Stuffed Bell Peppers

I have never been much of a fan of bell peppers. Though admittedly I have grown up a little and as my taste buds continue to die, I have found that I don't mind bell peppers so much these days. I DO prefer yellow or red peppers over green, though! This recipe was surprisingly simple, and OH SO TASTY. Don't believe me? Try it and see!

The ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, diced

1 1/2 c prepared rice

6 medium to large bell peppers

2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce

1/2 cup honey, separated

grated cheese

The instructions:

Dice onion and place in a skillet, add ground beef and brown however you prefer seasoning to taste with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Once the meat is cooked, add the cooked rice. Add 1 can tomato sauce and a HEAPING 1/4 cup of honey. Simmer on low while you prepare the bell pepper.

Cut the bell peppers in half and remove seeds and membrane. Cut the stem off and place side by side in a 9X13 baking dish. Pour meat mixture into each bell pepper "boat." In a small bowl combine the remaining can of tomato sauce and another HEAPING 1/4 cup of honey. Microwave for about 30 seconds to better incorporate the honey and tomato sauce. Stir well then pour the sauce over the stuffed bell peppers.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until peppers are cooked to desired done-ness. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve once cheese melts a bit.

((YUMMY! This recipe makes a lot. I cut it in half and was easily able to serve this to my small family of 4 (With leftovers for the hubby to take to work). Also, the filling freezes well, so feel free to make a full batch and freeze half if you have a small family.))

Ham and Noodles

Okay, so this one sounds a bit off, but it is SO GOOD! I mean, I was surprised by how much I liked it since in general, I don't like ham. Our neighborhood did a recipe swap a while back and this was one of the recipes that was swapped. I am so glad that Nik shared this recipe (Thanks Nikola!)

The ingredients:
2 cups uncooked wide noodles (Now I just guess on this since I have no idea how to measure two cups of noodles- I use roughly 3 ounces)
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. flour
1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
1 cup grated American cheese
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups diced ham

The instructions:
Cook noodles as instructed by packaging. Shorten cooking time by a minute or so since you will be baking this afterward. While noodles are cooking, melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Once butter is melted, stir in flour and cook over medium low heat until the mixture turns a golden brown. Add the milk and cook, stirring constantly until boiling. Take it off the heat and add salt and cheese to the milk; stir until cheese is melted. Once the cheese sauce is finished, and the noodles are cooked, combine them, the ham and the peas. Pour into a 7X11 baking dish (or a 9X9) and cover with foil. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Cover with buttered bread crumbs and bake for another 15 minutes.