Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Peppers

Hi all! I'm back from a long break. Life has been busy! This time of year, I often think of my Midwestern roots. Even though I live in the Southwest now, I grew up in Michigan. Experiencing the change of season in the Midwest is simply beautiful. I miss it. Thankfully, I get to relive it vicariously through social media and my friends who still live there. There is an unspoken sisterhood with the Michigan mamas I keep in contact with, a connection that only comes from sharing the same point of origin. I think it's amazing so many of my Michigan girls share my creative flair.

Today you are in for an extra special treat. Every time my friend Kelly Kowalczyk posts a photograph of one of her fabulous meals, I find myself salivating. Seriously, when can the computer wizards of this universe come up with a scratch-n-sniff screen! This girl clearly has skills and you're about to get a taste of her amazing talent. Kelly has so kindly agreed to guest blog for me. Today we are kicking off a mini-series of Kelly's favorite recipes. This first one, Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Peppers, is already on my grocery list! Please take the time to read her amazing bio below. She's a peach :-)

Without further adieu, here's Kelly :-)

Bacon wrapped stuffed peppers
You know how the saying goes… anything is better with bacon. We are pretty big fans of bacon in our household. My daughter is a self-proclaimed “meatatarian”.

Here is an easy, low carb recipe that is sure to please. This recipe pairs well with beer and a football game.

 

6-7 Anaheim peppers, tops removed, cut in half, seeded

1 lb ground pork sausage or chorizo

1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz)

Sliced bacon (1 slice per half pepper) uncooked

1. Rinse, and cut the tops off the peppers. Slice them lengthwise to create 2 halves. Then hollow out the inside of each half, removing the seeds and any extra connective membrane that gets in the way.
2. In a fry pan, brown the sausage breaking it into fine pieces as it cooks. You can add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper at this point to spice it up if you would like.
3. Turn heat down to low. You can drain the sausage at this point and return it to the pan. If the sausage is lean it may not need to be drained. Then melt the cream cheese combining it with the sausage. Once combined thoroughly, turn off heat and let the mixture cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
4. Pre-heat your grill to medium high heat.
5. Fill each half pepper with the sausage/cream cheese mixture.
6. Take a slice of bacon, and wrap it around each filled pepper half making sure there is a little overlap of the edges as you go, using a little bit of tension to stretch the raw bacon.
7. Turn grill heat back to medium heat, and place wrapped pepper halves onto the grill diagonally. Take care to avoid flare ups.
8. Once bacon is cooked, remove peppers from grill. Approximate grill time is 15 – 20 minutes.

Yields 12-14 servings.

Variations on this recipe:

a. BBQ: Add a little more flavor by brushing a little BBQ sauce on top of the peppers while the peppers are grilling.

b. Jalapenos: You can use jalapenos in this recipe rather than Anaheim peppers. You will need 16-20 jalapeno peppers, and about ½ slice of bacon per pepper half. If you do this, you may want to use a toothpick to secure the bacon before grilling.

c. Cheese: If you don’t want the meat, you can include cheddar cheese shreds instead. You would need about 12 oz of shredded cheese.

d. Loaded: You can combine bacon bits, shredded cheese and scallions in your cream cheese filling for a loaded stuffed pepper.

There are lots more creative things you can do. Have fun making your own variation.

Hope you love it!
Kelly
 

My name is Kelly Kowalczyk. I’m a wife, mother, and career woman.

Just like most busy moms, I have to confront the daily demands of having a school age child and a full time job. I grew up through my own childhood with two sets of grandparents and one awesome set of parents who made almost everything from scratch. I was blessed to have role models who loved to cook and were pretty good at it.

I adopted a passion for cooking when I was in college, but back then it was ramen noodles, canned soup, and whatever you could spread on white bread to make it taste good enough to choke down. Since then, I have found joy and the opportunity to be much more creative using raw ingredients and cooking from scratch (with a little cheating I must admit, you know, that busy mom thing).

Philosophically, I believe that everything in moderation is good. I don’t get carried away trying to make a science project out our weekly meal plans. I just try to make sure there is a balance to obtain a diversity of nutritional input from the food we eat.

For me, it’s all about flavor. I’m willing to put a lot of time and effort into cooking because I want to enjoy the experience it offers. Flavor is an adventure that can carry you away to another place while you are planted in your own home. It is also a social experience. We enjoy entertaining friends and family. There is nothing like the memories created when you have friends gather, and enjoy some tantalizing treats together.

My hope is that you will enjoy the recipes, and take them one step further to add your own creative flair.

Thank you so much, Kelly!

~The Lemonista

Gorgeous DIY French Beaded Chandelier for $20

After shopping for a vintage looking beaded French Country chandelier, and seeing the astronomical cost of these beauties, I quickly decided to make my own.

 I wanted something for outdoor entertaining, so weather tolerance would be important.

