Like this easy Corn and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno recipe? Pin the recipe here!

This recipe for easy Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers was originally posted on July 5, 2011. Since then, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this recipe for get-togethers. My friend Heidi always serves them as an appetizer for parties at her house and just told me she likes to bring them to friends’ houses as well – that’s a true compliment and testament to how good they are! She also has told me she freezes them, so they are freezer friendly!

I wanted to share this recipe for these baked stuffed jalapenos with you again since it’s been so long, and since football season is right around the corner and you’ll be looking for easy appetizer recipes to make for game days. Check out the instructional video on how to make this simple stuffed jalapeno recipe below.

Enjoy!

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One of the keys to keeping my weight under control is to have grab and go options ready for me in my fridge. Right now, my family’s schedule is jam packed and I’m finding myself constantly in need of something quick, filling and healthy to grab for lunch or a snack. Quinoa salads (or grain salads in general) have always been a great option for me and this Corn and Black Bean Quinoa Salad has particularly been one of my favorites for years. You can pretty much always feel good about eating a protein rich salad like this when you are hungry and don’t want to sabotage all of your efforts at the gym (if you know what I mean!).

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This post is sponsored by Bush’s Beans.

You’ve heard the saying you eat with your eyes right? I totally believe in that saying, for me the more colorful a dish is the more appealing it looks to me. This Summer Black Bean and Corn Salad is one of those dishes that I like to think is colorful enough to eat … and eat … and eat plenty of, whether it’s a side dish for dinner at your house or a salad you bring to a neighbor’s barbecue.

Black Bean and Corn Salad – easy summer side dish

This is one of those side dish / salad recipes that comes together easily with a bunch of ingredients you may already have in your fridge and pantry. The corn makes it a little extra special because it’s super sweet and fresh summer corn cut right off the cob, but if all you have is frozen corn at the time then go for it anyway – just run it under some water to quickly defrost and dry completely before quickly sauteing it.

The avocado is a fun add in because it adds just a bit of creaminess to the salad when combined, along with a little extra protein along with the black beans. And the cheese…crumbled cojita cheese (or even feta if you can’t get your hands on cojita) takes it over the top.

You’ll love this black bean and corn salad on fish tacos or even on it’s own (or in taco salads like how I’ve been eating it for a couple of days).

It’s seriously so good.

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I think it’s safe to say that here in the South spring has definitely sprung. Our weather has been delightful, which is a word that has never really exited my mouth before but works perfectly to describe the past month or so here in Florida. It won’t be long, though, before the muggy heat starts to set in so I am going to enjoy every single second of our blue skies and slightly less than normal temperatures and humidity for as long as I possibly can.

With our delightful weather comes what I like to refer to as warm weather eating. I crave light and veggie packed foods this time of year. Salads, grain salads and grilled foods to be more specific. Food that satisfies you but doesn’t leave you feeling too full, food that you can eat plenty of and still feel good about. Food like this Fresh Corn and Quinoa Salad.

When our local corn display hits our grocery store around this time of year, I get pretty excited. I love hunting for the perfect looking ear of corn, anticipating its sweetness. You just cannot beat good fresh sweet Florida corn – you know it’s good and sweet when you can eat it sliced right off the cob. I like to call it nature’s candy.

Does anyone eat it raw like that, or am I totally weird? I can’t help it, it’s that good.

I used raw corn kernels in this salad but feel free to blanch them first if you prefer. This light quinoa salad is full of flavor, from the sweetness from the corn to the slight kick from the poblano peppers, then perfectly balanced out by a honey lime vinaigrette. You’ll love it alongside some grilled chicken or shrimp or on its own as a vegetarian lunch. However you enjoy it, I think we can all agree it truly is the perfect “warm weather food” we are all craving right now.

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In just a couple of months, I’m going to be counting on seriously quick and easy meals to put together for dinner. I’ve never been a big make-ahead-freezer-meal type of person, but lately I’ve been thinking of ways to get some shortcuts together for myself to keep in the freezer to make things a little easier for when the baby comes. One shortcut that has worked for me in the past – when I’ve taken the time to do it – is pre-cook ground seasoned ground beef or turkey for Mexican or Italian recipes. I cook up a big batch, seasoned up as I want, and once cooled, store enough in separate baggies (labeled!) for a couple of meals. I did the same with chicken a month ago, and I have to say, having a bag of already shredded chicken to throw into quesadillas or soup has come in really handy the last few weeks. I usually feel like doing this after a shopping trip to Costco since I can buy in bulk and boy does it feel good when I’m done.

Recently I froze up leftovers from a big batch of homemade enchilada sauce – same concept, I just portioned it out into meal sized containers to use for our next enchilada night. The rest of this enchilada dinner came together extremely easily since all the ingredients – like Bush’s Black Beans, tortillas and cheese – were ones I typically always have in the pantry or refrigerator. I kept these Cheesy Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas as a vegetarian recipe, but if you had some precooked shredded chicken or ground turkey in the freezer, that would be a great addition as well.

I would be happy to hear any make-ahead meal ideas or shortcuts you have – I need all the help I can get! Leave me a note in the comments!

