Pinteresting Summer

Challenge 6 (and 7)-Crockpot Stuffed Peppers and Oven Baked Corn on the Cob

I have this really cute Pinterest project in the works with the help of my beautiful 3 year old daughter, however since she has not been keeping up with her end that project has been put on hold for now. So since my toddler has been holding out on me, I decided that I needed to double up on my Pinteresting today to compensate. Last weekend, Joe and I went to Sprouts Market and got a great price on red and yellow pepper (88 cents a piece) and on corn on the cob, however last week was also my last week of school so I never had a chance cook up any of the produce we bought. I had pinned a recipe for crockpot stuffed peppers so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try it out.

Picture from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

The recipe came from a blog that I followed a few years ago called Crockpot365. The blogger spent an entire year using her crockpot and came up with some great ideas and end up with a book deal(one could only hope). I cooked some of her recipes in the past and was pretty excited to try this one out.

The Recipe: (from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com)

Ingredients

--enough peppers to fit your crockpot. I have a 6qt oval Smart Pot, and six nestled perfectly in the stoneware

--1 lb lean ground beef

--1 cup cooked rice

--1 can flavored tomatoes (I used fire roasted, Italian would work. If you don't have flavored, add 1/2 t Italian seasoning)

--1 t gluten free Worcestershire sauce

--2 T ketchup

--1 t black pepper

--1/3 cup water

The Directions.

in a bowl, mix the ground beef and rice with all the stuff (except for the water and the peppers)

wash and clean out the peppers. Save the tops.

Stuff each pepper with a good amount of the ground beef and rice mixture

Nestle the peppers into your crock and put the little pepper tops back on.
Pour in 1/3 cup of water around the bases of the peppers. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

My crockpot fit 5 peppers, one of which was fairly small. I used ground turkey instead of beef and used boil a bag rice (though I doubt if that makes a difference). Cutting the peppers, cleaning them and stuffing them took about 15 minutes and I popped them in the crockpot around noon and set the timer for 7 hours.

We left to run errands and got back right around 7 so the timing worked out pretty well. The smell in the house was awesome and I was feeling excited about trying these guys out. However my excitement was short lived when I started eating them. I first off have to admit the weren't bad, they just weren't great. The peppers were kind of soggy and didn't really add a lot of flavor to the meat mixture. The meat mixture was blah, not unpalatable just not much in the flavor department. I salted it fairly well (and those who know me, I'm not the one in my family who typically salts their food) and that helped but it still was just OK. I have a pretty good recipe for stuffed pepper soup and honestly I would have much rather have eaten that than these. I'm sure I could play around with the spices and get these tasting better but I still think I would rather just make the soup.

That being said what the peppers lacked in flavor the corn made up for in ease of preparation and taste. I pinned a recipe for corn that I would have never guessed would have worked. I have spent many summer afternoons shucking corn for my mom so she could boil it to have it with hamburgers and hot dogs. I would sit out on the porch with a paper grocery bag to catch all of the husks and silk, shucking away and picking those annoying silk strands out of the corn. Had I had this recipe twenty years ago I could have saved myself hours of work. The pin states  "Throw it in the oven at 350° for 25-30 minutes. That’s it. Leave the husk on, it will trap in the moisture, leaving you with juicy, tender corn. The husk and silk will peel away easily once it’s cooked." 

  



I set the timer for 25 minutes and waited. When I pulled the corn out it was warm to the touch but not hot and a began peeling the husks off of one ear of corn. The husks and silk came off very easily, and even though it was warm and it did not feel like you were going to burn your hands. I tried the ear I had shucked and although it was crisp and tasty I felt like it wasn't quite done. I put the rest of the ears back in the oven for another five minutes. After the time went off again, I shucked the rest of the ears (as easy as the first one), picked out my ear, sprayed on some I Can't Believe its Not Butter spray, and took a bite. It was so crisp and juicy and delicious. It was a little on the harder side compared to corn that has been boiled but I think it has better flavor that way. I would choose this over boiled corn any day (though not over grilled corn...yum). This is so easy and involves so much less effort than the old way of cooking corn, I feel like an idiot for not knowing about this sooner.

Dinner ready to be enjoyed