Stuffed Pepper Skillet Meal

A few years ago, my garden produced an unbelievable amount of green bell peppers. We lived on some fertile sandy soil and must have gotten perfect conditions for pepper growing that year because I haven't had much luck with peppers since then. We had what seemed like bushels of peppers that year. Luckily my husband loves stuffed peppers. Honestly, before I met him I didn't know that anyone really loved stuffed peppers. I always tolerated them when my mom made them, but I have started liking them much more now.

That summer I made lots of stuffed peppers. I would make the filling then stuff it into the raw peppers, wrap them really well and stick them in the freezer. It was so easy to just take out one for Wyatt and I to share when Rog was working late, and also easy  for Rog to take one out of the freezer and zap in the microwave to heat up when he came home. I have seen recipes that instruct you to mix up the filling ingredients with raw meat and pack it in the peppers before baking, kind of like a mini meatloaf, but that always sounded gross to me, so I brown my ground beef before mixing the rest of the stuff in with it.

Now I have an even easier way to make my husband's beloved stuffed peppers. I use all the same ingredients, but I chop up the peppers and put everything in a skillet to cook on the stove top. Much faster and easier to both make and eat. My kids even really like it. Sometimes I will also use these same basic ingredients plus some beef broth and tomato sauce and make Stuffed Pepper Soup.

Here's what you'll need:

 

Pay no attention to the wild child in the back.

Stuffed Pepper Skillet

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 or 2 green bell peppers, diced

½ C white rice

½ C water

1(16 oz) can diced tomatoes

2 TB worcestershire sauce

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Shredded cheese, about 1 cup or less

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid.  A few minutes before it is done, add in the onion and peppers. When the beef is done, drain and return to skillet. Add in the rice, water, and other remaining ingredients except the cheese. Cover the skillet, bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked through. Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheese. Enjoy!

The night I made this I served it with a salad and some cantaloupe that my trusty helper scooped out.

Maybe not the most photogenic meal, but definitely a quick, cheap, filling dish that tastes great, too! Also, don't you love how my "Here's what you need" picture really only shows half the stuff you need? Nothing short of perfection here, folks!

The Coolest Bib Around

One of the many things that I love about Pinterest is that of all the ideas and recipes I pin there, I find that I actually use them, not just pitch them into a folder on my computer never to see them again. Maybe it is the pictures that help keep my interest, or the easy organization, but I have actually tried quite a few of the recipes I have pinned, and have even found time for a little sewing lately.

I started my youngest son on real food about a month ago. Somehow, I had forgotten how messy it was! We have been going through several outfits a day, and I don't like laundry! At home, I really don't mind just taking his shirt off to keep it clean while he eats, but when we go out I think that might be a little tacky. All of my boys have hated wearing bibs and have been very efficient at yanking them off as soon as I get them on, but I think I have found a solution.  I found this "Bapron" tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional on Pinterest the other day and got a little crazy making them. They are so cute! And it doesn't take any time to sew a few of them up. I just used store-bought bias tape because I am lazy, but if I were making these as a gift I would definitely make my own since it would be so much cuter.

The pattern is very easy to follow. The only change I made was to add about another 1/2 inch or more on all sides. I made the first one the same size as the pattern and it was a little snug on my chunky baby. On one of the bibs,  I was a little short on bias tape, so instead of making the neckline go all the way up and tie, I just covered the neckline of the fabric. If he is really fussing with it, he can get this one off now, but it stayed on really well the first few times. It kinda looks like an art smock, so maybe I can just scale up the pattern and try that for the older boys.

I actually tried making one with some of the iron-on vinyl so that it would clean a little easier, but I forgot that you are supposed to hand wash anything you make with that stuff. Around here, nothing gets hand washed so it got thrown in the washer and when I found it amongst the other clothes I was moving over to the dryer I noticed the vinyl had completely come away from the fabric. It's not really a big deal because it is still held in place by the bias tape, but it makes it even more crinkly and I just never really use it. The other ones are just so much cuter.

Of course we have to have a few action shots:

Max's Nursery

Everybody says that the 3rd child doesn't get anything just for them. It's all hand-me-downs and no pictures. Well, Max is our 3rd and he is the only one that got a real nursery. When we had Wyatt we lived in a tiny rental house so his crib was in our room because that was the only place we could put it. Sure, all his stuff was new and shiny but we couldn't really decorate and make a cute nursery like you dream about.

