Stuffed Peppers

We love stuffed peppers. Always have. In fact, this was the very first meal I ever made as a new wife. Steve was a great sport and ate them, ever though I forgot to cover them, and they were still hard and crunchy. : ) I know there are many different ways to cook stuffed peppers, but because I have a thing about raw meat...ugh...I like to brown mine first. : )

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

1. Bell Peppers
2. 1 pound ground beef or turkey, browned with garlic salt and drained
3. 2 cups of rice, cooked (I use Jasmine Rice.)
4. Tomato Sauce
5. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Slice top off of peppers. Rinse and clean out well.
2. Mix browned meat and rice together.
3. Stuff peppers with meat mixture.
4. Pour sauce over, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
5. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until melted.
6. Serve with mashed potatoes and applesauce.

These can be made up early in the day and refrigerated until ready to bake. : )



Tuna Stuffed Peppers...A New Lenten Favorite

Alright. Stay with me here. I know. I know. Tuna Stuffed Peppers? But they are really, really good! And they are a nice addition to our Lenten meals. I actually found the recipe...where else? On a package of StarKist Tuna. : )

Tuna Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

1. 1 Pack Chunk Light Tuna in Water (11 oz. )
2. 6 peppers, red, green, or yellow
3. 1 cup chopped onion
4. 1 garlic clove, minced
5. 1 Tbsp. olive oil
6. 1/2 tsp. oregano
7. 1 tsp. parsley
8. 1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice
9. Salt and Pepper
10. 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Cut tops off peppers and clean out each one.
2. Cut stem from the top of each one and discard stem.
3. Dice remaining pepper from each top.
4. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.
5. Stir in onions, garlic, and diced pepper.
6. Cook until onions and peppers are soft, about 5 minutes.
7. Add oregano, parsley, salt and pepper, tuna and rice.
8. Mix to blend well.
9. Stuff peppers.
10. Place in greased 8x8 square baking dish.
11. Bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for 15 or 20 minutes.
12. Top with cheese and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes more to melt the cheese.
13. Enjoy!

Stirring some veggies in olive oil...

Adding everything else!

Easy, right?

Stuffing these pretty  things...

Adding the best part yet...Cheese!

And back in they go...

Until they look like this!!!!

We served them with garlic toast and applesauce.

Also, cook peppers as long as you want to desired tenderness.

Hope you like them!

Monday Morning Coffee Talk

 

(Pinterest)

Good Monday morning, my friends! How was your weekend? We had a wonderful September weekend here in Maryland. Friday night, I made an old family favorite recipe of Stuffed Peppers, and we took them to the condo for dinner. While they were baking, we went down and sat on the shore. The waves were so big! I could have sat there all night. Except for the dark. And the cold. And the peppers.

Flynn's favorite band is Twenty One Pilots, and they played a concert not too far from here! Steve has always been the concert-goer, so he took Flynn for one of the best nights of her life! Proof below.

Meanwhile, I was tasked with watching the dogs, a job I embraced wholeheartedly. Dogs seem to enjoy lying on the couch watching TV for an extended period of time. Who knew?! What else?? Hmmmm. Oh, yes. I had a birthday!!! 

Yep. I turned 55. Fortunately, I consider myself about 19 or 20, so it really isn't that big of a deal to be five years from sixty! All kidding aside, it was a beautiful day, and I was celebrated by my people with love, gifts, and a delicious cake made by my Madison. There was also the best takeout ever! Because on my special day, I chose to be me—home in my cozy clothes.

So, so good.

Well, it's time to get up and get going on this September Monday. Today is school for Flynn and me, and then we are all going out to dinner. I have some laundry to do and some books to be read. I hope you have a lovely, cozy day. Thanks for visiting!

Billie Jo

Here is the recipe for our stuffed peppers...from almost exactly ten years ago!!!

Stuffed Peppers

Just Me. Making Healthy Lunches.

Happy Friday! Today marks two full weeks of me successfully sending my husband off to work with a healthy lunch packed in a neat container. The thing is, I go through phases. Ask my family. I get ideas and jump in headfirst. And then something happens, and that's that. Now, however, my husband is on a healthy living journey, and I realize his chances of being successful will improve drastically if I lend support. And let's be honest, I am on the same journey. Middle age lends itself to rethinking one's habits.

