Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

I LOVE jalapeno poppers.  The problem?  I don't have a lot of patience to make them.  There's something about washing the cut peppers and the capsaicin fumes that try to choke me out that just makes it not so much fun.  So I try to find other ways to make poppers.

And then, my gorgeous cousin made these poppers for me and I knew that there was no going back.

EVER.

Seriously.  They're that amazing!

Ingredients:
1 lb of ground sausage (any you prefer)
8 oz of cream cheese (softened)
2 C shredded four cheese blend, divided (I used the Mexican mix)
1 lb of jalapenos, halved and seeded
1 green onion, finely chopped

Now the prep work on this takes longer than I would normally like, but know that it is completely worth it and definitely worth the try.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Brown sausage in a skillet.  Drain and cool (slightly)
3. Mix cream cheese, 1 C of cheese shreds, green onions, and sausage in a bowl.  The heat of the sausage helps to melt the cheesey goodness together.

*At this point, I paused.  I put everything in a zip lock bag and stored it over night.  I had already prepped the peppers and put them in their own bag as well.*

The best part about pausing a bit here, is that the cream cheese re-solidifies as it cools, which makes it easier to work with.  You can slice it and dice it which makes it easier to form in the peppers. You can work straight through at this point, I just had a lot to prep so this was a convenient place for me to stop. (and no, I didn't leave the oven on all night!)


4. Place your stuffing into your halved jalapeno pieces.

5. Place stuffed jalapenos on a lined cookie sheet (save yourself the clean up later).  Sprinkle with remaining 1 C of cheese shreds.

6. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly.

Serve immediately.  Seriously, you might need to double up on this recipe.  It's best to make more than you think you'd need.  People will graze on these as long as they exist so be prepared.

Even people who don't like 'spicy' food will be attracted to this because the cream cheese helps to balance out the little heat from the jalapenos.

** Extra tip: Wear gloves through the cutting, cleaning, and stuffing process, even if this seems overkill.  Save yourself the embarrassment later when you wipe your eyes or something else and cause ridiculous burning sensations. **

Sweet Potato Sausage Skewers with Lemon Garlic Mayonnaise

Here's a great skewered appetizer that's tasty and easy!

First: The Lemon-Garlic Mayonnaise...
Ingredients:
1 C mayonnaise
2 T chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp lemon zest
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Stir all ingredients together.
*Can store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

 

Skewers' Ingredients:
2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 32, 1" cubes
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 lb smoked sausage* cut into 32, 1/2" pieces
32 wooden picks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450.  Place sweet potato cubes on lightly greased pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.
2. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes, turning cubes twice.
3. Cook sausage over medium/high heat 3-4 minutes to brown.  Drain on paper towels.
4. Place 1 sasauge slice on 1 sweet potato cube on a wooden pick  Serve with Lemon Garlic Mayo.

* For the sausage, I used one I found at Costco.  It was an herbed mozzarella herb chicken sausage.  Amazing!

Sausage Cheddar Balls

Sometimes you get in a meatball rut, you know?  It's so easy to throw together some grape jelly, chili sauce, BBQ sauce, meatballs, or whatever to serve as a warm meatball dish.

Okay, so maybe this sausage cheddar meatball recipe is from Martha Stewart, but it's fairly easy to create, you just have to be willing to get your hands dirty!

 For me, one of the biggest selling points of this recipes is that the meatballs are baked.  Once you've rolled them, you just put them on your parchment paper and bake this up.
The problem?  I thought they turned out a little dry.  Maybe when you're so used to drenching the meatballs in sauces, you forget what normal meatballs taste like.  Regardless, I served them with some dipping sauces, like home made chutney.  Most people, however, ate them as is, so maybe the sauceless balls play!

I love that you just lift them out of the grease before serving.  Save those calories!!

Chicken Sausage and Butternut Squash "Risotto"

The joy of running a workout facility as part of my daily tasks is that we get a lot of magazines for our gym, and I'm always up on Hollywood gossip, health and fitness articles, and Time magazine.

Fitness Magazine, last month, ran a recipe for Pumpkin and Chicken Sausage "Risotto."  While we don't necessarily do "healthy" around our house, I'm always up for trying a really good new recipe, especially if it looks filling and relatively cheap.

Luckily, the local Fresh and Easy keeps butternut squash in already cubed packages.  I bought 2, 16oz packs because I love extra veg.  Same amount of oil and sage, though, as I mixed it up all together in the bowl.

I couldn't find a "dried sage," but I did get a powdered sage in the spice aisle.  I figure it's still sage, and I still used a heaping amount, as called for in the recipe.  It's mostly for fragrance, right?  I don't know that sage is really great for anything, other than keeping the harmful spirits away.

I piled everything onto a raised edge cookie sheet (lined with foil since I hate cleaning).  I bought two of the apple chicken sausage packages (5 pre-cooked sausages a piece), sliced them into chunks, and loaded them on the bottom and on top of my squash.

