Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Stuffed Green Peppers

 I LOVE to cook! and I was soo excited to make this when I got home from school...not that teaching quadrilateral classifications and Pythagorean therom is fun.....but I new I had a recipe, Dean Martin <pandora> and a bottle of wine at home! :) This was the BEST and I highly encourage making it!
 Here are all the ingredients! well the wine is for the cook! <hehehe>
 Cut the tops off of all the peppers... <you will use the tops for the rice mixture>
 The "inside" of the stuffed peppers.
1 cup brown rice
1 onion
2 tsp olive oil
2 links Italian Sausage
1/2 tsp oregano
 2 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
Crushed red pepper <if you like it on the warmer side!>
-Preheat oven to 350-
I first browned the Jenni-o turkey sausage in the olive oil, then I added the veggies and spices.
I made the rice, then added it to the browned mixture.

Put a decent amount in each pepper....I only had 4 peppers, but the stuffing makes enough to stuff 5 peppers.
Bake for 30 minutes
when there are about 5 minutes left I added some low fat mozzarella cheese


Stuffed Green Peppers
<Changes I made are in purple>
1 cup brown rice <I used 3/4 cup cooked rice>
4 green peppers
1 onion
2 tsp olive oil
2 links Italian Sausage <I added Jennio Turkey>
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tsp garlic salt- I love cooking with garlic!
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
Crushed Red pepper
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350
Cut the tops off of all the peppers
Saute onions, peppers <the tops that were cut off> and sausage in the olive oil.
While you are sauteing, cook the rice in a separate pot
Add all the spices
Add the rice
let the ingredients simmer for about 10 minutes
Stuff the peppers as full as you can!
Cook for 23 minutes
add the cheese
Cook for 7 more minutes!
Voila!

-sunshine

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Chicken Taco Chili




It was so nice to come home to an awesome smelling apartment!
I saw this recipe on pinterest and had to try it out!
I made my own changes...but I will give you the original recipe first!
<My changes are in purple>

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
1 onion < I used a half onion, a whole one seemed too much>
1 16oz can Black Beans < I like to buy the dry beans and prep them myself>
1 16oz can Kidney Beans < I like to buy the dry beans and prep them myself>
1 8oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package corn <corn is high in calories, so I used a 8 oz can>
2 14.5 cans diced tomatoes <next time I will not drain and USE the tomato juice, wasn't thinking this morn!>
1 Packet taco Seasoning <Next time I am going to try and make my own taco seasoning>
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Chili powder
1 Tablespoon Garlic--this was my call...I LOVE cooking with garlic!
3 Chicken Breasts <shredded or cut in cubes> I baked, then and seasoned them with onion and garlic powder
The recipe does not call for this but I also added 16 oz of water <I just filled one of the tomato cans with water to pour it in!
It also does not call for carrots or celery but they were veggies in the fridge that weren't going fast enough and I was afraid they were going to spoil. It added more veggies, nutrients and color to my soup! Next time I may add zucchini or green pepper! I love tweaking recipes! 


It says to put it all in the crock pot on low for 8 hours. I do not own a crock pot so I put the oven on 200 and let it simmer all day. <10 hours>

I like to prep my food on the weekends so that when the weeknights come I have stuff ready to just throw it together! For example: This weekend I seasoned and baked the chicken, and cut it into chunks. I then chopped all the carrots, celery, and onion, and placed all the canned goods that I needed in the pot on the counter. It made it SO much easier, and it felt like I was just dumping and stirring this morning! :) and again, it was SO nice to come home after an awesome workout to an already cooked meal! and hardly any cleanup. Now for some Spanish and some Biggest Loser!
Like my soup HOT so I had to add some crushed red peppers!

I learned something really neat from my friend Todd.
Leading a single life, it is hard to make meals like this and not get tired of the leftovers- especially soup...it can last for a week or MORE!
So what I have started to do is after I eat and let it cool down, I place 1 cup servings into freezer bags, then I place them all in one BIG freezer bag and label it with name and calories <so I don't forget a month later what I made!>
I place 1-2 of the bags in the fridge for lunches or suppers this week. But if I plan my weekday meals I am able to pull a bag out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw by nightfall.
I did this last week with my potato and veggie soup that I made and I have been able to ENJOY it rather then feel guilty about eating it so it doesn't go bad! 
Imagine the meals you could have....single servings of taco meat, soup, calzones, spaghetti sauce...the possibilities are endless... :)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Uplifting Quotes

Its the beginning of the week. I wanted to start with some of my favorite quotes on some pictures I took over this Christmas break! 




Saturday, January 7, 2012

Last post about 2011

 Juicing with the girls! It was great! We then watched the documentary, Fat Sick and Almost dead <I think thats the name of it!> Amazing stories!!!


 Either we are giants holding pints....or those are tiny beer glasses...you choose!!

 so my whole walk I was thinking... what is "water mud?" is it a sport or an activity....After the 5th sign I realized that there needed to be a comma in between water and mud....I wanted to take a permanent marker to each sign and FIX it!! :)

 Dad smoked 3 chickens...one with a pilsner, a miller lite, and a Coke...my favorite was the Miller Lite Chicken.

 Made some  baby quilts...and I need help binding them! Want to help? The quilts will go to those in need "Quilts Without Borders" so if you want to learn to sew call me up and I will teach! Then your work will go to charity!


 Family games...it looks like Timothy is having sooo much fun! <I won each game...lets just say Mexican Train Dominos is kinda my thing!>
 Homemade enchiladas for my last meal...even with homemade sauce...no cream of chicken soup but a homemade "dressing" AMAZING meal before heading back to Houston!
This is what I see everytime I leave....Jovi looking out the window..... I always feel so bad saying goodbye.
Adios Nebraska
Welcoming 2012 in Houston!
-sunshine

Colorado

 I was in charge of making sandwiches for the mountain! They tasted SOO good after some intense skiing!
 Megan and I on the lift!

 Hot Cocoa is ALWAYS good after a day of skiing!
 With Tyler and Lance!

 I had to think of a creative way to carry up all the boots to the 3rd floor!! tying them to a ski pole...epic!
 I am thinking we could use more cheese.......

The slope on the far left....looks decent right???? I will post a video later of Megan and I's experience on it...

Adios Colorado!!!!
Can't wait till next year!!

-sunshine

Christmas

The week before Christmas was crazy busy, but awesome!!!
Sunday  morning really put me on a good foot for the week.

He was my secret santa...I made him <err I mean his son> a bib that says "These fools put my cape on backwards"!
Beautiful Eagles!! :o)





Last day I school! I taught my students how to play Blokus.....it is an amazing game that deals with strategy and critical thinking.


Girls Christmas party!







Nina got me a new journal!