I have always been a meal planner of some sort. Sometimes it was with a rigid schedule written out and posted on the bulletin board. Other times it floated around in my already cluttered mind stopping long enough for one meal idea to jump out at me. Now, I sit down, plan our meals carefully, and make the grocery list accordingly. Now, I also plan lunches for Steve to take to work and find it so much easier for us. The internet has many awesome meal prep/plan ideas that I adapt to our needs. I pick one main thing weekly, like turkey wraps or tuna salad. Then I serve that in different ways each day. This week I made a tuna and egg salad with greek yogurt and did it differently each day.

Last week I made turkey and cheese wraps with low-carb tortillas. Steve loved them! It is easier to put lunch together in the mornings than to search haphazardly for something to send with him. And it is much better than him getting takeout! So I throw it together while my coffee is brewing. That is a win-win. I also meal plan our dinners. I don't necessarily assign a meal to a night because things constantly change, but I plan and shop for five meals weekly. Each week, I include a Mexican, pasta, fish, casserole, and pizza night! This week our meals included Stuffed Peppers, Homemade Pizza, Baked Ziti, Taco Chicken Bowls, and Baked Tilapia. I will link the recipes down below. 

The chicken bowls we had last night are a huge favorite. I like them because they are easy, healthy, and use up many extra things from the refrigerator. I put some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot and poured some of our favorite salsa over them. That cooks on low all afternoon. Then right before dinner, I shred it and make some rice. Madison is a pro at making the best cilantro lime rice! She adds freshly squeezed lime juice and chopped fresh cilantro to the cooked rice. Then I chop up any toppings, herbs, and sauces I have left from the week.

Last night we had shredded lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocado, green onions, cheese, corn, pico, cilantro, sour cream, and ranch dressings. Madison was kind enough to snap a picture of two of her beautiful bowl so I could share them with you!

So good! And easy! Well, I need to pour another cup of coffee and get on with my day. I hope you have a wonderful, happy, healthy weekend, my friends!

As do my Flynn, Kirby, Mocha, and visiting pup Draper!

Stuffed Peppers

Homemade Pizza

Baked Ziti

Tilapia Florentine

Billie Jo

Fish Fry Friday...Again

Friday again! This week brought a beautiful springlike day followed by a surprise snowfall that covered us with white, heavy snow. The next day, it disappeared as quickly as it arrived when the warm air returned, and once again, we felt as if spring had arrived. Time to pack up the boots and mop the floor, right? Well, not so fast. The little guy down below is not finished yet! We are forecast to see a significant snow event here in Pennsylvania this weekend, and honestly, I am ok with it. It is March, after all. If I can squeeze one more cozy as can be ~ sit by the fire and read ~ no place to go weekend, I am all in. 

Tonight, before it begins, we plan to travel the short distance to our parish for the best fish fry ever! Then it will be home for fresh jammies and a cozy throw blanket. I have some peppers in the fridge, so I had Steve take some ground beef from the freezer, and I plan to make some stuffed peppers either Saturday or Sunday. We will watch mass and maybe do some sledding, but that is about it, my friends. 

Do you know who this little guy is?

He has been a favorite since my childhood, and as I said, he will be busy this weekend! I will reveal his name at the end of this post!

I hope your weekend is happy, healthy, and safe. Thanks for visiting, and I will join in prayer for the courageous people of Ukraine. 

Billie Jo

P.S. That is Snip The Snowflake Maker from Jack Frost, a beloved television show from my childhood!

 

A Finished Project

I recently finished a project that I have been working on for quite some time. I say "working on" as if it were a complicated and tedious task. It wasn't. It was something I had long wanted to do. I began it over a year ago, and worked on it here and there, when I had some free time alone. A few weeks ago, I finally finished and gave my children something I hope they cherish forever. 

This is a recipe binder filled with some of our family's favorite recipes. I made one for each of the kids. When I decided I wanted to do this, I thought about all the family dinners we enjoyed together and what some of our favorite meals were. I chose recipes that we made time and again, for dinner, dessert, snacks, and special occasions. I included a recipe or two from my parents, as well as Steve's, because I want their memories to live on through their grandchildren. 

Each of the recipes I included has a special meaning for our family, and I've tried to include a note with each one. The recipe I included for our favorite stuffed peppers was the very first meal I cooked for Steve after we were married. I didn't cover them, and they never got soft, but he ate those crunchy peppers as if they were the best meal he'd ever had! After I chose the recipes, I gathered them and retyped them on my laptop so that they all looked similar. I printed them and put them in a recipe binder, which I gave to the kids when we were all together. 

