Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Last week we experimented with a new stuffed pepper recipe.  The bell peppers at the store put us in the mood for stuffed peppers but we didn't want traditional ones so we came up with a new recipe!

*Bare with me - since we were experimenting we didn't keep track of how much of most things we were using.  In the end, I suppose it really depends on how many peppers you are making and their size!  We had extra rice mixture which went perfect with a grilled chicken breast in a lunch to bring to work!


Ingredients:

Bell peppers, any color
Seasoned, cooked chicken breasts - shredded
Taco seasoning
 Cooked, white rice
Black beans
Salsa
Corn
Onion - diced
Tomato sauce
One egg
Queso Fresco

Step One:  Cook your chicken breasts and shred them.  Season them with your favorite taco seasoning.
Step Two:  Hollow out your peppers and save the tops (the ring around the stem) - they will be diced and mixed in with the "stuffing!"
  Step Three:  In a bowl, mix the cooked rice, black beans (drained), salsa, corn, diced onion and diced pepper tops.  Use one raw egg to help make the mixture stick together.
Step Four:  Fill the peppers with the rice mixture
Step Five: Layer the seasoned, shredded chicken in a baking dish (we used our 8x8 Pyrex.)

Step Six:  Place the stuffed peppers over the chicken and cover them with tomato sauce.
Step Seven:  Cover the pan with tin foil and bake for about one hour at 350 degrees.

Step Eight:  Serve with queso fresco crumbled over the top and a side of sour cream and/or salsa if you wish!

This dish turned out awesome!  It was exactly the taste that we were going for.  You can really tailor this recipe/idea to your tastes.  Instead of chicken you could use ground beef or steak and I am confident it would be equally delicious.  Diced tomatoes would probably be a good addition to this as well.  The possibilities are endless :)


Linked to Tasty Tuesday.

We Did It!

This weekend Jason and I participated in a 5K obstacle course event with some friends!  I do have pictures I want to share but I am waiting to get our waterproof, disposable cameras developed first so I can see what we captured with them while we ran the race!

I will say, we all finished :)

Tonight, we are relaxing.  I used muscles yesterday that I didn't even know I had! 

www.runforyourlives.com

Last Day of School

This morning was Amelia's last day of school for the year!  

She really loves going to school.  Sometimes she even asks to go on non-school days!  I have a feeling that she will really miss going twice a week this summer.  Hopefully she likes it this much once next fall rolls around!

Tonight, in honor of the "official" start to summer, Amelia had a special bath!  

A glow-in-the-dark bath!  This is something that we have done a few times in the past.  I pick up some glow sticks (usually from the dollar section at work) and throw them in the bath with her.  Lights off, of course.  She thinks it is pretty neat and it mixes things up for us a bit at night!  

Kitty Attack

We had our first major kitty attack tonight.  I was in the bathroom when the incident occurred.  All I know is that I heard a shriek followed by crying.  Loud and intense crying.

Little man got his first, major injury from one of the cats.

I found him next to the couch and Ludo was under the couch.  Here is what I am thinking happened - I think that Joe was headed to Ludo (as he always is - slow poke "chases" the cats around every chance he gets), Ludo was sleeping, got startled and instinctively scratched him.  It bled an awful lot.  More than I would have thought it would.  

I never had Ludo (foreground) declawed when he was younger.  I rescued him when he was almost a year old and I didn't have any reason to have his claws removed.  I certainly never thought I'd have two kids by age 26.  I figured Ludo would be a mellow, older cat by the time I had kids to worry about!

I suppose we will have to keep a closer eye on both kids and cats from here on out! 

Memorial Day Weekend

We had an incredibly low-key weekend.  We did nothing big and exciting.  We didn't go anywhere.  We visited a few people Sunday but other than that we stayed home!

Saturday I got home from work mid-afternoon and we just hung out at home and played with the kids.  Joe wowed us all with his "walking" skills:

After the kids went to bed Jason and I watched the movie Super 8 with our friend, Leigh.  

Sunday we had lunch with friends at their home.  Amelia had fun running through the sprinkler they set up for her.

Joe was content to play with a bowl that originally held water for their dogs.

When we left there we headed to my parent's house to hang with Auntie Kim.  (Nana and Papa are out of town - for the Indianapolis 500.)  We set up the play pool my mom found at Goodwill for $5.  

The set-up on this thing was not fun but eventually Jason had it all ready to go.  

Amelia had a lot of fun with it!  

After dinner (tacos) we had and kitty-cat cupcakes.  I think someone enjoyed hers...

 

 

Monday after I got home from work we hung out in the parking lot with some of our neighbors who were planting gardens.  There is a small strip of land between where we park and the property fence and each unit can plant whatever they like in the soil in front of their cars.  I don't think we will plant anything this year but it is good to know for next year!  

We had never really socialized with the neighbors in the eight months that we have lived here until yesterday.  Amelia had some fun playing with a couple neighbor kids and their "toy" of choice was mud.

She had so much fun in that mud!  Pretty sure those pants are history but I guess that's the price you pay for a good time sometimes.  

We rounded out the weekend with incredibly mismatched pajamas last night.  And Pinocchio.

 That was pretty much our weekend.  Nothing too thrilling or noteworthy and that's ok!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

In honor of the rainy day we are having I thought I'd share Amelia's rendition of "Rain, Rain, Go Away."

One day we told her it was raining and she just busted this song out. We had no idea she even knew it! She must learned it at school is all we can figure :)

Little Explorer