I used Rotel)
1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, to taste

Melt butter in LARGE skillet. If you don't have a mutantly large skillet, use a Dutch Oven. Add cabbage and onion and cook on medium high for about 5 minutes, stirring to keep from sticking to pan. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Stuffed Peppers

We love stuffed peppers and I had been getting the ones already made at Publix. But sometimes I had trouble with them...they're all ground beef, no filler or vegetables. Really heavy for Prissy Pouch. So the other day I saw some really pretty green peppers at the store and decided to make up my own stuffed pepper recipe. So tonight that's just what I did!

Stuffed Peppers

2 medium green peppers
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup beef broth
1/2 pound lean ground beef (you can also use ground chicken or turkey)
1/2 cup mixed vegetables (you can use any vegetables you like...I used frozen zucchini, yellow squash, and sliced mixed peppers)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Sargento reduced fat Mexican blend)
salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin
ketchup
8 oz tomato sauce, optional
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F.

Quinoa: Using the beef broth in place of water, cook quinoa according to package directions. Fluff with a fork and let sit for 15 minutes.

Beef Mixture: In a sauce pot, brown ground beef (covered) until about halfway cooked. Add vegetables and seasonings to taste. Re-cover and continue cooking until ground beef is fully cooked but still very moist and vegetables are soft. Using a wooden spatula or spoon, chop up the vegetables to make stuffing the peppers easier. Remove from the heat. Add cheese and quinoa and about 1-2 tablespoons ketchup. Mix, then taste seasonings. Add seasonings if needed.

Peppers: Rinse and dry peppers. Cut tops off and take out flesh and seeds. If the peppers don't stand up straight, cut a thin slice off the bottom until they're relatively upright. It doesn't matter if you cut through a little. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil in a glass pie plate or small, shallow baking dish and use a paper towel to wipe the olive oil around the pie plate. Use the oil now on the paper towel to wipe the outside of the peppers. Place the peppers in the pie plate and, using a teaspoon, put the meat mixture into the peppers. Press down lightly after every couple of spoonfuls to get rid of air bubbles. Stuff until you have a rounded top on the pepper. Drizzle a little ketchup on the top of the meat mixture. You can put more, less or none...it doesn't matter! Pour the can of tomato sauce around the peppers and sprinkle some seasoning over the sauce. You really don't need the tomato sauce...I use it because Bob likes it that way. Bake at 350F for about 45-50 minutes. Serve immediately.

Note: If you use ground chicken or turkey, you can use chicken or vegetable broth instead of beef broth to cook the quinoa. You can also make this vegetarian if you want to. Use more vegetables to have the same volume. Steam them with the seasonings then chop and add the cheese and quinoa.

Not Too Chili

At my house, chili is like ice cream; we can eat it all year round. I don't care if it's burning hot summertime, we love chili! Before surgery I liked it hot hot hot! Make it hot then add hot sauce! Yum! Since surgery, Prissy the Particular Pouch decided she doesn't like hot and spicy. So we don't eat hot and spicy anymore. If Prissy's not happy, nobody's happy. Ugh! Well Bob and I love Longhorn's chili. It's got a bite to it, but it's also mostly mild and just a touch sweet. My chili is not a copycat of Longhorn's, but it's got a bite to it, mostly mild and just a touch sweet. Bob and I love it...hope you do too!

Not Too Chili

1 pound 90/10 ground beef
1 envelope chili seasoning
1 can mild Rotele
1/4 cup ketchup
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
2 8-oz cans water
salt, pepper, garlic powder
1/2 medium onion, diced, divided

In a Dutch oven, brown the ground beef with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When halfway browned add 1/2 the diced onions. When the beef is cooked with no pink at all, add the envelope of chili seasoning. Mix and let it cook into the meat just a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the reserved onions. Cover, bring to a boil. After it boils, lower heat to simmer and let the chili cook and reduce until it is a thick as you want it. If you want it hotter, add a few slices of pickled jalapeno at this point (or some fresh jalapeno). When ready, serve hot in small bowls and top with some diced onion.

