Stuffed Peppers on My Day Off

Yesterday, was my day off.  I have deemed Mondays as my official day off.  I'm not sure when it started, but I have been doing it for a while.  Something about being so tired from the weekend, plus it is Monday and what better day to take off than a Monday.  What do I do on my day off? Well, I try to do a whole lot of nothing.  I'm usually in my pjs all day or at least for most of it.  Jack is in his pjs for most of the day too.  Declaring Monday my day off pretty much just tells Zach that he's going to come home to a house that looks like a tornado hit it.  He has been completely okay with it, and that is awesome.  Last night he came home looking for a pair of shorts in the laundry, and he said, "Oh, yeah it was your day off." I love that he's willing to acknowledge that I need some time.  So basically, I don't do laundry, dishes, any type of cleaning.  Yesterday, I did a bit of reading on my downtime when Grayson was napping.  Otherwise,  I usually watch movies with Jackson, or we all take a big nap.  It is great, but I'm not sure how helpful it is to me in the long run.  While it is nice to take the day to do nothing it isn't like a maid is showing up every Monday.  I end up having to take care of everything anyway on Tuesday, but I guess I like the idea of lowered expectations on Monday.  

We love to eat peppers around here, and luckily they were on sale because these babies can get expensive so I stocked up.

I made stuffed peppers for dinner last night, all with Grayson strapped to my chest in the Moby.  Let me tell you I found it difficult to dice onions with him attached to me.  I was a bit worried that the smell would bother his eyes, but he seemed perfectly fine.  He just fell asleep.  Here is the recipe for how I made them last night. They are little different then how I usually do it because I was using what I had on hand.  It won't be exact because I don't usually measure when I cook.  

5 Bell Peppers (I had just enough filling so you might use 4)

1lb Ground Beef (I had a little over a pound)

2 cans Tomato Soup ( You can use tomato sauce this is just what I had)

1 small onion chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

1 cup uncooked rice (I used brown rice, and the 1 cup made more than I would usually put in, but it made the filling go farther)

Shredded Cheese, any kind.  (I usually use mozzarella, but I had shredded cheddar and mexican cheese    on hand)

2Tbs Butter

Worcestershire Sauce

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 350

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  While you are waiting on the water cut the stems off of your peppers and take the seeds out.  Place the peppers in the boiling water for 5 minutes.  Remove them and set them aside in a baking dish.  

Dice one small onion and mince one clove of garlic and set aside.

I cook my rice separately because it just never seems to cook right when I try to cook it with the peppers.  Cooked my rice according to the package directions.  I cooked 2 servings using 1 cup uncooked rice.   

While rice is cooking melt butter in a skillet, and sauté onions and garlic until they are soft.  Add in burger, and cook thoroughly. Drain burger, and put it back into the pan.  Add seasonings to taste.  Salt, pepper, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.  (You can add whatever seasonings you would like.  Personally, I would have added some dried parsley, but we are out.) Stir in the cooked rice. I added in some tomato soup and a bit of water to bring it all together, and make it moist.  (You can use tomato sauce instead) Sprinkle in about 1/4 cup of shredded cheese.  Stir until cheese is melted and everything is hot.  

Your peppers should be in a baking dish.

Stuff your peppers with the meat mixture.  

I added water to the rest of my tomato soup to make sort of a gravy/sauce like consistency, and ladled it over the peppers letting some pool in the bottom of the baking dish to help steam the peppers. Top with shredded cheese.

Bake peppers for 20-35 minutes depending on what texture you like your peppers to be.  We like them a little mushy.  Let cool, and enjoy.  

 If you see an ingredient that you don't like then you shouldn't let that stop you, or if you don't have it try to improvise and use what you have on hand.  If you don't like real onion, use powdered or dried onions, and the same for fresh garlic. Taste as you go and get creative!