They were so happy, and we had a fun time looking through them, sharing our memories of Madison choosing pot roast for her back-to-school meal, Peyton making chocolate chip pumpkin bread every fall, Rhett requesting our favorite fudge for his birthday, and the time I surprised him with it the night before. We discussed Steve's amazing meatloaf, Flynn's love for the double chocolate muffins warm from the oven, and the Manager Cake recipe that my friend Delane gave me years ago, so the kids could make it for Christmas Eve. I was thrilled to know they were happy, and that the food and memories we made would last for years to come.

Have a wonderful day, my friends.

Thank you for visiting!

Billie Jo

Weekend Plans...Halloween Edition!

So that came quickly! Halloween is almost here! As with most holidays, we will celebrate Halloween over the course of several days. Because. Why not? Halloween comes but once a year, right?

My best friend Marian is joining us for the weekend. I can just tell how very excited she is! But seriously, she and I and Michael Myers of the Halloween movies go waaaay back. So it is only fitting she watches them with me. You know. Since Steve refuses. : ) Marian will be here for dinner Friday night, so we are planning a fun dinner of Jack-o-Lantern Stuffed Peppers with mashed potatoes. Peyton is planning on a Halloween cookie pizza for dessert. Later...Halloween movie marathon. With lots and lots of popcorn!

Saturday is free until afternoon Mass, and after, our church is having a turkey dinner. So. Yum! After that, we are planning on our traditional pumpkin carving night! This involves the kids drawing designs on their pumpkins, starting to scoop out the goop...Mom finishing...Dad carving...Marian supervising...and then movies in the dark with lighted jack-o-lanterns. : )

Sunday looks to be cold and rainy. The perfect day to stay in, play games, watch the last of our Halloween movies...have you ever watched the Disney movie Twitches?...and relax. We are planning a fun Halloween meal for dinner before Marian has to head home. We are having Mummy Dogs, Witch's Brew Macaroni and Cheese, Zombie Mandarin Orange Brains, Blood Red Vampire Juice, and Halloween Cupcakes with Dark as Night Frosting. : )

But first, a look back at the week that was here in our October home...

Last Saturday night we wore Halloween to Mass...

And she was happy as could be. : )

After Mass we headed out for pizza, and talked to Madison while we ate. : )

Sunday we baked our Halloween sugar cookies. And Peyton was the master decorator!

This lovely little chapel was recently completely renovated. I am so proud of my husband...He was the fundraising chairman of the project and worked very hard to help restore this very old chapel to its former beauty. During the rededication, I spoke with a woman who told me a story of her grandmother and her friends who would walk every day to this chapel to pray the rosary for their sons fighting in the war.

A fun unit on all things Halloween lent itself to some cute decorations for the schoolroom!

We studied bats and spiders, read about ghosts and witches, and worked with candy corn too.

And we finished it all off with some yummy Candy Corn inspired jello. : )

Then...teacher/mommy relaxed with a pumpkin spice latte...

And this.

Have a wonderful, fun, not-to-spooky Halloween filled weekend, my friends!

Thank you for visiting!

(Pinterest for the last one.)

Monday Morning Coffee And Recipes!

Good Morning! Happy Monday! We are waking up at the condo and will be going to sleep at home. I am so thankful we chose to live near the ocean, and that we have but a short ride over the bridge to get there. We had a quiet weekend, my favorite. I swam in the mornings, then read, and napped in the afternoon. We went to Mass Saturday night and had dinner with Madison and Nicolas. Sunday, I made dinner, and we settled in for football and a cozy time. Today, I am going to take one more swim before we head home for homeschool and Steeler Football. 

Saturday, we tried a new Mediterranean restaurant. It was amazing. The atmosphere was so neat, and the food? Delicious.

The food was Turkish and Moroccan-inspired, and it was delicious.

The weather last week was unbelievable for January. I even took a walk on Friday. I don't know who was more excited, me or Mocha!

And then I was happy to settle in for coffee and a delicious cranberry orange scone made by my Madison.

I had a few requests for the meals I posted last Friday. Here they are!

Mediterranean Chicken

( I used boneless/skinless thighs )

Stuffed Peppers

Have a nice day, my friends. Thanks for stopping!

Billie Jo