italian style stuffed red peppers

12:30 am finish writing the delish. (my own fault, i knew the insomnia was setting in and decided to blog, which i am glad i did!)

12:45 am get in bed and read a boring foodie book, hoping it will put me to sleep. (book reviews to come in a later blog post.)

1:15 am turn off light even though i’m not even close to tired.

1:30 am roll over to the other side, since the old standby right side is not working

1:40 am left side is not doing much better, so i begin to relax all parts of my body, tricking it into sleep.

1:45 am ahhh, feet are floating. calves are floating, knees are floating. what the fuck?? jason just farted on me. so much for spooning.

1:47 am look at the clock and cuss it out, knowing it will get it’s revenge in the morning.

1:48 am roll back to the right side and begin the relaxation process all over again.

1:50 am where were we? ahh, knees are floating… why in the hell am i thinking about work? 

2:30 am maybe this is about the time i fall asleep. i give up looking at the clock, because that only causes a string of curses about the daylight savings time (even though i really love it.) 

6:40 am the first alarm goes off. i sleep walk to reset it for another half hour.

7:50 am i must have reset the alarm again. funny how my brain rationalizes the resetting of the alarm without consulting, well, my brain!

8:59 am i arrive to work one minute before opening. yeah, i really should be there well before 9.

~and so it goes~

5:04 pm getting ready to close up when i get one of those fun calls, “i need a sign.” me: “what kind of a sign?” them: “i don’t know, your typical outdoor sign.” grrrrrreat.

5:19 pm i hang up the phone and having already gathered my laptop and purse, run out the door as fast as humanly possible before the phone rings again.

5:34 pm me, beep-beep (yeah we have nextel): “hey honey, can you put a pot of water on to boil so i can blanch the peppers for dinner?” jason, beep beep: “um sure, can it wait a few? i am changing the cat litter.” me, beep beep: “oh, by allll means, please. and wash your hands.” jason, beep beep: “10-4.”

5:40 pm i realize i also need rice, but don’t want to mess with the litter master, so i decide it can wait. it’s minute rice, only takes a minute, right?

5:57 pm walk in the door. kiss hubby. pee. get out pot for rice. me: “honey, where’s the minute rice?” jason: “i finished it off last week, why?” me: (internal thoughts – mothertrucker, why did i not call this one in?) “ok, no problem, we’ll use brown rice”

6:40 pm brown rice is done cooking. damn the rice for messing up my “quick dinner” plan!

6:55 pm stuffed peppers are in the oven.

7:25 pm stuffed peppers just don’t look done yet.

7:40 pm stuffed peppers are plated and ready to be eaten.

i think this is why i don’t cook so much lately, it never goes as planned!

 

 

 

• 2-4 large red peppers (i’m talking extra large, this recipe easily makes 6-8 regular sized red/orange/yellow peppers)
• 1 pound ground venison (or beef), browned
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked according to directions (makes about 2 cups)
• 2 cups feta (divided 1.5 and 0.5 cup)
• 1 29 ounce can plain tomato sauce
• 1 14.5 ounce can italian stewed tomatoes, quartered (i am quite partial to the dei fratelli brand)
• 8-16 leaves fresh basil
• freshly shredded parmesan
• garlic*
• oregano
• crushed red pepper

 

first, preheat oven to 350. then, cook rice, brown meat, and bring a pot of water to boil to blanch peppers (enough to cover them all).

if you have the huge red peppers like i did (long and skinny – like 6 inches long) cut them in half and remove stems and seeds. if you have regular sized peppers, cut out stem and remove seeds (so you have a hollow pepper in which to drop the stuffing.) boil peppers about 3-5 minutes. this makes them more tender and cuts down on the oven time.

combine meat, rice, 1.5 cups feta, half the can of tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and half the fresh basil (chopped or cut into ribbons).  fill peppers and top with remaining sauce, feta, and a sprinkle of granulated garlic*, oregano, and crushed red pepper to taste. bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

to plate, serve a pepper topped with fresh basil and some freshly shredded parm. no doubt about it, the fresh basil makes the dish delish!

*about the garlic: normally, i would use fresh garlic and toss it in with the meat while i was browning it. but, my meat was already browned from the weekend, and i didn’t have any fresh garlic. so, i used granulated garlic (from penzey’s, it’s the best) as an afterthought, and it worked out perfectly with some oregano and crushed red pepper on top. 

this recipe makes a lot and can easily be halved, but also makes great leftovers!

 

12:04 am finish writing the delish. what the hell, i’m a night owl.