When we had Carson, we owned a larger very old home, but the bedrooms were all upstairs in a really odd layout. Basically you got to the top of the stairs and were in the master bedroom, then turned a little and were in another room. Keep walking through that room and you were in Wyatt's room. There was also another bedroom you could get to through Wyatt's room but we used it as storage because it was in pretty bad shape. Carson started out in a pack-and-play in our room because Wyatt was still in the crib. My kids also all woke up every two hours for the first 6 months so it was easier to keep them close to me at night. Eventually Wyatt got a big bed and Carson got moved to the crib and into the middle room. I'm not sure why, but we just never really decorated any of our rooms upstairs in that house, so Carson didn't get a real nursery either.

Right about the time I found out I was pregnant with Max we bought the house that Roger grew up in, and this time I was determined to have a special place for the new baby. When my husband's parents lived in this house, the room that Max is in now was used as a storage room. It was painted an awful shade of blue, had old linoleum flooring, deer heads on the wall, and those awful gold-speckled ceiling tiles.  Needless to say, it was not a room I was willing to let any of my kids sleep in. Late last August when I was about 6 months pregnant, my mom and I painted the ceiling, the walls, trim, and closet doors in there and the room started to become a place where I didn't cringe when I opened the door. Later we had carpet installed and I really got excited about setting up the nursery. 

Wish I had taken these before we lowered his mattress. Skirt looked much better then.

We used the same crib that we had with the first two boys but I made a new crib skirt and matching curtains. It's funny that it has been less than a year since I made these things, but I would do them a lot differently now. I hadn't really gotten into sewing quite as much as I am now and I've seen many other ideas for baby decor that I would probably use instead, but overall I am pretty happy with it. I used this tutorial to make some sheets for the crib. It was so easy and I liked that you just used elastic on the ends, not around the entire sheet.

Two things that I still really like are the letters over the crib and his lamp.  I'm not really sure when we got the lamp, but it just had a plain, generic shade on it. My mom and I took the shade apart and used the old covering as a template to cut fabric for the new shade. It is a coordinating fabric in the same Riley Blake line as his curtains and crib sheet. Much better. I got some turquoise spray paint this weekend to paint the base of the lamp which I think will make it look a lot cuter, but I wanted to go ahead and take some pictures of it in case I ruin it!

The letters over the crib were inspired by a picture I saw online somewhere but I can't find it now. Helpful, huh? It was of a really cool kids' playroom with some alphabet letters on canvas. I thought it was Land of Nod or Pottery Barn, but I have searched and still can't find it. It was so easy but I love the simple modern look of it.

I knew we would need some kind of rocking chair in there, and judging by the amount of time I spend nursing at night, I knew it needed to be a comfortable one. I decided against the usual glider and instead got a cushy recliner. Not the cutest thing on the market, but it is so comfortable and we can use it in the living room or den after I'm done with it in here. I was really excited to find this bookshelf at Target. I had been looking for a relatively inexpensive white bookshelf and this one had good reviews and free shipping. Plus, it is called the Carson shelf, so I knew it was meant to be! Right now it holds bins with burp cloths and blankets on the top shelf and random nursing supplies and baby carriers on the bottom.

Taking these pictures of his room made me realize that I really need to put some other art up on his walls. A lot of times while I am sitting in there feeding Max I look around and try to envision how I will redecorate it when he is a little older. I've got lots of ideas, but they will probably all be different by that time!

Ben's Quilt

ETA: I'm updating this post to link to Lily's Quilts "Small New Blog Meet-Up". Since I have only been blogging for two weeks now I thought it would be a bit of overkill to re-hash my quilting inadequacies in such a short period of time. But, I have actually finished one of the quilts referenced at the end of this post. To see it just head over here. Thanks for stopping by!

I have only made one quilt completely by myself. Cut, pieced, basted, quilted and bound all by moi. And y'all, it was tiny. Well, not tiny, but it was a baby quilt.

