Mediterranean Couscous- A Family Favorite

This is a recipe for one of our favorite meals.  My family has a feta cheese obsession so this fits nicely in our menu plan as an EASY recipe as well as a crowd pleaser because it has FETA.

The ingredients you'll need are:
-pearl couscous
-kalamata olives
-feta cheese
-sundried tomatoes (or fresh ones when in season)
-cucumber -forgot to add that in the first picture
-onion (optional, I always add it on the side because my little ones don't like onion...but it is SO good in it)
-limes (1-2 depending on how much you're making)
-extra virgin olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste

 

Now that you have everything you need it's pretty simple.  Dice everything up itty bitty while you cook your couscous according to the directions.  Once the couscous is ready and you let cool just a bit add in the olive oil and lime juice so they won't stick together. The key to this recipe is the lime juice! If you don't have enough lime flavor add another one. I'm telling you it makes all the difference!

Once evenly coated then add everything else in EXCEPT the feta cheese.  If you know it'll get eaten up you can add the cheese right on top, but if you are making a lot for leftovers then I suggest just put a shake of feta on the top of each bowl when serving so it will save better.

And there you have it!  An easy crowd pleaser that tastes absolutely delicious! 

 

Oh and if you're wondering I buy my whole wheat couscous from Amazon here.  I always try to buy whole grain when possible so I have to buy it online and I LOVE this brand.  You can look at it here.

God Bless!

Heather Joy

 

Crab Wontons

 This is one of our favorite meals to date.  It takes a bit of time to do all the folding the first few times we made it but once you get in a groove of it, it goes pretty quick and the ingredients are pretty limited.  So, here's how you make these delicious brown nuggets of crab goodness!

Ingredients you'll need:
-1 Package of Imitation Crab (you could use the real thing here if you want)
 -1 Large Bell Pepper
-1 Medium Onion
-Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce
-1 Package Won Ton Wrappers
-Oil for frying (grapeseed oil preferably, or vegetable oil)
-Sweet Chili Sauce to serve with (while this may be optional for some, this is the necessity at our house if we make these!)

Now that you have all your ingredients, let's get started.

First, you'll need to finely chop up your crab meat.  I tried to use my food processor this time and while I love that it was so quick, it did process it a bit much for my taste. I like to bite in to the wonton and get a little chunk of crab meat.  So, be warned you might want to watch it carefully in the food processor or just go it old school and chop it by hand.

Dice up your bell pepper into small pieces.  (See how I learned my lesson and just cut it myself this time?)

Then chop up your onion.  Onions are great to pulse in the processor but make sure you don't overpulse into mush.  It definitely saves you from the tears though.

Add a couple tablespoons of Liquid Aminos or soy sauce.  If you haven't heard of Liquid Aminos you're really missing out!  It tastes just like soy sauce but doesn't have the sodium content the soy sauce it notorious for.  It also has tons of Aminos added to it for awesome health benefits.  Check it out.  We don't go overboard with it but we just have it as a substitute for soy sauce for stir fry's and such.

Next, you need to get your oil hot and ready.  We use grapeseed oil, which is safer for high temperatures and actually recommended for frying.  Put 1 1/2 - 2 inches of oil in your pot.  

Note: You could use a larger pot, but since it gets really messy and kind of ruins the pan after multiple uses, we have just set aside this small pan just for deep frying.  Can you see the side of it?  It use to be beautifully red.  Also, a large pot allows you to fry a lot more quickly, but on the downside it uses a lot more oil.  One more reason we use the small pan.

Now comes the hardest part.  We are not wonton roller experts.  We have actually tried to wrap them the 'correct' way but we find them a lot harder and they way they fry up makes them harder to eat.  So, I will show you how we wrap these suckers.

Place about a tablespoons worth of the mixture on your wrapper.

Fold over the bottom.

Then while putting pressure on the top push down the fillings just a little bit lower, so you get a nice tight fit.

Roll up the bottom, just once.

Pick it up and start to pinch.  make sure to keep the top flap pressed down in the middle.

Now, you can use egg white here, but we're cheap and lazy so we always just use a little water.  Dab a tiny bit of water on one side.

Then pinch the tops together.  My husband even likes to fold the top just a bit sometimes if he thinks it's not sticking enough.

Here are a few after they are folded and ready to go.  Our system at our house, is my husband folds and places on this cutting board for me to do the frying.

Note: If you notice them tearing at the bottom and the filling coming out it's because you're using too much filling.  

 Test your oil to make sure it's hot.  Some say you can put the bottom of a wooden spoon in and if bubbles start coming off it's ready.  I pretty much know by how long I keep it on the stove when it's ready and hot.  Put in a few at a time.  I only do 3 in my miniature pot.

Note: If you are using a larger pot, don't add too many in at one time because it could bring down the temperature of your oil too rapidly.  Instead try gradually adding a couple more every so often working up to a good number.  Then as one is done put another one in.

We have a regular coil stovetop. I took this picture so you could see where the dial is at while I fry.  I put it hotter to start while it's heating up the oil, but then I turn it down and this seems to be just the right setting for my stove to keep the oil hot but not too hot that it splatters or boils over when I add the wontons.

Note: If your oil starts crackling, it's probably too hot!  Please be careful of having too hot of oil because when you add your wontons the will boil up a bit when added but they will splatter like crazy if the oil is too hot!

While your first few are frying get your toaster oven or regular oven heated up to 150 degrees, so you can keep all of these guys hot while you make the rest.