Ground Beef "Hash"

This is a wls variation of a pre-wls comfort dish. I don't eat that anymore but sometimes a girl needs comforting! Ya know? Anyway, I made hamburger steaks in my George Foreman grill last night and had some ground beef left over. Bob and I have problems with leftover meat so I just put the raw, seasoned meat in the fridge. Today at lunch I knew just what I wanted to eat!

Ground Beef "Hash"

4 ounces seasoned ground beef (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin and McCormick Hamburger seasoning)
1 1/2 teaspoons cooking oil
frozen onion
frozen mixed pepper slices
frozen corn

Start browning the ground beef in the oil on medium low heat in a small saucepan. Add the onions, peppers, and corn. You don't need to add any broth because the moisture from the defrosting veggies will add all the moisture you need. Cover and cook until the ground beef has lost it's pink color. Uncover, break up any large bits of meat and raise the heat to medium. Let the food pan fry for a few minutes until the ground beef is cooked through to your satisfaction. Put food in a bowl and enjoy! I like to add a little ketchup stirred in and Bob likes a dab of mayo on the side.

Salsa Meatballs

Looking for something to take to the Superbowl party? Want to make sure you have a protein to eat? I got your back! Salsa meatballs! They are so yummy and so filling! Are you ready for some football (and meatballs)?!!!

While we're on the subject of Superbowl parties, here's a couple of hints for you.

   1. Look at all the food available before you put even one thing on your plate. Then decide what you really want and take a small amount of just a few things.
   2. Remember to eat mindfully. Have a great time, but remember that you are consuming food and that the calories, fats, and carbs will still count even though you are watching THE GAME.
   3. Remember to have fun; don't let the fear of dealing with all that food throw you. It's a buffet...choose what you want to eat and enjoy yourself! Then leave the food alone!

Salsa Meatballs

1 package frozen meatballs (about 64)
1  12-16 ounce jar salsa
1 jar sugar free peach preserves (I use Smucker's)

Put preserves in a small saucepan and turn fire to medium low. When preserves start to melt, add the salsa. Cook for a couple of minutes until preserves are melted and mixed well with the salsa.

Add the meatballs to the crockpot and pour the sauce on top. Stir to mix. Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high about 5 hours.

Keep warm in the crockpot during the party and be sure to root for the winning team!!!

Spaghetti Sauce Tip

As with the cornbread, I'm not going to post a recipe for spaghetti sauce...my recipe is really simple...Hunt's Traditional Spaghetti Sauce! LOL! I just brown my ground beef with some salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano then add a can of diced tomatoes and the Hunts spaghetti sauce.

But here's my tip: Get a package of fresh baby portabella mushrooms, clean 'em up, slice 'em up and substitute 1/2 of the package of ground beef with the mushrooms. Add them when you add your sauce to the beef. Many vegetarians use portabella mushrooms as a substitute for meat and they are so delicious and nutritious. You've just saved money, fat, and calories. And you've just added some good, healthy carbs to your dinner. You can add any mushrooms you like; I use baby bellas because they are more meaty and we like the taste so much better than white buttons.

I know the gourmet chefs have a fancy little brush they "dust off" the mushrooms with and they say that you shouldn't use water to wash mushrooms. Well, they're going to get wet when I put them in my spaghetti sauce anyway, so what's the difference? And, oh by the way, mushrooms are grown in d.i.r.t.  I'm gonna wash those little suckers!

Those of us with gastric bypass surgery don't eat pasta so I've found that at my house, we like to have our spaghetti sauce over some cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan or even shredded cheddar or mozarella and nuke for about 15-30 seconds to melt the cheese and you have a wonderful, nutritious dinner!

Ground Beef in Tomato Gravy

If I was a fancy cook I would, I'm sure, have a fancy name for this dish. But I'm not fancy and this recipe was handed down to me from my Mom (who was, of course, the best cook in the world). But actually, the name fits the dish. It's simple and tasty. We only have beef about once a week and this is one of our favorites.

Ground Beef in Tomato Gravy

1 1/2 pounds 97% lean ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup sliced frozen peppers (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans tomato sauce
2 tomato sauce cans water

Brown ground beef in a deep skillet. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add onions and peppers and finish browning. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil. Season with more salt, pepper and garlic powder. Lower heat and simmer until done.