Then, we roasted at 375 for 15 minutes.

As the squash and chicken roasted, I started my three cups of broth, 1/4 cup white wine, and 3 cups of quinoa to simmer.  I'm sure I could have used farro, like the recipe called for, but quinoa was at Costco last month, so we'll have enough to last us through January.

I flipped everything in the pan after 15 minutes, and roasted for another 15.  I didn't separate it or anything, just turned it the once and then added in some chopped, flat leaf parsley.  Super simple, no worries.

Once the quinoa had absorbed the liquid (about 15 minutes or so), I mixed in one 5 oz pkg of Parmesano Reggiano cheese shards. This really congealed everything, so I added a bit more white wine so it wasn't so...pasty like.

I put the rest of my flat leaf parsley in here.  I probably only used a third of a cup total, but I split it between my roasted items and the quinoa.  I did this because I skipped the last part of the recipe where it says to mix the grains, veg, and meat together. 

I kept them separate because I liked the look.  They are definitely amazing served together, though, so definitely make them both for the same meal!

Sorry I didn't clean the plate pre-photo.  I was more interested in eating than picturing!!

Pasta?!? My triumphant return!!

I know it's been a month.  I'm so sorry, but I've left the teaching profession, started a new job as a Recreation Director for a  home owners association.  This means (occasionally) weird hours and (always) longer days, plus I'm still tutoring after work.  This basically equates to me cooking about once a month, Thomas cooking all the time, or lots more take out.  Sad, but true.  However, my garden is still producing, and I've had this recipe that I've been wanting to try, and what better way to jump back into blogging than pasta!

My Orecchiette with Spinach, Sausage & Tomatoes was my way back in, and by that point, Thomas was so excited to have me make dinner, ANY dinner, that he would gladly put up with the tomato based pasta sauce.

Now, my biggest objection to this recipe was the sausage.  I used half hot and half mild, but I had to take the casing off.  Yes, I know there are places where you can buy the sausage just ground without casing (it looks like ground beef), but I wasn't at one of those stores, so I had to get off de-case as soon as possible!

Thomas recommended that I cut off one end and squeeze it out like a tube of toothpaste.  Gross?  Definitely!  I lasted one link, and then decided to just make a slit up the side and let it drop out.  Much easier, much quicker, and a lot less...toothpaste-y. 

I was a bit worried about all the juice in here.  I didn't use any water, although I did use a veggie broth that we had in the house.  I also kept all of the tomato juice from the cans to add.  I'm sure I also used a bunch of Italian seasoning, too.  I didn't want my triumphant comeback to be bland.

Turns out the juice was enough, and I actually could have probably used a little more.  Everything cooked down nicely, and if I was more patient, it would have done even more so, but I didn't want the orechiette to get mushy.  Turned out amazing, and even better? The leftovers lasted all week and were equally delicious.  I was sad to run out of this, and my co-workers were all super jealous every time I ate it.  On a scale of ponies to unicorns, I'd give this recipe a solid pink elephant.

AMAZING!!  Oh, and I promise I have many more posts in the pipeline, I just have to find the time to post them.  Welcome back to the Pampered Jes, and dig in while you can!!

"Spicy" Sausage and Pepper Penne

Hey, remember that one time I claimed that we could never be an Italian food blog?  Okay, well that still holds true, however that doesn't mean that once (or so) a month I won't be cooking a nice red sauced Italian dish.  I may be all about marital compromise, but that doesn't mean I have to be a pushover.

That being said, I do choose strategic days for the type of foods I like.  Days where there may have been a company party, or a big lunch, or any other number of reasons where I'm more hungry than he.  Days like last Tuesday: a perfect day for pasta!


I chose the penne recipe because it looked cheap, easy, and tasty.  Fortunately, I was correct on all of the above - AND it even contained a meat that started out raw that I had to cook by myself.

Since the meal wasn't that complicated, I decided to buy some quality ingredients from the local farm stand, or from my own garden.  I also used whole wheat penne, mostly out of personal preference.  I used two cans of tomatoes (one fire roasted, and one with garlic and onion), an extra clove of garlic, and almost 6 oz of an Italian cheese blend, instead of just Parmesan.  Oh, and I used a sweet Italian sausage instead of a spicy turkey sausage.

Okay, maybe the recipe was just a suggestion, but my tweaks were amazing.  There were second servings all around, and there was still enough for four hearty lunch portions to be made.  I also baked up an Albertsons fresh garlic bread with mozzarella on top for the side.  I probably should have made a side salad, but the dinner played well just as it was.  Seriously, amazing.  I might have to add this to my standard rotation of meals that I like to make.  I know I choose recipes that sound like they will be good, but I'm always surprised when the meal actually exceeds expectations.