All Berry Pie

Ian and I do the majority of our shopping at Sam's Club in bulk, which is normally great savings, unless we buy too much produce and allow it to go to waste. We had a lot of extra fruit leftover from our fruit pizza, so I decided to make a Berry Pie.

I'm not a huge baker. I love cooking because you can just throw ingredients together and add more based on taste. Baking seems to be more of a precise science, with exact measurements. I tend to cheat a bit when baking is involved and my sister Sheena would consider it unacceptable as she is a wonderful baker and enjoys making things from scratch. For this recipe I already had a frozen pie crust, which made the prep time quick and easy; always a good thing for a weeknight.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh strawberries, halved
2 Tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups Blackberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 frozen Pie Crust
1/2 recipe Fruit Pizza Orange Glaze

Topping
1 package oatmeal
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar and cornstarch and Fruit Glaze. Add strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries; gently toss until berries are coated.
2. Prepare Frozen Pie Crust per instructions on package. Stir berry mixture, and transfer to the pie crust. Top with oatmeal, sugar, and cinnamon. To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie with foil.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool on a wire rack.

I have been enjoying a piece each morning for breakfast. Since there is so much fresh fruit in the recipe, I'm thinking it must be healthy!

Stuffed Peppers

During the week it is difficult to plan dinner after a long work day. I love when I am able to use leftovers to make a new meal. Two nights ago Ian and I made Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions Subs. Last night I used the leftover sausage to make stuffed green peppers. Having the pre-cooked filling ready left very minimal prep work which is always nice!

Ingredients
3 pre-cooked minced Sweet Italian Sausage links
1/2 C minced cooked onions
1/2 C minced cooked green peppers
2 T garlic
2 Whole Green Peppers
1 Jar "Uncle Rob's" Salsa
2 T tomato Paste
1 C quick Rice
1/2 C mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Cut Bell Peppers in half, clean and discard seeds
3. Boil Water, and place Bell Peppers in boiling water for 3 minutes
4. Mix sausage, onions, minced peppers, garlic, 1/2 jar of salsa and rice together to make filling
5. Mix remaining 1/2 jar of salsa and tomato paste into bottom of glass baking dish
6. Place Pepper halves in glass baking dish on top of tomato mixture
7. Stuff Peppers with filling, cover with foil
8. Bake 40 minutes in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender
9. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 more minutes

I sauteed some cabbage and carrots in garlic and oil for plating under the peppers. It added some additional veggies to our meal and created great texture for the peppers.

Fruit Pizza

We celebrated a co-worker's birthday this morning which means "food day" at work. Everyone brings in snacks to help continue the celebration all day. Since this is the summer season I made a fruit pizza which everyone enjoyed for breakfast and an afternoon snack.

This is the perfect treat for the summer and always looks beautiful.

Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Assorted fruit (such as kiwi fruit, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, blueberries, any other of your favorite fruits)

GLAZE:
1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. orange juice

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place thawed dough on lightly floured surface and roll out to a 13 inch circle. Transfer to a 12 inch pizza pan. Bake 20 minutes or until golden; let cool.
Blend cream cheese, vanilla extract and sugar together until smooth; gently spread over pastry. Arrange fruit over cream cheese mixture.

FOR GLAZE: Boil the ingredients for one minute. Brush over fruit, especially bananas.
Chill for 2 to 3 hours. Serves 8.