Stuffed Peppers

I personally have always thought "stuffed peppers" was a horrible name. It just does not sound good. Not even in the slightest. Well, this weekend we attempted to make stuffed peppers taste better than they sound. They were good, but we also have some suggestions and revisions for next go-round.

Ingredients:
3 green bell peppers
1 pound ground turkey, cooked
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
     **basically, chop everything
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (my fam is so into fresh tomatoes, so I added these for good measure)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (I'd recommend diced tomatoes with seasoning...italian or whatevs)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Italian seasoning to taste
2-3 cloves roasted garlic, minced (or garlic powder to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

First off, this made A TON of filling. So, honestly, I'd suggest halving the meat (Freeze half for use at a later date! Hello, savings. Ground turkey is pricey.) and all the veggies unless there is one veggie you L-O-V-E and cannot get enough of. Then, by all means, use the full amount. Or you could buy more peppers to stuff.

Secondly, our suggestions for next time include adding some shredded parm to the mix and perhaps a bit of flavored rice (eg. rice-a-roni) for more flavor. Or you could play around with the herbs and spices some more.

Okay, here we go.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wrap the bell peppers in aluminum foil and place in a baking dish. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from heat.

3. Chop veggies.

4. In a skillet over medium heat, brown the turkey. Set aside.

Heat oil in the skillet, and cook onion, mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, spinach, and fresh tomatoes until tender.

Return the turkey to the skillet. Mix in the diced tomatoes and tomato paste, and season with Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper.

5. Cut the tops off the green peppers and remove the seeds. (At this point, we would add said cheese and/or rice into the mixture.) Stuff the peppers with the skillet mixture. Garnish with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. (We also really like cheese in this family...everything in moderation. No? We try to use cheese in a dish whenever we can. Haha. Is that terrible?)

6. Return the peppers to the oven and continue cooking 15 mintues.

Super easy, right? And talk about some vegetables. Polyphenol and antioxidant city!

Oh and we paired our stuffed peppers with a warmly toasted cheese biscuit. YUM!

It's official!

Is it April yet?

We have an official pick-up date for our two little sweet peas. Friday, April 13. I CAN. NOT. WAIT.

Here's an updated picture.

Boone at 3 weeks old. And Brooks at 2 weeks old.

Can you even believe how much different the size is with just 1 week separating them?! Eek. I just want to hold them and cuddle them!

And the weather has been perfect for puppy walks. I promise you every day I walk outside and think, "this is perfect weather to walk Brooks and Boone." Sigh. Soon though.

I also love how whenever Casey and I talk about them, it's always "the girls." You'd think we were bringing home humans**. We are ecstatic for their arrival. Casey and I have a Wal-Mart/Petco/Petsmart date this weekend to complete the first aid kit. Other than that we are ready to rock and roll.


**More evidence that we totally talk about them like they are our children. Last night we had a nice dinner downstairs at our kitchen table with wine and even had the placemats out. AND we dressed up all fancy. Date-night-in. Our dinner was short, not like when you go out to eat and everything takes a little longer.
Me: Woah, that was a short dinner.
Casey: (totally serious) Well, we can just stay down here and talk. We do have the sitter for a while.
Me: (laughing) What's funny is you can say that for real in a couple weeks when Brooks and Boone are upstairs with Katie, and we're having dinner down here together.

This morning

On the mornings that I have to get up super early, I tote all my things into the bathroom and try to be church-mouse quiet when I'm getting ready. Then I always stumble through the dark to Casey's side of the bed and sit on the edge of the bed to nudge him into a semi-awake state to kiss him goodbye.

This morning, I got all ready and did just that. This is how our conversation went.

Casey: You look so pretty.
Me: (uncontrollable laughter) It's dark! You can't even see me!
Casey: Yes I can. I have night vision. (please note- his eyes are probably still closed, but I could absolutely be wrong) You're pretty.
Me: (still laughing) You're so funny. I love you.
Casey: I love you. More. Than you could ever love me.

He's so funny. I love that he can make me laugh even when I'm sleep-deprived and barely awake. I also love that he never fails to tell me I'm beautiful in his eyes.

Ear Wax

A post about ear wax is kinda gross, huh? 

Well, I can't help it. Cause these things are awesome. With a capital A. 

Kate and I discovered these years and years ago and do them every now and then. This particular brand is called Harmony Cone. Casey had never done this before. Who doesn't love trying new things? Katie and I coaxed him into participating. We probably told him he'd be able to hear things miles away afterwards. That's something we would do.

So this is what goes down. You put the stick in your ear (or have someone else do it for safety precaution) and light it on fire. Woot woot. Sounds dangerous, but that's partially why it's so fun. The risk that you could drop it and catch the house on fire. Or yourself. Take great care and hope that your helper is paying attention.

Then, when the fire burns halfway down the stick, the participant rolls over for the remainder of the stick to burn down to the red line in the other ear. Then you douse the burning stick in water to put out the fire, cut open the stick, and get grossed out by all the goo inside. We didn't take a picture of that part. Casey thinks it's a ploy. That the wax you see is part of the stick burning, and they make you think it's coming from your ears and now they are just super clean. Who knows.

Below is Casey's first time. It looks like he's having-fun-slash-scared. Either that, or he doesn't fully trust Katie to hold a fiery stick in his ear. He survived though.