I came across a couple tutorials online for chandeliers constructed from hanging plant baskets and dollar store beads. These had the look I wanted but involved lots of wire work and seemed like they would consume more time than I was willing to invest.

I thought and thought about a simple way to go about this.

Then one day I walked into Hobby Lobby and spotted the perfect hanging basket with the most wonderful patina and it all just clicked. If I was using light weight, spray painted beads, then why couldn't I simply use a high temp hot glue gun? Certainly that would bond beads to metal and that would withstand the warmth of the sun. Hot glue would also be simple and speed the process.
Yes. It was on.

What a lovely setting to enjoy a glass of white sangria with a great friend!

From spay painting the beads to constructing the chandelier, the whole process took me 3 hours! Not bad for under $20.

Here's how it breaks down:
Hobby Lobby hanging plant basket (50% off) $9
5 packs of gold/silver beads from Dollar Tree $5
1 can Ivory matte spray paint $6
Other miscellaneous supplies (hot glue, jute twine, Ball canning jar lid) I had left over from other projects Free.
Total cost $20

Wanna know how I did it? Grin

I started by separating the 5 packs of beaded necklaces (40 total), laying them all out on a big piece of cardboard in the back yard and spray painting both sides with matte ivory all weather paint. The beads will bleed a little bit and this adds to the finished vintage look.

Once dry, I cut each necklace so that it was one long strand of beads.

Next, I got my hanging plant basket and started gluing one strand of beads in each slat, placing a small amount of glue in the inside center and then a small amount on the outside rim.


I kept working my way around, allowing the extra length of beads to hang down the outside until I had glued a strand of beads in every slat.




At this stage I decided it would be easier to continue with the hanging basket actually hanging. I have a rolling wardrobe, so I used that.


I needed at top rim for my chandelier to connect my beads to. I wrapped a wide mouth Ball canning jar lid with jute twine. Then I took a wooden kabob skewer and ran it through the top chain links, trimmed it to fit under the canning lid and hot glued it in place.






Taking one stand of beads at a time, I glued them to the inside of the canning lid, trimming the extra beads off the top.


To keep the chandelier sides even and balanced, I glued one stand directly across from the other until I had worked my way around.




Since I decorate cakes (and I had extra beads), I decided to add a wedding cake looking swag detail around the middle and top, gluing each swag in place.





I ran a line of beads along the top of my canning jar rim to hide trimmed beads.


When it was finished, I sprayed the entire chandelier with an all weather matte clear coat paint to help protect it from the elements.

You could add a simple pendant light kit, found at Cost Plus or IKEA, to light this beauty up. I plan to string my trees with white twinkle lights and leave the chandelier unlit.

Sometimes I think the way the gold and silver bleed through the paint, almost make this look like a chandelier made with wooden beads. I love the look so much I'm making another one so I can hang them as a pair over my outdoor table. Whoot!

Hope you enjoyed this one!

~The Lemonista

Linked up to:
Savvy Southern Style - Wow us Wednesdays
Semi Homemade - Show & Share Wednesday
French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday
My Romantic Home- Show and Tell Friday
Timewashed - Blissful Whites Wednesday

A Spring Leprechaun Touch

St. Patrick's Day has been a celebration favorite of mine since childhood. So much fun to be had with this holiday. Here are a few spring Irish embellishments around my home.


The Shamrock Tree
This is my hearth room mantel. The metal pitcher was purchased from IKEA, the tree branches from my back yard and an etsy seller made the darling felt shamrock ornaments for me.





A Leprechaun Cloche 
Here we have the little magical fellow himself, dancing an Irish jig.  I picked up the cloche at Cost Plus and the leprechaun was another etsy find.




Spring Bulbs In A Vintage Metal Bin
Found this bin at a junk market, threw in some bulbs and dirt and a couple weeks later I have the most lovely coffee table decoration.




Fresh Cut Flowers In A Glass Canning Jar
Sometimes it's the simple things that take your breath away, and anything that brings a smile to my face while washing the dishes is worth its weight in gold.


An Antique French Table
This table is "as found." I love the touch of green it adds to my decor--especially in the spring!




Erin Go Braugh Front Door Flair
An inexpensive craft store sign jazzed up with a handmade burlap wreath.


The Smell of Guinness Chocolate Cake In The House
These are some knock-your-socks off cupcakes, but if you don't want to go through the trouble of making them, DO go out of your way to try the Guinness chocolate cake recipe. Best chocolate cake I've ever tasted!


Spring Floral Arrangement In An old Mossy Stone Planter
*Sighs* I could have sat at my dining room table and smelled this all day.


Green Deviled Eggs!
What if deviled eggs and guacamole had a baby?
My favorite recipe for deviled eggs.


Even my hens got a touch of Irish luck...
An Irish Coleen like her mama.


Happy Spring!

