Turkey and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I've been dating my boyfriend for almost a year now, and do you know how many times he's cooked for me? I can count it on 1 hand...3. While he's got the ideal set up with having me wanting to cook most of the time, the few times he puts in the planning and effort to cook for me, it always turns out amazing. This was his latest creation taken from Bethenny Frankel's website. He had some help from his female co-workers.

The bad memories I have of my family's recipe can now be replaced by this one! No more pasty rice filling!


Bethenny's Website & Recipe

6-8 Bell peppers (I prefer anything but green)
1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 C. quinoa
1/2 large onion (about 1 cup)
2 C. jarred tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
2 tsp. tabasco or Frank's Red Hot
2 1/2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried thyme
1/3 C. feta cheese crumbles
2-3 Tbsp. pine nuts

First cook the quinoa per the directions. Set aside. In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey over medium heat. While the meat is cooking, prep the peppers by slicing of the tops and bottoms. Chop these discarded parts of the pepper up and add to the ground turkey along with the onion. Stir in the tomato sauce, garlic salt, Tobasco, worcestershire, salt, pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Remove from heat and stir in half of the cheese and all the pine nuts. Place the peppers in a deep baking dish - I used a 9x13" glass pan. Fill the peppers with the turkey mixture and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes (or until bubbly) at 350 degrees.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Restaurant Week

Yay! Fixed price menus galore this week only! The Twin Cities celebrates it's expansive culinary offerings with special menus all week long. Check out Minneapolis St. Paul Mag's site listing all the participating restaurants and their menus. Pick lunch or dinner with prices ranging from $10-$30. This is such a great way to try new things...now which restaurant to choose...

http://www.mspmag.com/promotions/wherewe'llbe/RestaurantWeekFall11/RW_Fall2011.asp

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Well looky here - it's Fall! While looking for a way to use up an opened can of pumpkin puree, I stumbled upon this recipe from PumpkinRecipes.org. I accidentally made this healthier by omitting the melted butter and they still tasted great (go figure, I realized it was still in the microwave an hour later!).

1-1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. milk
1/2 C. pumpkin puree
1 egg
3/4 C. chocolate chunks
1/3 C. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees or 375 degrees if using dark non-stick pans. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another medium sized bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin, and egg. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Barely stir together, then add in chocolate chunks. Try to not over stir the batter and allow for visible pockets of flour. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Top with chopped nuts. Bake 15-18 minutes until slightly golden.