It's funny, but when I think of myself as a quilter, the word beginner isn't the first thing that comes to mind, but I totally am.  I really don't know why I think like that. Maybe because the first quilt top I made was back in high school, so that would be at least 13 years ago (yikes!). Not even sure I finished that one. I think I just left the pieces laying around in my mom's sewing room long enough that she finished putting it together.

The next time I attempted a quilt was during my junior year of college. I saw a design in one of my mom's quilt books and decided to try it. But I really didn't see the point in actually figuring out the amount of fabric I needed and making a reasonable sized quilt, so I just kept making blocks until it was huge. Once I had that top finished, I was so sick of it that I left it at my parents' house and told my Mom that I really didn't care what she did with it. Being the saint that she is, my mom hand quilted that sucker for me and then gave it back to me. I'll have to find it and take some pictures.

 My third quilt top was for my oldest son's bed. I got my mom to cut the fabric for me, and after I pieced the top she finished it for me. Sensing a pattern here? Same goes for the quilt for my second son. So the first quilt I really and truly made is the one I gave to my nephew when he was born.

I just realized he is holding it upside down. It's blurry, but the cars are under the road.

Now it's going the right way.

My brother and his wife live in Texas and just had their third child in May. A cute little boy named Ben. I haven't really met him yet, but I'm sure he is delightful. For Ben's quilt I used the Disappearing Nine-Patch tutorial from Cluck, Cluck, Sew using mostly Riley Blake fabrics with a few Robert Kaufman Funky Cars. The binding is a dark brown Kona, maybe coffee? Obviously when I took these pictures I was never planning to start a blog, or I may have tried to stage the photos just a little more professionally. Like maybe not in my living room with kids peeking out.

So there you have it, my first quilt. Right now I have another quilt in my closet all basted and ready to be quilted and am piecing another, so maybe I can at least consider myself an advanced beginner?

The kids and I did not leave the house today. I cannot remember the last time this has happened on a Saturday. I'm guessing since before Rog started his job at Duke, so, 6 months probably? It seems like we always have something to do on the weekends now, so it was really nice to get to stay home today.  It was a really laid-back day, but we actually got a lot done.

After getting Max down for his morning nap, Rog stayed inside and played with the boys while I enjoyed some quiet time out in the garden. Well, if you call pulling weeds in 90 degree weather enjoyable...Oddly enough, I do! Underneath all the weeds I found several more cucumbers that I missed yesterday and discovered 3 cantaloupe that I hadn't seen before. It seems like the seeds that I planted where I wanted them to grow didn't make it, but when I handed the remainder of the packets to the boys and let them plant the rest everything survived. So we have quite a tangled patch in the garden of watermelon, cantaloupe, sunburst squash and red noodle beans.

I came in and made salsa for lunch with fresh garden veggies, then Rog put the older kids down for their nap. After that he got all the hooks put back up in the mudroom from when I took them down to paint last month. He even got my new shelf from Ikea put up in the dining room. After Max went to sleep I got some sewing done on Rog's quilt that I'm making, then made some pickles. Overall, a surprisingly productive day.

And just to jazz up this post a little, here are a couple pictures from the day.

On Quail and Mud Bogs

Why yes, that is a strange topic, isn't it?

Just a couple of short things this morning...

Last night while the kids were brushing their teeth getting ready for bed, I was in the living room when Rog came running in. He wanted me to come tell him what kind of creature was in our backyard. Seriously? He is the native farmboy, I am merely a suburban transplant, yet he wants me to ID the thing in his backyard? So I go look out the playroom window and see something thrashing around on the ground on top of a mole hill, causing a mini dust storm. In just a couple seconds, my answer...birds...dust bath...looks like quail.  Not quite believing me, he opens the window a little and does a warbly bobwhite whistle. The two quail freeze, shake themselves off, and go on their way. Win.

And now for the mud bog portion. Do you even know what a mud bog is? I had never heard of one until I moved up here. And I come from Tennessee, one of the reddest* places on earth. Tonight is the last night of our county fair and thus, the mud bog is the evening's entertainment. Apparently, the whole purpose of the mud bog is to see who can drive their truck the farthest through a big mud hole in the middle of the grandstands. And amazingly, this is the busiest night at the fair. Also, the most entertaining night for people-watching. Sadly (and this is where a sarcasm font would be handy), I won't be attending the olde mud bog tonight. Rog will be there helping the other fair board guys keep things under control and I really have no desire to take three kids by myself. Can you blame me?

