Fettuccine stuffed Green Peppers

Green peppers were on sale at the grocery store.  I decided to buy four of them and make something different for dinner. I have never made stuffed peppers before and quite frankly, I am not sure I could make them as good as my mother did.  Since I was not ready to cross that threshold yet, I decided to stuff them with something different than rice like my mom did.

I broke a 1 pound box of fettuccine in half and boiled until al-dente. Don't forget to salt your water before boiling your dry pasta! It makes a difference! While the pasta is boiling, I cut the tops off of my green peppers.

I discarded the seeds and the ribs and rinsed out the inside.  I chopped the tops up and put into a saute pan with more peppers and several Vidalia onions chopped up.  Also into this pan, I sliced some Polska Kielbasa  into the peppers and onions.

I let this saute while the pasta boiled.  I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees and put the empty peppers into a baking pan.

When the pasta was finished, I drained it and put it into a large bowl with the sauteed vegetables and kielbasa along with a large jar of Pepper and Mushroom spaghetti sauce. I mixed it very well and then filled each pepper with the pasta mixture.

On top of the pasta mixture I shook a large amount of grated Parmesan onto the top. I also added some provolone cheese.  I would have preferred mozzarella but I did not have any and I was not going to go back to the store.  I baked these for approximately 25 minutes until the cheese was all melted and the peppers became tender. 

My husband loves peppers and onion and sausage so he really enjoyed the dinner!

Unused grape tomatoes equals relish?

It has been a very busy week for me! I started a part time job working from home on top of my full time job outside the home, plus taking care of my family and my other obligations! WHEW!

I was unable to make dinner last night but was determined it was going to happen tonight.  I did NOT want to go to the grocery store so I did what I always do and stood in the kitchen looking at what I had to determine what I could come up with.  Fortunately with some forethought during my grocery store shopping last week, I had some Polska Kielbasa in the fridge already! I decided to mix up a batch of Red Beans and Rice again!

I started with the usual ingredients of chopped onion, chopped and smashed garlic cloves and some olive oil.  That went into my frying pan while my rice was boiling happily away.  I sliced my kielbasa and threw it in the skillet along with a can (don't faint people....I have discovered I LIKE canned beans and they are SO much easier than having to make them from dried....my mother would shoot me!) of red kidney beans that I rinsed first.  In went the rice, some Kitchen Bouquet, chipotle chili powder, Soul Seasoning, fresh ground pepper and sea salt.

As that was perking along on the stove I noticed I had a container of grape tomatoes that were going to go bad very soon if I did not use them.  I almost threw them in with the red beans and rice but my middle daughter convinced me that would be a bad idea.  I decided I had to use them so why not a little relish on the side?  I chopped them in half and tossed them in a bowl with some more smashed garlic (I swear I smell so Italian right now!), some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried basil, dried oregano and some more chipotle chili powder.  I served it along side my rice and beans.  Well....at least that was the intent.  I ended up mixing  a rather large spoonful into my rice and beans! It was good but I have to admit my daughter was right, it would have been weird if I had thrown them into the mix.

Now I am off to finish up my part-time work so that I can go to bed! I have been staying up past midnight the last two nights in a row and still getting up at 5:30 in the morning.  I am not as young as I used to be so I better knock that off right now.

NIGHT!!!