Food and Beverage Blog

Our snow this morning was only a dusting but the temperature has hovered around in the 30s trying to reach 40 degrees. I have been cold all day, especially every time I looked out a window and saw the grey skies and bare trees. So I have been thinking of something to make a good hot evening meal. The day has also made me lazy and I have an aggravating headache so I wanted something that would be easy. I came up with a skillet concoction of Sweet and Sour Beef and Cabbage to go with the leftover pinto beans I cooked the other day. If this dish sounds good to you, check it out in the Beef Recipes section of this site. My German heritage really comes through in my love of cabbage. If you don’t like cabbage, I’m sure you can find something else to suit your tastes in the vast array of recipes we offer here. Stay warm!

SWEET AND SOUR BEEF AND CABBAGE

1 1/2 lbs lean ground chuck

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 tbsp dried parsley flakes

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 medium head of cabbage, cored, cut into 6 wedges

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tbsp Splenda brown sugar blend

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the ground chuck, onion, celery, and bell pepper until the meat is browned and the veggies are tender. Drain in a colander and rinse with hot water. Wipe the skillet with paper toweling to remove excess grease. Return the mixture to the skillet. Sprinkle the parsley flakes, salt, pepper and garlic powder over the mixture. Arrange the cabbage wedges over the mixture. Combine the tomato sauce, vinegar, and Splenda brown sugar blend; stir until well blended. Pour the sauce over the cabbage and meat mixture. Cover and bring the ingredients to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately while hot.

There are lots of types of pizza. You can have a thin, crispy crust or a thick, bread crust. There are various pizza sauces, including traditional tomato sauce, spicy sauce or even a parsley infused creamy white sauce. Pizza toppings vary enormously. Pepperoni pizza is the most popular pizza variety but this is only one type.

Some people like to stick with a theme when making pizza recipes. They like to use various types of meat for a meat feast pizza, white and green ingredients only for a “white pizza recipe” or the most colorful ingredients they can find for a grilled vegetable pizza. Other people enjoy mixing and matching their pizza toppings or using up anything in the refrigerator that needs to be used up.

Tips for a Nutritious Pizza

If you want to make a healthy pizza, there are a few things you can do. Choose a thin pizza crust rather than a calorific deep dish one. Use a tomato sauce rather than a cream sauce and choose your pizza toppings with care.

Vegetables are great for topping your homemade pizza recipes because they are colorful, flavorful and they suit any meat, poultry or fish toppings. You can add raw vegetables, grilled vegetables or thawed vegetables to your pizza.

Use reduced fat cheese instead of full fat cheese as a healthier topping for your pizza recipes. Goat’s cheese and reduced fat mozzarella are a good combination. Hard cheeses like parmesan are also good, firstly because the strong flavor means you will not need to use much and secondly because hard cheeses are lower in fat than soft cheeses.

How to Roast Bell Peppers

Roasted bell pepper is one of the tastiest toppings you can use on a healthy pizza recipe. Roasting your own peppers is very easy and you can roast red, yellow, orange or green bell peppers. Roasting them makes them succulent, juicy and bursting with flavor.

There are various ways to roast a bell pepper. The easiest way is to put a bell pepper over the burner of a gas stove or on your grill. Turn the pepper using tongs and keep cooking it until the skin is black and charred.

Alternatively you can broil a bell pepper. Rub vegetable oil all over it first, and then put it on a baking sheet. Use tongs to turn it when the top starts to go black. You can either broil a whole bell pepper or slice it into wedges and broil those. Another method is to cook the bell pepper wedges or strips in a skillet in olive oil. When they are tender, they are done.

The easiest way to get the skin off a roasted bell pepper is to put it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. This traps the steam. Leave the bell pepper for twenty minutes then you should find the skin comes off easily. Pull the stem out before you take off the skin. Roasted peppers make a delicious topping for homemade pizza recipes.