So I will leave you today with a picture of the boys at the fair earlier this week. Why no, I didn't remember to take pictures of my kids while we were there, shockingly enough. But a neighbor snapped this picture of them outside the hog barn and I think its cute.

*Am I the only person that uses the term "red" to refer not just to the color, but to categorize something as being a little on the redneck side of things? I think I may be.

What the heck is a tomatillo??

Tomatillo in the wild...of my garden

When most people ask what I have in my garden, I usually get an odd look when I say tomatillo. Usually they think I just have a weird way of saying tomato. Really, I am a little surprised. Its 2011, dude. Who hasn't heard of a tomatillo yet? Maybe I just read too many food and gardening blogs, but I kinda thought they were a bit more mainstream. After googling them a couple times to find various recipes it has become apparent that there are some misconceptions about them. Some people think they are just green tomatoes, others say you will only be able to grow them if you have more than one plant. They aren't tomatoes, but they are related. They are called "tomate verde" or "green tomato" in Spanish, so I guess that is where some of the confusion comes from. They are more closely related to ground cherries and cape gooseberries. Tomatilloes have a papery husk surrounding them that usually splits open when the fruit ripens. They also have a sticky coating between the husk and the fruit that tastes pretty bad if you don't get it all washed off. The plants look similar to tomato plants and can get a little out of control and sprawl over a large area of the garden.  Not that my garden EVER gets out of control...

Just starting to split the husk

The past two years I have bought two plants from the farmers' market because I read that they wouldn't set a good crop if you only had one. Well, the first year a cutworm took out my second plant and last year one of my boys stomped on one, but both years I had many more than I needed to keep us supplied with salsa verde. And that, my friend, is the best thing to do with tomatilloes. (Is tomatilloes the correct plural form, or is it like deer or fish? Spellcheck doesn't appreciate anything I'm throwing out there...)

This year, I wisely decided to get three plants, just to test the theory and make sure we were completely overrun with tomatillo. All three plants have thrived this year. We are really only at the beginning of the great 2011 tomatillo harvest, but I have already canned one batch of salsa and made a couple fresh batches.  I have also picked a bag full and completely forgotten about them in the crisper drawer of the fridge. Funny how that happens...

Last week my mom was here for a canning/freezing extravaganza and the last day of her visit we made Salsa Verde, or Tomatillo Salsa. When I make White Chili I usually throw some salsa verde in there towards the end of its cooking time. I have also gotten really lazy creative a few times and chucked a pork roast into the crockpot with a jar of the tomatillo salsa and let it cook all day. It smells awesome and makes some really tasty tacos, enchiladas, or anything else where you can use tender, Mexican-inspired pork.  The recipe I use when I am canning is from the Ball Blue Book.

Tomatillo Salsa

5 ½ C chopped husked tomatillos (2 lbs)

1 C chopped onion

1 C chopped green chili peppers (I used a mix of Anaheim and jalapeno)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tb minced cilantro

2 tsp cumin

½ tsp salt

½ tsp red pepper (I used chipotle chili powder)

½ C vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

¼ C lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, adjust lids and rings, process 15 minutes in boiling water canner.  Yields about 2 pints. 

I canned this in half-pint jars and got 5 full jars .

Here is a crazy side-note...once when I was making my pork roast and threw in this salsa, the garlic in it turned a fascinating shade of greenish-blue. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out, but after a little internet searching, I found that it is a perfectly normal reaction that sometimes occurs when garlic comes in contact with other acidic foods. 

Wash them really well to get that funky sap off!

When I am just making salsa to eat fresh, I quarter the cleaned tomatilloes and throw them in a pan with some onion, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, and salt. Cook just until they break down a little, add cilantro, then whir it in the blender a bit until it gets to the consistency I want. If I have a little more time and don't mind heating up the kitchen a bit, I will roast the tomatilloes, onions, and peppers in the oven for a little while then process them in the blender with the other ingredients. 

I haven't tried it yet, but I have read that to can plain tomatilloes you process them like tomatoes.  I am also planning on freezing some the next time I pick a bunch, so I'll let you know how that turns out.