Jack-o-Lanterns for dinner!

PS - check this out too!

Is it too late to post this???? Halloween was JUST yesterday! I don’t think it’s too late. Jack-o’s should be for all of Fall. They are fall colors, aren’t they? I am posting it. So here you go! (PS - sounds like a lot of work but it's not!!!!)

I had some WONDERFUL company last night, good friend from middle school (even though we knew of each other before but didn’t like each other!), high school, college, and beyond…oh and she is now my neighbor…came over for a glass of wine and girl talk.

We talked about our weekend, our joys, and our struggles; laughed and related to one another all while we drank some “Steak and Potatoes”. It’s this really awesome wine I tried at the Alon Market HEB (had to specify because this HEB is the best HEB in all of SA). The sample guy didn’t even card me! So I felt obligated. Anyways, it’s the closest thing I will ever get to eating steak and potatoes so there you go.

While we talked I mixed together the following in a large bowl:

1lb of ground turkey, raw  – 93/7 (had to use 85/15 because there wasn’t any 93/7 at the time)

1 long squeeze of Dijon mustard (should have been about ¼ cup)

1 heaping dollop of Enchilada Sauce (mild, medium, whatever – it should be about ½ cup or so)

1 small onion, chopped (I don’t care if you use white, yellow, green, purple, or brown – I used yellow)

1 small tomato or half a large tomato, chopped – or more, play with it!

2-4 cloves fresh pressed garlic – I used 4, we love garlic

4 slices of whole wheat bread, cubed – this makes the mixture thick – weird I know but good!

After I mixed everything thoroughly, CW (neighbor friend) and I got to work on our bell peppers. You will need about 4-8 bell peppers (whatever color, flavor you like). I found the kind with relatively flat bottoms so they would stand up. I had 4 but there was about half the meat mix left over – will probably cook it up tonight for tacos or something or make turkey burgers out of it.

Anyways – take a tiny paring knife and carve out your Jack-o. Be careful not to get too intricate or the poor pepper will fall apart. After you carve out a face, cut off the top of the pepper. All the seeds, or most, will stick to the top. Cut them all off and carefully scrap out and rinse your Jack-o-Lantern. See our cuties below:

Then you will stuff them lightly, don’t pack the meat mixture down (I don't know why, just don’t do it). We filled ours up and put their little caps, seed-free, back on top, arranged them on my new pampered chef mini bar pan (so cute), and baked them at 350 for 1 hour.

With about ten minutes left we took off the lids and put some Mexican blend cheese on top and let them finish baking.

CW's Pumpkin - looks like he is drooling!

His face got a little distored - they shrivle up and look 'scary' - so fun!

As a side I steamed some asparagus. Most people don’t like it but that’s because it’s not cooked right. Put your asparagus, with 1 inch of the ends cut off, in a large sauce pan with water and a pinch of salt. The water should cover them. As the water heats up and begins to boil, your asparagus (that’s like ‘deer’ – no plural alternative) will start to turn bright green. You know they are done when a fork slides through them easily but they aren’t soggy (about 5-10 minutes). Serve immediately with another pinch of salt for flavor.

And VIOLA – Jack-o’s in the pumpkin (bell pepper) patch!