Stuffed Bell Peppers

September 20, 2014

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Ok, So please don't mind my totally non-glamorous photo of this recipe, I promise it's DELICIOUS and super EASY! Isn't that what any Mom, Wife, Girl Friend, or Awesome Single individual is looking for?! Common lets be honest we all want something that is Quick and Yummy..if you don't agree you're lying! 

This recipe is a staple meal in our household. It is perfect because it hits all of the food groups: Protein, Fats, Carbs, Veggies, and Fruits (Thank you Tomatoes for being a fruit for once)! My Toddler even loves to shovel this in, so it's a Huge hit! SO Enough of the chit chat, lets get to the GOODS! 

Ingredients: 

• 3 Whole Bell Peppers (Any color you like)
• 2 lbs Ground Turkey (Optional- Add spicy Italian sausage)
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp Crushed Garlic (I normally do 1 rounded Tbsp..I like Garlic)
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Salt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 1/2 Cup Salsa 
• 1 Bag Microwavable Brown Rice 
• 1-2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Cup Chopped Spinach Leaves
• Pepper to taste

** Not Pictured -- Microwavable Brown Rice & Ground Turkey Meat

If you are an experienced cooker, please feel free to sprinkle in more or less of the spices as you wish. I normally don't even measure them out I just sprinkle till it tastes good. If you are not experienced totally OK, but if you are feeling wild, Sprinkle away! 

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 375

2. Wash then Cut Bell Peppers in half and place them in a slightly greased Glass Baking Dish. I just lightly spray the dish with Coconut Oil Spray or Olive Oil Spray. If you don't have either you can brush the outsides of the bell's lightly with Olive Oil. Set these aside once cut.

3. Cook Ground Turkey on Medium Heat until all meat is brown and there is no pink showing. 

4. Add Cumin, Thyme, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Salt, and Pepper to Ground Turkey. Stir till all spices are mixed in with meat. 

5. Place Ground Turkey in a separate bowl and put to side. You can cover with Aluminum foil to hold heat in ( I did not do that in pictures shown). 

6. In the same pan you used to cook the meat turn up to Med-High. Add 1 Tbsp Olive Oil.

7. Once Oil is heated, add the Tbsp of Garlic (or however much you desire) and packet of Microwaveable Rice. Microwave the rice before you put it in the pan. Cook Rice & Garlic in Oil till start to turn a bit brown. 

8. Add Ground Turkey Meat back into pan with Garlic & Rice. Add Chopped Spinach & Salsa. Stir.  

9. Begin Stuffing the bell peppers with the meat mix. The bells should be stuffed pretty high. The whole batch should all be used in the bell's. OR you can do a couple more bell peppers and spread it out to feed more people. I normally eat 1 and my husband eats 2. 

10. Don't forget to Sprinkle with Cheese!! That's the best part :)

11. Bake for 20-25 Minutes at 375. 

12. ENJOY! 

Home

We all have a place.  

A place that knows our face. A place that knows our voice. A place that has watched us grow. A place that removes all frustration, sorrow, fears, doubt, or feelings of inadequacy. A place that doesn't judge us for our wrong doings, but welcomes us with open arms. A place that only takes a pure image in our mind to lift our spirits.  

We all have a place.  

A place that holds our most cherished memories. A place that has helped defines who we are. A place that we will forever hold dear to our hearts.

This place for me is HOME.

In 1 week my parents will be driving away from my childhood home of 22 years. The mint green home with white trim will become a small image in their rear view mirror as they travel down that long driveway for the last time. The home will then disappear from their sight, but the memories this home has made for their family will remain large in their hearts forever.

I may never see, nor step foot in this home again, but I will never forget:

·      Raising pigs, chickens, cows, horses, lambs, kitties, and puppies at this home

·      Catching crawdads, building forts, and sleeping outside on the trampoline with neighbors.

·      Picking green beans from the garden in the scorching summer sun.

