Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients
•6 green bell peppers
•1 tablespoons butter
•1 tablespoon olive oil
•1/2 cup chopped onion
•1/2 cup chopped celery
•1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
•1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
•1 clove garlic, crushed
•1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
•1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil
•2 teaspoons salt, divided
•1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
•1 egg, lightly beaten
•1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
•1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or chuck
•1 1/2 cups cooked long-grain rice
•shredded mild Cheddar cheese, about 1/2 to 3/4 cup, optional

Directions
Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Chop edible part of tops and set aside. Rinse peppers under cold water. Place peppers in a large pot; cover with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain peppers and set aside.
Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Sauté chopped green pepper (from tops), chopped onion, and chopped celery for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, crushed garlic, oregano, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg with remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Gently stir to blend; add ground beef, cooked rice, and 1 cup of the tomato mixture. Mix well. Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a 3-quart baking dish. Pour remaining tomato mixture over the stuffed peppers. Bake at 350° for 55 to 65 minutes. If desired, top stuffed peppers with a little shredded Cheddar cheese just before peppers are done; bake until cheese is melted.
Recipe for stuffed peppers serves 6.

I quite enjoyed this meal, very very filling, easy and good for the winter :)I think it would be good with cheese mixed in with the mixture before putting the mixture in the pepper. I used just pork and it still tasted yummy. You can use just beef, or mix the beef with pork.

Book 29

"Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in this midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrevelant THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless quiestion, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!"

Chicken Tetrazzini

Ingredients

9 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 1/4 tsp. salt

2 1/4 tsp. pepper

1 lb. white mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup dry wine

1/3 cup all purpose flour

4 cups whole milk

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup chicken broth

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

12 oz. linguine

1 1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup fresh italian parsley leaves

1 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup. italian bread crumbs

Directions

1.) Put 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil in large frying pan on med/high heat

2.) Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper over chicken. Put chicken in hot frying pan and cook approx. 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

3.) Remove chicken and let cool on plate. Add another tbsp of butter and olive oil to the same frying pan, and add mushrooms. Cook for approx. 12 min, or until mushrooms are golden. Add the onion, garlic and thyme and saute until onion is transparent. While the mushroom mixture is cooking, preheat oven to 450 degrees and shred chicken into bite size peices into a large mixing bowl. Also, start to boil the water and cook the noodles as directed.

4.) Add the wine to the mushroom mixture and cook until most of wine has evaporated. Then add the mushroom mixture to the large bowl with the chicken. Strain the linguine, and add to mushroom mixture as well.

5.) Melt 3 tbsp. butter and add flour. Whisk together and then add whole milk, whipping cream, chicken broth, nutmed, and the remaining salt and pepper. Whisk together, turn element to high until sauce is boiling. Simmer uncovered, whisking often until thick and bubbly.

6.) Add the sauce to the mushroom mixture. Stir in well, and then add peas and fresh parsley.

7.) Put the mixture into a greased casserole dish. Mix bread crumbs and cheese and crumble on top. Dob the remaining 3 tbsp. of butter on top of the breading.

8.) Cook in oven for approx. 25 minutes or until bubbling around edge, and breading has browned.

* very good, and easy to make! But be warned, this recipe makes A LARGE amount. I was feeding 3 adults, and still have enough for another full dinner (will be putting the leftovers in the freezer for a quick dinner one day) Another good part of this recipe, you crack a bottle of wine for such a small amount, you mine as well drink the wrest of it!! :) Enjoy....

Book 28

Book 27

I always like to read reviews before I read a book, even if I have already purchased a book and this one has amazing reviews everywhere I go!

"Echo O'Connell knows that summer hold its secrets. They are whispered in the rustling trees, in the lush scent of lilacs, in the flurry of the mayflies batting against the screen door, and in the restless spirits that seem to clamor in the scant breezes on hot evenings. It is in the summer that she returns home to Canadaigua, to confront these spirits, both living and not, and to share a secret with her first love, grant Shongo - a secret that will forever change the loves of many people in the town and put to rest the mysterious disappearance of a little boy more that a decade earlier.

Grant, a descendant of the Seneca Indians who call this place "the chosen spot" has also come back to face his past. After a broken marriage, he has moved into his childhood home, a lake house that has withstood happiness and tragedy. he knows the spirits of the past must be dealt with - that of the little boy who disappeared all those years ago; the boy's sister who never overcame the loss; and the love Grant still has for Echo. But before the healing must come the forgiveness..."