My husband and I both love stuffed bell peppers, but our kids – not so much. They end up eating the “stuffing” and leaving the bell pepper shell. They like the taste of the peppers, just not the idea of eating one whole.

My solution? Just make traditional stuffed peppers into a casserole!

This dish has everything a stuffed pepper is filled with, with the bell peppers chopped up and mixed in. Cover it with cheese and the kids will never know the difference!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3-4 bell peppers, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes (I use fire-roasted)
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• seasonings (I used salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning)

After you brown your meat, dump it into a large mixing bowl. Use same skillet to saute the veggies until they are tender, then dump them in same mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients, saving about 1/2 cup cheese for topping, then mix well.

Pour mixture into a greased 13×9 casserole dish, cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Next, remove foil and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, and bake another 5-10 minutes (uncovered) until cheese is melted.

Now you have all the flavor of stuffed bell peppers, but without the complaints from your kids!

Thanks y’all!

– Nikki

 

I know there are hundreds of roast chicken recipes out there, but this one is super easy and super flavorful. If you aren’t a fan of buttermilk, don’t worry – the chicken doesn’t taste like buttermilk. It just helps the other ingredients stick to the chicken, and also makes it extremely juicy!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 6 chicken legs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 5 garlic cloves, minced or grated
• chopped parsley (a handful if fresh, 1 tbs if dried)
• seasonings (I used salt, pepper and Tony’s)
• 1 tbs olive oil

Place the chicken legs in a gallon-size ziploc bag, then mix together all other ingredients and pour into bag over chicken.

Let sit in refrigerator for a few hours to marinate – overnight is even better.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 13×9 casserole dish. Place the chicken in a single layer into the baking dish, then pour the rest of the buttermilk mixture over top of chicken.

Now bake at 400 degrees for an hour, or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. If you’d rather use boneless/skinless chicken, reduce roasting time to 30-45 minutes. Your kitchen will smell amazing while it’s cooking!

If the chicken is done, but does not have enough color to it, you can turn oven to broil for a few minutes at the end to darken it up.

This roasted chicken is so juicy and flavorful, and also healthy – buttermilk is fat-free, right?!? It is also easy to make and you only dirty up one dish!

Enjoy!

Thanks y’all,

– Nikki