They should start to look golden brown in a few minutes.  The important thing is to not walk away from frying.  By the time you get back they'll be toast.  Just keep an eye on them.

Put them on a paper towel so all the extra oil and get soaked up.

Once they're all ready get a cup nice and full of some sweet chili dipping sauce, then dip away!!

I hope you have some fun and make it a special family meal when you make your wontons like we do!

God Bless!

Garden Stuffed Tomatoes

Okay, so here is my gem of a recipe. We always grow tomatoes every year and even if ours don't produce until later we have friends who run a farm. So, fresh good tomatoes are always within reach during the season. But most people will ask, 'how do you use all them up?' Because once they are in season there's usually an overflow of ripened red tomatoes. Well, the smaller ones are usually made into salsa and whenever we have enough large ones we make this:

Garden Stuffed Tomatoes

Here's how you make them:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. *These can also be roasted on the grill! Mmm..

Dig out the top core of your tomatoes.  Toss it into your compost bin.

Cut a larger circle around and dig out the insides, while trying to pour off as much of the juice as possible and put in a medium bowl.

Drain off any extra liquid you can of the fillings, then chop into bite size pieces. I usually use my kitchen shears for this.

Add your bread crumbs, garlic powder, oregano, minced fresh basil leaves, feta cheese, dash of olive oil and kalamata olives to your tomato guts.  You can add salt if you want. We usually find the olives salty enough to not need it, or you can always salt at the table.  Mix it all up.

The mixture should be somewhat dry but not too dry. It won't hurt it one way or the other. It will still taste awesome, but it may just be a bit more soupy or more dry.

Then stuff this mixture into the hallowed out tomatoes. Place them in a cake pan or some kind of pan with a lip. The tomatoes will leak out juices while cooking.

Place them in your oven for 30-40 minutes.  Just keep checking on them. When you see the filling kind of bubbling then you know they're done to perfection.

Then enjoy your delicious harvest!

Here's a quick overview of what you'll need.  Keep in mind these are not exact measurements, because it depends on your taste and how many tomatoes you have to use up.  This recipe is very forgiving.  If you don't care for olives, omit them. So, adapt it to what you want just make sure to add enough bread crumbs to keep the mixture somewhat dry, but not crumbly.


Ingredients you'll need:

-Large tomatoes
-Dash of Olive Oil
-Feta (we use about 1/2 cup for about 5 tomatoes)
-Kalamata olives (we use about 1/2 cup for about 5 tomatoes)
-Fresh or dried basil (we use about 1/2 tablespoon of fresh for each tomato, but add to your taste preference)
-Garlic powder -to taste
-Oregano -to taste
-Salt- to taste
-Bread crumbs to dry mixture a bit (we use the panko bread crumbs, you could use the seasoned ones and then omit the added seasonings, but we try to avoid the hydrogenated ones so we stick with the panko crumbs)

Happy Cooking and God Bless!

Heather Joy

Stuffed Bell Pepper Casserole

Summer is here and bell peppers are in full force.  Our garden has produced a ton of tomatoes and bell peppers this year. Here's one of our tomato harvests.

Now, what to do with all of them.  I loved stuffed bell peppers but they take a bit of time and they aren't the easiest thing for children to eat (or if I'm honest, me).  So, here is a take on the stuffed bell peppers recipes out there but in casserole form.

Ingredients:
-1 can corn
-1 can black beans
-3 cups cooked rice (I always use brown, but use whatever you have)
-2-3 large size bell peppers
-1 onion (I had red onion, I ended up using about 3 really small ones from our garden)
-1 can diced tomatoes or 3ish fresh garden tomatoes, diced
-1-2 cans tomato sauce
-3 cups Cheddar cheese (use as much or as little as you want or have-we are a cheese family!)
-olive oil
-cumin
-cayenne pepper
-salt
-garlic powder

Start by sauteing the peppers and onions in a skillet with some olive oil.

10 minutes later they should be nice and soft.  Add your spices and diced tomatoes.  Keep them on the heat and let some of the tomato juices evaporate.  **Add the spices to taste, I used about 1/4tsp. cayenne, 1tsp. salt, 1 heaping tsp. garlic, because we LOVE garlic, and 3/4tsp. cumin.  I always eyeball my spice measurements.

In another large skillet put your rice, beans and corn in the pan to heat up.

After the juices are evaporated out add the pepper and onion mixture to your rice mixture.  Add the tomato sauce and stir it up.

Next, place half of your mixture in your glass cake size pan, and top that mixture with half of your cheddar cheese.  Repeat with the rest of the mixture and topped off finally with another layer of cheese.

Place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Check when it's bubbly.  Then you know it's done.  Let sit about 10-15 minutes until you serve. - I know, but resist the temptation otherwise the first bite will burn your tongue and that's the worst.  No taste buds for this delicious dish.

Then eat up!

Hope you enjoy this recipe.  I always find a recipe and improvise it.  I encourage you to do the same.  Try to add things your family likes, or take away things they don't.  This recipe was adapted from The Suburbs To The Sticks recipe and I made it vegetarian to fit our lifestyle and made minor tweaks to how I prepared it.  Next time, if I have some spinach or kale on hand I'll add a little bit of that chopped up (one way to sneak in some greens for the family).  I also might try to substitute the tomato sauce for salsa next time and see what the flavor difference is.

Happy Eating!

Heather Joy