You can find these ear wax candles (I'm not sure of their technical name) at most any natural foods or organic store. You know, the likes of Trader Joes, Earthfare, Whole Foods, Talleys, etc.

They're a little granola, but it's so fun to do and you feel as if you've done your body this great service of deep ear cleaning. Kinda like the feeling after getting a facial or pedicure...like your body should feel renewed and happy. No?

P.S. Casey has guard this weekend, so I'm working on his anniversary present on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He has no idea (until he reads this blog anyways)...

JK. THIS is the biggest news of my life.

We are getting TWO puppies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just could not resist. Her name is Boone.

What a cutie huh? She's a week older than Brooks.

Now when Casey and I are working, they'll have each other to hang with.

That's her with her tummy up. Talk about content. Hahahahaha. LOVE!

They're going to have so much fun together.

BIGGEST NEWS OF MY LIFE!

I have BIG news. I'm talking the biggest news I've ever had.

We're going to be proud parents!!!

Of a puppy. But not just any puppy. An English Bulldog puppy.

I'd like to introduce you to Brooks. Blog readers, Brooks. Brooks, your audience.

Just kidding. Kate got this little stuffed pup for Brooks to play with. So we had to try her harness and leash on someone. Looks good, huh?


Here's Brooks for real though!

How sweet is our little angel? She's only 1 day old in this pic, and I think she's adorable. But she'll get wayyyyyy cuter.

Her name comes from the name of the only running shoe I have faithfully trusted for 10 years. So it just makes sense. When we thought of it, I knew it was just perfect!

Brooks is my anniversary gift from Casey. I know, I know. Our anniversary is not until May, but you can't just pick when you want your little girl to be born. Am I right or am I right? So we get our little angel early. Lucky me! Lucky us!

Casey: When we get Brooks, if I get home from work first, are you gonna come in the house and go hug and kiss Brooks first?
Me: (diverting my eyes)...Well, no?
Katie: Yes, she is.

She was born just 5 days ago. I think she's just beautiful. We went to go see her this morning. It was the best ever. I cannot even portray my excitement over here. You have absolutely no idea.

Dad: Your Valentines baby.
Me: (squeal) I KNOW!


We have everything for our newest addition, with the exception of me needing to finish putting together her first aid kit. Yes, I'm serious beyond serious.

Kate: Are you going to have a bag for her first aid stuff? Or a box?
Me: Oh, I have a bag for everything already. 
Kate: Are you going to make Casey carry the bag with him anytime he takes her somewhere?
Me: Yes. Everywhere Brooks goes the first aid kit goes.

I'm so worried about my little girl's safety, and we haven't even brought her home yet. Will it be worse when we have a human child? That sounds so creepy. At least we have an excellent vet picked out. It's less than 2 miles from the house. Is it weird that when I called all the vets to ask questions, I was secretly rating them on their friendliness to see if they would treat Brooks as she should be treated? First impressions are everything.

Me: OH!!! Did Brooks get her license in the mail??
Casey: Her license? Is she driving now?...but yes, her ID came.

Here's her cute little tag (obviously you can't read it, but hopefully if someone finds her they'll have a magnifying glass with them...but then again we'll never let her cross the street by herself):

We get to bring her home in April, so now we just have to finish puppy-proofing the house. You know, like get rid of the grapes and chocolate...

Me: Are you excited to be a grandma again?!
Mom: Yes! Are you going to be able to sleep until Saturday? (in anticipation of seeing her for the first time)
Me: NO! I'm not going to be able to sleep until April.
Mom: You're going to be really sleepy.

Katie is such a great aunt already. For all of Dawn's kids, when they were born, she bought them each blankets with their names embroidered. So she totally surprised me with a blanket for Brooks. Her very own blanket to burrow into!!! With her name embroidered in purple. It is so soft and sophisticated...just like Brooks. I think Kate is pretty stoked about her newest niece. But who wouldn't be?

Here's a glimpse of her precious little blanket:

Ya'll never saw her bowls when they arrived from wag.com either, did you? They're adorable. Simple, but adorable:

We also bought this Friday at Costco:

I told Casey way back when that whenever we get a puppy we will have to buy a video camera. So here we  are. With a video camera. It's waterproof and shockproof. You never know what we'll get into.

She's going to be so spoiled. So spoiled that we all now call the guest room Brooks' room.

Ya'll might think I'm crazy with all this stuff, but I'm not. I love animals. I love puppies. And I especially love bulldogs, so this is so fantastic to me that we're going to have our very own!

Casey is the best husband in THE. WHOLE. WIDE. WORLD. He's so selfless, so kind, so generous, so perfect.

Shopping

I'm not a big fan of shopping. I'm not a big fan of spending money. Except for certain things. Sometimes I like to buy clothes or what not. But I really like shopping (browsing) for our NEW PUPPY!

Here are a couple things that Kate and I almost (strongly considered) bought for her while Casey was in Alabama. None of these are over the top, right?

1. Parka (cause it's gets so cold in Charlotte...no?)

Or a camo to go hunting with dad?

Or to go skiing in the Alps?

2. Halloween-slash-Easter costume (double use totally makes it worth it)

3. Raincoat (bulldogs do not like getting rained on)

4. Boots (for the mountains)

5. Lifejacket (for fishing and boating with dad)

If you go to www.wag.com and click on "Dog", there's a category called clothes and accessories. Haha. I love it. Sigh. Puppies are the best.