Making & Baking Mondays

If you're like me, then I'm always checking out what other bloggers have cooked up for dinner. Some times it's just easier than picking something out of a cookbook. Well here's a few of the recipes that I tried out this week.

Stuffed Green Peppers

This recipe is from my mom's [vintage] 1970s Betty Crocker cookbook. While this recipe turned out yummy, I've decided next time I'm going to put my twist on it and try a Mexican and Mediterranean version.

For the Mexican version I'd cook the beef with taco seasoning, use salsa instead of tomato sauce, then use mexican rice and add a little queso to the mixture. Serve with chips & salsa and sounds pretty yummy to me!

And for the Mediterranean version I'd add some curry and other spices to the beef while it was cooking and use couscous instead of rice, and then add a little parmesan to the mix. I'm not sure what kind of "sauce" I'd put on top. Maybe look for a curry sauce? It probably wouldn't even need one! And instead of green peppers, I'd use yellow or orange bell peppers. Yummmm. I love anything curry! I can't wait to try this version.!

Paula's Califlower Mac & Cheese

and no, I'm not talking about Paula Deene

For date night, my husband and I went to The Fresh Market and walked with the plan to pick up something fresh that we wanted to try! We decided to get some crab cakes and special cheeses for an appetizer. Having just looked at Paula's blog earlier in the day, knew I wanted to try this recipe. So I picked up the ingredients and served it up alongside some green veggies and our crabcakes. Delicious! We're having it leftover tonight with a cinnamon apple pork tenderloin. (Can you tell I like cooking pork tenderloins?!)

Summer Salad

Now I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but here in Georgia it was gorgeous this weekend! Sunny and warm, but not that crazy Georgia heat. Not yet at least. It had me craving a good summer salad with all the "fixins". So I used this recipe to make some parmesan chicken, then served it on top a bed of lettuce with sliced strawberries, dried cherries, almond silvers, and ranch dressing.

And it's another beautiful day again, so I sat outside on my front porch and ate the leftovers for lunch this afternoon!

Sadly for me, I didn't bake anything this week. But after seeing these cake [truffle] pops on Jen's blog, and seeing photos of Amy enjoying a cute cake pop on her blog, I'm putting it on my baking list! Can't wait!

Time for me to go pick up the car from getting worked on, then finish laundry. Here's to a productive week! I've got LOTS I want to accomplish this week, and so far I'm off to a good start. How about you?