Stuffed Peppers

10 Awesome Things (Part 1)

1) The Expendables. The Expendables is a movie that is coming out in August. I can't tell you anything about the plot, because I do not know what it's going to be about. I do know that it's my movie dreams come true because the following people are in it:

Yes, that is correct. Jason Statham and Bruce Willis in the SAME MOVIE.

2) The Bitten Word. I have a mass amount of cookbooks and cooking magazines in my house. I do use them a lot, but not nearly enough considering the amount of money that I have spent on them. Facing the same issue, the writers of The Bitten Word made a resolution to use recipes from their collection of food magazines and started this blog. Their pictures are beautiful and they feature a lot of recipes from Everyday Food, one of my personal favorites.

3) TV on DVD. I love being able to sit and watch a season of a TV show in my own time, and not schedule my life around when it airs on television. I also love when an episode ends in a cliff hanger, and I just have to hit play to see what happens, and not wait an entire week.

4) Farmer's Market Saturdays. I can't describe how much I love going through the farmer's market. It's a really lovely way to spend a Saturday morning.

5) Lululemon! I have been spending mad amounts of time at the gym lately, so I am practically living in Lululemon. I only wish it was acceptable to wear it everywhere else, they are so comfortable! My newest purchase was these pants:

And to make it even more awesome, I got them on sale for only $39!

I picked up bell peppers on my most recent trip to the farmer's market, and wasn't sure what I would do with them, until I remembered that the roommate sister loves stuffed peppers. Fillings for stuffed peppers can vary, and I went with a spicy chili filling.



Rebekah's Chili Stuffed Bell Peppers (pictured at top of post)
serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

2 cups beef broth (reduced sodium preferably)
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb ground beef
14 oz can chopped tomatoes (even better if it's the chili kind)
14 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
1 tsp (give or take) cumin
chili powder (use however much you like, I used just under a tbsp)
4 bell peppers

1) Cook the rice according to package directions, using beef broth instead of water
2) Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat the oil on medium high. Add the onion and saute for two minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute.
3) Add the ground beef and brown. I used extra lean ground beef that I know doesn't have a lot of fat so I cooked the onion and garlic first. You could cook the ground beef first, drain off the fat, and then add the onion and garlic if you like.
4) Add the tomatoes, chipotle, kidney beans, cumin and chili powder.

5) Once the rice has cooked, add the rice to the meat mixture. Remove from heat

6) Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut the bell peppers in half, remove the seeds, ribs and stems.

7) Place the pepper halves on a baking sheet, insides facing up. Scoop the meat mixture evenly into the peppers.

8) Bake in the oven until the peppers are the desired doneness. I like mine warmed through, but not tender so mine were only in for about 10-15 minutes.

I served these with cornmeal muffins. The recipe was off the back of the bag of Purity cornmeal.

Ingredients

175 ml. Purity cornmeal (3/4 cup)
300 ml. Milk (1 1/4 cups)
250 ml. All purpose flour (1 cup)
75 ml. Granulated sugar (1/3 cup)
15 ml Baking powder (1 tablespoon)
2 ml. Salt (1/2 teaspoon)
1 Egg
50 ml. Vegetable oil (1/4 cup)

Preparation

Combine cornmeal and milk. Let stand 10 minutes. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add egg and oil to cornmeal mixture. Mix well. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400F or 200C for 15 to 20 minutes.

The roommate sister made the muffins, but before they went into the oven I sprinkled some paprika on top just for color.