Fiesta Stuffed Peppers

So for my first recipe that we tried, I had scanned Pinterest for a while looking for food that's new that sounded good and that didn't look like it would take very long to make either. This normally isn't hard at all on Pinterest considering all of the yummy stuff that pops up, but right now with going back and forth between feeling like a normal human being and feeling like all I do all day is throw up, it was a little more challenging than what I thought. Then I saw a pin where a woman had made stuffed peppers. It wasn't because they sounded good that I stopped, oddly enough, but it was how pretty the peppers are. I mean, who doesn't want their food to look appetizing? So after a little more hunting on various stuffed pepper recipes, I combined about 3 different ones and added a little twist of my own.

First things first, you want to choose your pretty peppers. I thought about going with making stoplight peppers (green, yellow and red) but oddly enough, I'm not a huge fan of the green ones, so I settled on red and yellow and they looked beautiful in the store. For this recipe, you want to choose 4 medium to large peppers. If you do a small medium, you could probably get away with 5.

Next you want to get a large pot of water boiling to soften you peppers and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While the water is boiling, you want to cut the caps off of you peppers. Cut down from the stem area about 1/2 inch leaving the top intact.

Then you want to remove the middle section with all of the seeds. Do this with your hands by just grabbing the total clump. Most of the time it's easy because it's still intact.



After all of the caps are cut off your peppers and they are clean, slowly drop the peppers into boiling water, I would suggest using tongs since they do tend to splash and after all the water is BOILING. Boil for 8 to 12 minutes or until softened to your liking. Be careful when you remove them so they don't fall apart. Place in an oven proof baking dish big enough for all of your peppers.

Next you want to start on your filling. Take 1lb. of lean ground beef, 1 tsp. ground chipotle powder, 2 Tablespoons garlic powder, 1 tsp. cumin and 2 Tablespoons onion powder and brown in large skillet.

After meat is browned turn heat down to medium-low and add 1 cup of frozen corn and 4 oz. of cream cheese. Stir into beef mixture until cheese is completely melted and well combined

into mixture. Then add 1/4 cup diced fresh cilantro and 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice and stir into mixture.

I used a package of Mahatma saffron rice. I LOVE this stuff. It's easy and has great flavor and one made package is just the right amount for this recipe.

Next stir in 1 cup of salsa of your choice. I used Hot Pace because my husband likes things a little spicier and this way you can control what your spice level is. If you didn't use a seasoned rice mix like I did, you might want to add 1 1/2 cups of salsa.

After this is stirred together, you want to stuff you peppers. As you stuff them, try to compact the mixture down into the bottom as you go that way they are good and full.

I put my caps back on my peppers because I notice it keeps the inside mixture nice and moist but it is completely up to you. You want to bake them for 15 to 20 minutes or until completely heated through and your peppers are completely soft. Then enjoy with you sides of choice. I put sour cream on mine and some guacamole on the side for some chips. I've also served it with black beans too. What side sounds good to you to serve with your Fiesta peppers?

I think I'm going to enjoy my fiesta pepper and then maybe take a little evening siesta. ; )

TTFA (Ta Ta For Now)











Getting Started With Suprises

Hello everyone! So my husband and I found out we were pregnant about 5 weeks ago. Yeah! We don't know exactly how far along I am but we are thinking right at 9 weeks. My husband took my first official pregnancy photo so maybe we can start to see the eventual changes later.

It has been a couple of challenging weeks for me. I'm happy but I'm miserable as I'm sure some of you mommas can relate to. My poor husband has been a trooper though. Through the puking, complaining, mood swings, the fact that I have pretty much stopped cooking because I can't handle the smells, and the no cleaning because I'm so tired in the evenings, he's done great. He's even been cooking and cleaning for me. :) I joked and said maybe I should get pregnant more often. ;) Here is pretty much what my whole diet has been consisiting of. Crackers and sprite. Not very appetizing after a while, let me tell ya.

Not a whole lot of changes. Some bloating and feeling uncomfortable but not too bad. I did go through about 5 days with no morning sickness though and that scared the crap out of me. At first I was greatful, but then I started to get nervous because I thought something had to be wrong. I mean, I thought if I was going to have morning sickness, I was supposed to be miserable for at least the first trimester. WRONG! Come to find out, I really should have savored and enjoyed those couple of days because guess what came back with vengence? Yup! Come to find out, morning sickness likes to sometimes play little mind tricks on you because yesterday, my alarm clock went off at 1:30 a.m. and it wasn't a beep. I ended up spending pretty much that whole day on and off being completely sick. So next time, I will enjoy feeling like normal and eat somethings that I want before it comes back.

I'm hoping over the next couple of days to get to you guys a basic menu of what normally my husband and I eat. (That is, when I get to eat normal) I'm hoping to get back to cooking ASAP so we can get started on our foodie adventures of new things. Right around this time of year is my favorite to bake and cook so I'm already getting an extremely late start on the homemade breads, the yummy soups, baked goodies.... Just typing this is making me want to go make the cinnamon almonds and pecans I saw on Pinterest a while ago. lol Who knows, that might be the next post. :) Plus, I'll be posting weekly updates on my pregnancy and how things are going and the new products that I'm getting to try and use along the way.

For starters, my oldest sister is pregnant right now as well and she isn't having the best time with morning sickness either. But my dad was talking to her and she was telling him that she found these bracelets you can buy call SEA bands that are supposed to help ease your morning sickness by a bead putting pressure on a nerve in your wrist and that they had been helping her. So guess what I went and got today? YUP! You can find it right in the pharmacy come to find out by the motion sickness medication and at this point I'll try just about anything that will help. As I type I have them on. I haven't been able to notice a difference yet, but I'll keep you updated since it's only been about 30 minutes since I put them on.

Let's see if the are something great and work or if this is going to be my first flop.

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

Ready, Set Go...

      Ready, set, go. If you read my description, that's just a small taste of who I am and fortunate you (whoever you are out there) you get to learn more. I'm just gonna tell you right now, I feel like I'm on the Truman show. *chuckles* Heeellllooooo people of cyberspace.

       I like to try new things. I love food (who doesn't people! and if you say you don't, then I'll call you out). I like being crafty and making something out of nothing. But even so I even have my flops and not always little ones. You know when you see one of those people that try to do one of those really neat flips or dives into a pool and they do one of those major belly flops that make that sound come out of your mouth unwillingly because you can almost feel the burn? Yeah, I do flops like those. Not literally those but ones that will make you either laugh or go ohhhh... So you can either learn something new with me or at the very least, you might get a good laugh.

       My goal is either to share some type of craft with you, some type of new food, or even just a good flop every now and then. I just recently found out I'm pregnant too so most likely the food will be craving based for now. :) I'll also be posting weekly updates hopefully from my pregnancy to share with you as well as products I'm either going to try to make and show you how or products we buy and receive that I'll get to review maybe. :) So until next time....