What's for dinner tonight: Stuffed Peppers and Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Matt has a broker event tonight where he'll be served a super nice 3-course meal and not have to pay a penny for it- one of the perks of being a broker I suppose! Us teachers, on the other hand, get excited when we get to order (and pay) for Panera and eat it in the teacher's lounge during lunch! ;)

Normally, if Matt's gonna be gone for dinner, I'll make myself cereal or eggs. But tonight, I decided to cook up a 'lil 3-course-esq meal of my own.

Yes, everything I'm about to show you was for me. By myself. Got no shame- it. was. good.

Stuffed Peppers:
My Uncle Jay used to make the most incredible stuffed peppers from scratch. It was one of his many staples, and man were they good. I've made my own from scratch before, but the only problem with making them from scratch is they're kind of time consuming and kind of expensive. Insert Publix ready-to-cook dinner entree section.

They serve two of these bad boys ready-to-go for $4.09/lb. The green peppers alone cost about that!

Ingredients:

• Pre-made stuffed peppers from Publix (They are available pretty regularly in the ready-to-cook section by the meats, but can also call and ask the butcher to prepare them for you in advance). They are also always available at Trader Joe's (they look like this at TJ's and are on the wall with the cold cuts and cheeses)
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 4 oz. sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together tomato sauce and sour cream. Pour on top of peppers. Bake for 45 minutes uncovered, or until meat is cooked through. 

Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes:

Serves 3-4

I tweak these each time I make them and have never made an actual recipe until tonight. Using the chicken broth for boiling instead of water gave them such a good flavor! I didn't even add any salt or pepper in the end, which is rare for me! Hope you like them too!

Ingredients:

10 petite red-skinned potatoes, cleaned

32 oz. chicken broth

2 tsp. minced garlic

1/3 cup half and half

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

Place potatoes in sauce pan and cover with chicken broth. Add garlic. Bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes on high, or until broth has reduced half way. Check to see if potatoes will mash. If they are still too firm, cut in half and allow to boil for a 3-5 more minutes before mashing. Add butter and half-and-half. Continue mashing until potatoes have reach desired smoothness. (You can use a hand mixer if you like them extra smooth.) Add remaining ingredients. Mix and serve.