~The Lemonista

French Country Cottage 6 days of spring party

The Shrimp Tacos To End All Shrimp Tacos

All I can say is sometimes...you make something special. Something beyond, "Hey, that was good." Something that screams, delicious, the moment it touches your lips. Something that warrants a happy-dance and congratulatory back patting.

Sometimes, you hit it out of the park and you think to yourself ~Magic.


This is one of those times.


Simple. Flavorful. Delicious.
These, my friends, are the shrimp tacos to end all shrimp tacos.
And after years of trying to nail down the perfect shrimp taco recipe, tonight I go to bed with a great big smile on my face.

Yeah.
They're that good. Grin.

My Shrimp Taco Tutorial

Make slaw












After marinating 30 min.


Cut each shrimp into two or three bite size pieces. Squeeze wedge of fresh lime juice over shrimp. Toss and refrigerate.
 







Make batter.






Prepare tortillas by heating up a large skillet. Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and spread around skillet. Place 3 tortillas in hot skillet and fry 20 or 30 seconds on each side. Stack on a plate. Repeat this process adding a teaspoon of vegetable oil with each batch until all of your tortillas are warmed up and soft.




Slice one whole ripe avocado into wedges.

Pour vegetable oil into a deep pan until about 2 inches deep. Heat over med-high heat. Oil should be around 365 degrees but I can tell the oil is ready when a drop of water pops when added to the hot oil ;-)

Remove your shrimp from frig and toss in beer batter. Drop each piece of battered shrimp into the hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. Discard extra batter. You will probably need to cook the shrimp in two batches. Fry until gold brown and then drain the shrimp on paper towels.









Place hot fried shrimp in a large bowl. Drizzle Thai Sweet Chili sauce over your shrimp and gently toss.
You want enough sauce to coat but you don't want to drown the shrimp.



Time to assemble the tacos.  Add 3 or 4 shrimp pieces on a prepared tortilla. Add desired amount of slaw and one slice of fresh avocado.







Repeat until your heart's content.


The Lemonista's Shrimp Tacos
Yields 12 tacos
*if you decide to double the recipe, you do not need to double the batter. It is enough to make 2lbs of shrimp

1 lbs raw jumbo shrimp, thawed (if using frozen) peeled and deveined 
wedge of fresh lime
12 My Nana's brand white corn tortillas, taco size. 
Vegetable oil
1 bottle Thai Sweet Chili sauce (found in Asian section at grocery store or here is a link to a good one)
1 recipe Jalapeno Cilantro Slaw (below)
1 recipe Mexican Beer Batter (below) 

1. Make slaw.
2. Cut each shrimp into two or three bite size pieces. Squeeze wedge of fresh lime juice over shrimp. Toss and refrigerate. 
3. Make batter.
4. Prepare tortillas by heating up a large skillet. Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and spread around skillet. Place 3 tortillas in hot skillet and fry 20 or 30 seconds on each side. Stack on a plate. Repeat this process adding a teaspoon of vegetable oil with each batch until all of your tortillas are warmed up and soft. 
5. Slice one whole ripe avocado into wedges. 
6. Pour vegetable oil into a deep pan until about 2 inches deep. Heat over med-high heat. Oil should be around 365 degrees but I can tell the oil is ready when a drop of water pops when added to the hot oil ;-)
7. Remove your shrimp from frig and toss in beer batter. Drop each piece of battered shrimp into the hot oil being careful not to crowd the pan. You will probably need to cook the shrimp in two batches. Fry until gold brown and then drain the shrimp on paper towels. 
8. Place hot fried shrimp in a large bowl. Drizzle Thai Sweet Chili sauce over your shrimp and gently toss. You want enough sauce to coat but you don't want to drown the shrimp. 
9. Time to assemble the tacos.  Add 3 or 4 shrimp pieces on a prepared tortilla. Add desired amount of slaw and one slice of fresh avocado. Repeat until your heart's content. 

Jalapeño Cilantro Slaw

1/3 cup good quality Mayo (such as Best Foods)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
10oz bag angel hair shredded cabbage
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, sliced very thin
1/2 bunch french cilantro, chopped. (no stems)
3 green onions, chopped

Mix first 5 ingredients and then pour over cabbage mixture. Marinate slaw in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.

Mexican Beer Batter
*You can use this same batter for fish tacos. 
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup white rice flour (found this in Gluten free section at grocery store)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 cup cold Mexican beer, such as Corona or Tecate

Combine all ingredients and stir until batter is smooth.

**I live in Phoenix, Arizona and I can easily find delicious Arizona made My Nana's tortillas, but if you do not live in Arizona, and do not have access to My Nana's products, Mission brand white corn tortillas also work great in this recipe. 

Peace out :-)

~The Lemonista

linked up to:
Clever Chicks Blog Hop
Tip Junkie ~ Tip Me Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style ~ Wow Us Wednesdays
Semi Homemade Mom ~ Show&Share Wednesdays
Sneaky Spoons
French Country Cottage~ Feathered Nest Friday