In the meantime, enjoy this recipe for enchiladas for dinner. You can honestly never go wrong with black beans and cheese, these were a total hit and no one (my husband) missed the meat!

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Taco night returned last night. Yay! My son mentioned over the weekend that we should make chicken tacos at home this week, just like Chipotles. Sounds great to me son! I love that my kids are starting to embrace Mexican food more than a simple cheese quesadilla – it makes me happy to see them grabbing for fixings to add to their tacos on their plates.

For this week’s taco night I wanted to add a simple side that I’ve made a couple times before using my beloved rice cooker. There are a few small appliances I have picked up over the years that have become lifesavers in the kitchen for me – this rice cooker being one of them (which is why I’m giving one away today!). I have to admit, when I first got my rice cooker, I was a little intimidated by it. I haven’t always cooked a ton of rice, and the water to rice ratio always threw me off for some reason, it just never turned out right. I am happy to report I’ve finally gotten over the intimidation and use my rice cooker almost weekly.

The best thing about this recipe for Mexican Rice that I’m sharing with you today is that I made it all in the rice cooker – at the same time. It is the easiest dish to put together ever! Pair it up with the chicken I cooked in the slow cooker for the tacos and I almost feel guilty about all the compliments I got at dinner last night – it was seriously one of the easiest dinners I’ve made in a while. All I had to really do when it came to dinner time is shred up the chicken and warm up the tortillas. Good stuff.

You can play with this rice a bit. I’ve added pinto beans to the mix before, but this time I tried corn. I always start with the rice and water at the bottom, then put the extras right up on top – without stirring. Once the cooker does it’s magic I fluff it up real good with a fork, drizzle some olive oil over it and season it well with salt and pepper. It’s a perfect side dish for taco night! Enjoy!

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All you need is a few ingredients to put together a great side dish like this Corn, Tomato and Basil Saute during the week. This past week, I had mini turkey meatloaves on the menu (inspired by my friend Liz who always has great healthy dinner ideas) and wanted to use what I had on hand as far as our side vegetable was concerned. You can pretty much always count on finding some frozen veggies in my freezer so when I saw that I had corn, I knew exactly how I was going to prepare this Corn, Tomato and Basil Saute. We had just picked a small bowl of fresh ripe cherry tomatoes from our little garden days before, and I knew my basil was starting to come in. I had half of an onion leftover from the Mini Cheddar-BBQ Turkey Meatloaf Muffins I was making so with all those ingredients, this delicious little side dish was created. The kids gobbled it up and my son declared the meal “the best ever”. Add a little side salad for some extra green and you are set.

Dig in.

More Easy Summer Side Dishes To Try

Cucumber Avocado Salad

Cherry Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad

Roasted Red Peppers with Pesto and Goat Cheese

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I don’t know about you, but whenever I see rain in the forecast I secretly hope for one of those good, dark rainy days that makes it totally ok to get in your sweats, lounge around, eat bowls of hot soup and do nothing for hours. That is, of course, if you have no reason to be anywhere but your couch. When you realize you have a doctor’s appointment or a birthday party or you’re out of all kinds of food and have to run to the grocery store – well, that’s not the kind of day I’m talking about here.

I’m talking about waking up on a Sunday morning, a day with no plans, and looking out the window to see ominous clouds crowding into your normally bright and shiny blue sky. Even my kids know what those kind of days mean, as a matter of fact, they call those days “cozy”. Yes, I’ve successfully brainwashed my kids to talk and think like me over the years (I highly recommend it).

We had one of those “cozy” days a couple of Sundays ago. It was the day after my daughter’s 6th birthday party, my husband had unfortunately come down with a case of bronchitis and I was particularly feeling a tad bit spent. A lazy rainy day was exactly what we all needed.

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Quick and easy seem to be a busy home cook’s favorite kind of recipe these days, especially with school schedules in full swing and the busy holiday season literally lurking just around the corner. For the sake of my own sanity, and to avoid eating out during the week, I need at least a couple of go-to quick and easy meals in my back pocket, and I’m happy to report this Two-Bean Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna is now one of them.

My family doesn’t realize it, but we eat mostly meatless meals – several times a week. A huge perk of most meatless recipes is that they come together extremely quick and easy since you are usually skipping an entire step of the cooking process. Beans and whole grains are ingredients I rely on heavily for protein when I’m cooking meatless, so it’s safe to say that you can always find them in my pantry.

With the help of my friend and chef Connie Guttersen – whom I’ve gotten to know well over the years while working together with Bush’s Beans – I put this simple Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna together for my family and to my happy surprise, in just 30 minutes. I’ve always enjoyed Connie’s health-conscious recipes, so I was excited to be able to brainstorm with her on this recipe. Our focus was to keep things simple by using everyday items most of have on hand in the pantry and freezer, including Bush’s beans, salsa, frozen corn and tortillas.

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If you every took a peek inside my freezer, you would most likely find at least 3 or 4 different kinds of frozen fish or seafood at any given time. Salmon, mahi, red snapper, cod, shrimp…they all come in extremely useful when putting together quick healthy dinners, and I always stock up on them – especially when they are on sale or I visit Costco.

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