Peppers and Puppy Dog Tails

I’m so glad this recipe turned out. I’d had a rough week and was feeling rather “fragile” when I was making this dinner and had it ended up in the garbage I feel like there would have been tears, just one more thing to go wrong. To be perfectly honest, these most recent weeks at work have been a challenge. There hasn’t been a single day where I wasn’t tempted to just walk out; but I am responsible and no matter how bad it gets I won’t leave until I find something else. I am aggressively looking and applying to other things. It’s time for a change.

But back to dinner. Thank the Goddess this dinner was delicious.

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You know what else helped my mood? The “skinny” Pina Colada I made for myself while it was cooking! For around 150 calories, I was able to enjoy a pina colada that was truly awesome and hit the spot. I suppose I was craving some island beverage; sadly, I didn’t have any umbrellas to put in my drink.

It’s hard to screw up stuffed peppers. I’ve tried about half a dozen different kinds of stuffed pepper recipes (Stuffed Peppers, Southwestern Stuffed Acorn Squash) and they were all good in their own way. My absolute favorite was definitely the Pecan and Wild Rice-Stuffed Squash I made. Not exactly a stuffed pepper but stuffed nonetheless. I LOVED the flavors of the wild rice and the crunch of the nuts.

And this is the part of the post where I tell you how I changed the recipe. 🙂 First, I used red and yellow peppers because they are my favorites. Second, I added some of the Costco Organic Non-Salt Seasoning, dried rosemary and extra red pepper flakes. I’m glad I did, it turned out great! It smelled so good while it was simmering on the stove. Michael commented that we just eat that instead of stuffing the peppers with it. But no, we were having peppers. I love peppers.

I used my cupcake tin to cook the peppers in because they kept trying to fall over in all my other dishes. It worked great!

I baked the peppers at 350 for about 20 minutes or so. I could have left them in another 10 minutes I think because my pepper was still a bit “crunchy.” But it wasn’t bad. I loved this recipe. It was so tasty and it felt healthy, not like a gut bomb of food.

The verdict from Michael was that it was a winner. We’ll definitely be eating this again in the near future. I loved the flavors–there was a sweetness to it, that I suppose is from the tomatoes and tomato paste, and there was also a nice bite of spice. I added more red pepper flakes than the recipe called for and I was glad I did. It balanced out the sweetness nicely. And of course, the cheese was perfect. 🙂

One thing I did notice was that the stuffing part was a tad runny. I had cooked it in the skillet for the required time to reduce the liquid but there was still a lot left. I’m not sure if maybe I needed to add more paste or what. The next day I ate the leftover stuffing mixture for lunch after the gym. It was even better the next day. I measured out a serving of whole wheat pasta and added the turkey mixture then topped it with some feta.

After lunch, Michael and I went to the Pixie Project for an afternoon of dog walking. It was such a gorgeous day. I’d been expecting rain but it was sunny and warm. The skies were perfectly blue and everything was in bloom. It would be impossible to be in a bad mood with weather like this.

The first dog we took out was Dublin. He was a high energy dog. Michael walked him because I think Dublin would have been dragging me down the street.

He was a while and yellow colored dog, maybe some kind of lab pit bull mix? He had a little pit bull in his face and he was STRONG. He was also a jumper and a runner. Hahaha! Look at how excited Dublin is!

We took him around the Convention Center and let him run around in the grassy area but then he seemed to have some tummy troubles so we took him back to the shelter. I guess they got him recently, so there probably isn’t a profile for Dublin yet on their website. But most of the dogs I post pictures of are waiting for adoption–if anyone in the Portland area is interested.

The next dog we took out was Jasmine. She was a cocker spaniel mix of some sort. She was such a sweetheart! She knew “sit” but would only sit when Michael told her to. And of course she’d get a treat if she sat. She was really well-behaved (especially compared to the very active Dublin) but she was also active in her own way. She wanted to be the leader and as volunteer dog walkers we’re not supposed to try and train or “correct behavior” but if it were my dog, I’d probably train it not to pull the leash.

Jasmine was really sweet and super soft. She also loved her reflection in windows. She would stop and stare at herself, I suppose wondering who the other dog was. Too funny.

Jasmine and I had a grand old time walking in the sunshine. As always, I was kinda sad to drop the dogs back off at the shelter and go. If I could I’d probably spend all day there playing with puppies. I mean how awesome does that sounds? Also, The Pixie Project has cats, too. As we were leaving I gazed into the window at all the sleepy kitties sunny themselves in the window. Adorable. When I got home, Fat Kitty was sniffing all over me. Yep, that’s dog you smell baby! Sorry…. 🙂

QUESTION: What’s your favorite “stuffed” recipe?