Home again, home again, jiggidy jig....

Well, I'm home from my week at the beach....It was fun and I had a great time with my two sisters, brother, and three other young family members. It began with me finishing off paying bills, turning in the tomato order and a flurry of other little odds and ends. I spent some really quility time with my family and what more can you ask? I sat under the beach umbrella reading and watching everyone else. My sisters and brother fished and swam till they could move no more. I walked on the beach, watch the pelican and sea gulls hunt for fish and walked barefoot in the sand. And yes, Jamie Dawn, I watched the "moon shine" over the water. It was a full moon and it couldn't have been more beautiful. We went crab hunting one night when it got dark and found one big crab and two small ones. Before we could head back to our camper, the large crab decided to "canablize" one of the smaller crabs. We decided to throw back all of the crabs and just head back. One of my favorite things to do was watch the pelicans flying over the water. They would start out sitting on the water, then they would fly, and then they would make a "dive bomb" for a fish down below. They looked like comokazi pilots making a bee line for their target.

To make a long story short, I did get some sun, coming home with a mild sun burn. We shopped on the Strand, we went out for pizza at a fabulous little pizza place, we walked our leggs off, we went to WalMart every day for ice and food, we played Chinese checks with a new champ every night, we barboqued, we ate water melon, we took down the owning on the trailer in record time when a storm came in on us quickly. We were lucky that we were around to do the job, some of the other campers were not so lucky and they had their ownings ripped off in a flash. All, I can say is, I had a great time. I can’t wait till next year…..

Now some wonderful recipes:

Stuffed Green Peppers

1 package (10 oz) frozen corn kernels
1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese, divided 6 green peppers. tops removed & seeded

Combine all ingredients, except 1/4 cup cheese and green peppers. Stuff peppers. Arrange peppers in crockpot. Cover, cook on low 6-8 hours (high 3-4 hours). Sprinkle
with 1/4 cup cheese during the last 30 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, one turn of the pan
24 large gourmet stuffing mushroom caps, stems removed and reserved brushed with damp towel
Salt and pepper
Stuffing:
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, half a turn of the pan
3/4 pound sweet bulk Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, chopped
20 stems mushrooms, finely chopped
1 rib of celery and green, leafy top from the heart of the stalk, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 (10-ounce) box chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 slices white bread, toasted and buttered, chopped into small dice
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano, 2 handfuls
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and mushroom caps and season caps with salt and pepper. Saute caps 5 to 7 minutes, until they are lightly browned and tender on edges. Turn caps up and let juices drain away from caps. Transfer caps to a small nonstick baking sheet. Wipe out skillet and return to heat. Add a touch of oil and sausage to the hot skillet. Brown and crumble sausage for 3 minutes. In a food processor pulse and chop the garlic, add mushroom stems and pulse to chop the mushroom stems. Add celery, onion and red bell pepper to the mushrooms and pulse to chop. Remove mixture from the processor and saute veggies and mushrooms over medium high heat another 3 to 5 minutes. Add dry, defrosted spinach and stir into stuffing. Add chopped bread and cheese to the pan and toss stuffing until bread is moist and stuffing is combined, 2 or 3 minutes. Fill caps with stuffing using a small scoop or large spoon. Place caps in hot oven and reduce heat to 450 degrees F. Bake 6 to 8 minutes to crisp edges of stuffing and set stuffing in mushrooms. Transfer stuffed mushrooms to a serving plate.



Herb and Garlic Grilled Vegetable Platter
Recipe By : Real Food for Real People - Serving Size : 6
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 Zucchini -- or yellow squash, sliced
1 small Sweet Onion -- cut into wedges
12 medium Mushroom Caps -- cut into wedges
1 medium Eggplant -- thick sliced
2 medium Bell Peppers -- asst. colors, sliced in chunks
1 cup Lawry's Herb and Garlic Marinade with Lemon Juice


In large zip baggie, combine all ingredients and marinate in refrigerator for 30
minutes or overnight. Either thread onto skewers or place vegetables in grill
basket to grill over barbecue until tender.

Variations:
May cook in skillet until browned and tender.
May broil or oven roast at 450ºF until tender.

Picnic Idea: A great recipe to take along as a picnic side dish, to top a main
dish salad or to wrap up in a tortilla as a vegetarian sandwich.

Wrap Party Tip: Wrap fillings can be made up ahead and refrigerated. When ready to serve, allow vegetables to come to room temperature, place on buffet with tortillas and let guests serve themselves.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 91 Calories; 1g Fat (5.7% calories from
fat); 4g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 1075mg
Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.


Have a great week everyone! The tomato order is being delivered on Thursday. I will take a few pictures of that event, so be ready folks......