Veggie and Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers

I think I forgot to tell you about this...

It's so yummy, and so simple, I must share. (the best part--no deadly mandolin blade required)

I got it from here at neverhomemaker.com

I used red bell peppers instead of green because I like their taste better.

Check out the food glory:

I picked this recipe because it was simple, and because it had both beans AND veggies in it.  However, I was a bit skeptical about the flavor.  I thought it would be "just okay", but it was DELICIOUS. Totally a repeat recipe.

Simple AND delicious...sign me up.

And So it Begins...Again...

I am finally starting to get back into my cooking routine!  This summer has proven difficult for meal planning and kitchen experimentations of all kinds...if I were a killer whale, my big fin would be flopped over right now.  That's a really sad analogy :( 

Moving on:  Not wanting to crash and burn, I've been easing back into culinary activities very slowly.  Or I'm lazy.  Whatever. 

My first stop-- a spicy peach smoothie!

This thing was soooooooo good!  I cut up one GINORMOUS fresh white peach along with a couple of ice cubes, some light unsweetened soy milk, french vanilla protein powder, and for the spicy kicker --- some jalapeno simple syrup that I made for our latest beach excursion.  It was FABULOUS!  Sweet and refreshing and then punched you in that little dangly thing in the back of your mouth on the way down...LOVED IT :)

Then, an unexpected event occurred.  I turned 30!  Okay it was expected.  But what was not expected was that I reached 30 with all of my fingers and toes attached!  I have legit problems with keeping those phalanges healthy and with a constant blood supply.  Chef knives, doors, filing cabinets, walls, baseballs, my brother's shin...if we were on Jeopardy, the question would be "What form of torture does Laura typically choose for self-mutilation of the hands and feet?"  So, what's the best way to celebrate this unexpected accomplishment you ask?  Receive a freaking bougie mandolin from RAIME!!  YEAH!!!  I had been wanting one for so long, but I was actually kind of scared of hurting myself...even with a cut resistant glove and the safety guard attachment.  But I'm 30 now.  It's time to act like a grown-up. 

I only almost cut myself once, which is definitely a sign of maturity, in my opinion.  And it was in the R&D phase of figuring out how to work it so it doesn't even count.  No, it doesn't!  I've decided that I am going to lobby that all merchandise capable of decapitation should include an instruction manual that consists of more than 5 pictures on how to operate said machinery of death.  The first couple of pictures were fine.  "This is a mandolin.  It's cuts things.  It makes you happy.  Note the happy person in picture 3--that's you!"  But they needed to insert a few more in between the step of picking the food up off of the counter with the intent of slicing, and then the picture of the finished product.  Like "Here's me wondering how to make the legs of the mandolin pop out so it's sitting at an angle.  Nope, that's not it.  How about this piece....got it!" and then "Sticking the food on the safety guard device is not as intuitive as you would suspect.  No, your Master's degree and CPA will not help you here." followed by "WOAH that blade REALLY is SHARP!!!  GEEZ!!  Do I need a parent to supervise me?" and then "Huh, I wanted to make a chip, not a shard of tissue paper.  Where is the chip setting?"

It was scary.  And daunting.  I was frightened the whole time.  But, I did it! 

I sliced up a sweet potato, brushed a little bit of canola oil onto the slices and then sprinkled with a smidgen of sea salt.  I put them in the oven at 375 and baked for 12 minutes, then flipped them, re-oiled and salted, and then baked for another 8 minutes.  Considering the fact that they were not charred black, nor covered in my blood, I think it was a success.  I will, however, definitely need to tweak my technique in order to obtain crispy chips that don't have burn freckles.

It felt awesome to be cooking again on a Monday while watching TV and hanging out with Skeeter.  I'm so ready to get back into the regular habit of cooking/freezing/sharing/sending texts of pictures/and BLOGGING dangit!  It really is fun and rewarding.

I type this post while enjoying a bowl of sweet potato and black bean slow cooker chili that I made a few weeks ago and froze for future delights.  It tastes deliciously sweet and spicy!  I've included a cup of Red Dye #40 to wash it down :)  Until next time...

Forever Crazy Yours,
Laura

A Tale of Two Veggies

First, there is Cauliflower:

I followed this recipe. I used my immersion blender to make it creamy--it seemed weird to leave to cauliflower in huge chunks (which is what the recipe said to do). But, in typical fashion, if I don't like something, or it sounds more complicated than it needs to be, I Raime-fy it.  Enter emmersion blender. Problem solved.

 Cauliflower is one of those weird vegetables that I have a hard time incorporating into my diet, other than the typical "California blend" of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots.  So, it was a nice change of pace to enjoy this veggie in a creamy soup.  I went light on the cheese to try to keep it in a healthy range. It surprised me just how much I liked this. Definitely a recipe worth repeating.



Next up...KALE.

My dark green lover.

This was my first rendez-vous with kale, and boy did we enjoy ourselves!

I loosely followed this recipe from neverhomemaker.com.  I didn't have all those spices on hand, so I used my own little blend of: 
smoked paprika
cumin
curry powder
and just a touch a tumeric.

Raime-fication: if you don't have it, and can't foresee a reason to have it for future uses, just use what you DO have. 

 serve this lentil bowl solo, or with a side of pita bread or naan for dipping/scooping pleasure.


And lastly, Mac and Greens.  I LOVE mac and cheese, but I could stand to decrease the fat and calories, so I was inspired when I spotted this recipe from katheatsrealfood.com.

Raime-fied Kale version:

Mac and Greens

Ingredients:
two cups brown rice elbow macaroni noodles
kale
1/3 cooked sweet potato (more if you like the sweetness to temper the bitterness of kale)
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Simultaneously: boil brown rice pasta, steam chopped kale, and cook sweet potato in microwave for 5-7 minutes. (I like multitasking). Then, food process kale and sweet potato until it's like a chunky pesto. Mix with drained noodles. Add Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.

So easy. So green. and sooo good.