·      Playing house and picking wild flowers from the fields for table vases.

·      Flying high in the air on the swing that hung from the branch of the Oak Tree.

·      Playing wiffle ball with my brother which ended up in, who can hit the other person the hardest with the ball.

·      Sleeping on the floor of the bedroom my oldest sister and I shared since apparently I tried to "strangle" her at night in the bed we shared :/.

·      Taking walks with my parents down to “Coloma”

·      Running through the sprinklers since we couldn’t ever convince my parents to buy a pool, and we didn’t want to ask the neighbors if we could swim everyday...even though we pretty much did. Thank you Tyler family :)

·      Acorn Fights 

·      Stacking fire wood in 105 degree weather  

·      Watching my dad stop his wood working projects in the barn to wave and greet us kids as we drove up the driveway.

·      Learning to drive the riding lawn mower and develop a LOVE for mowing (Yes, I would love to mow your lawn.

·      Crashing my brother’s car into the fence while "teaching" my cousin how to drive a stick shift.

·      Always greeting my mom in the kitchen with her apron on as she was always making us something delicious to eat.

The list could go on forever, but some of the most treasured memories that this home gave me are: 

·      Saying “I Do” to the love of my life in the fields of this home.

·      Asking my Lord, God, and Savior into my heart on the floral couch in the living room with my Mom.

·      Watching my siblings and I bring our husbands, wives, and children to this home so they could create their own cherished memories as we had.

It is sad to see this beloved place go however, I cannot be more excited for this next journey in my parents lives. I hope and pray that my children can look back on their lives and the memories we make in our home and have such wonderful and heart filling things to say as I do. 

-Tess   

Bye Bye 2014 ::: Hello 2015

January 16, 2015

I know I haven’t written a blog post well…since my very first blog post, BUT who’s to say I haven’t been thinking about what to write next. Honestly, this blogging thing is harder than I thought. But, I would like to say that my limited blog posts are probably due to the fact that our household was plagued with the nasty cold (excuse #1), we had Birthdays & Holidays and seemed like all we did was travel (excuse #2), I had a heavier work load (Yes, I have a real job because obviously blogging isn’t paying the bills) (excuse #3), and the fact that I have been growing a baby inside of me for the last 5 months (Ding, Ding, Ding, Legitimate excuse)! But, now that we are settled back into wonderful Pocatello, I figured now would be a great time to reminisce on 2014, and start the new year off with some New resolutions “Life Changes.”

2014.

If I could describe 2014 with one word it would be, Change. Ahhhh!!! You are thinking, did you really just saw the word Change?! How dare you say that super ugly, terrifying word that nobody likes! Yes, folks I said…Change! As the year started I had a feeling we would be having some slight changes in our life with my husband applying to PA school, but I had no idea it would bring us this timeline.

·      February – Deven accepted into PA School (Chest Bump)

·      March – Looks like we are moving to Boston (umm.cold, but cool)

·      June – No Boston, moving to Pocatello,Idaho (Not Poky)

·      August – Pack up our house, rent out our house, pile our junk into Deven’s parents garage (overly kind of them), pack up the stuff we are taking and move to Pocatello where we are sharing an old creaky house with a neighbor who doesn't like toddlers, I go back to work full time working from home, on top of full time stay at home Mom, Wife, and sometimes Dad, Deven starts school (31 credits, and my husband disappears).

·      September – Pregnant (HORMONES) … That’s all I have to say.

·      October – I turn 26 (I have a problem with getting old)

·      November – December – Holidays

Now you are thinking, that doesn’t sound so bad. All you did was move to a new town and now you’re pregnant. My response to that is:

“Yeah, I left my beloved friends, family, neighbors, church, dogs, house, job (well at least having adult conversations 1 x per week), and the life I had established for 4 years. Saying goodbye (temporarily) to move to a place where I know nobody, my husband won’t really be around because he will be so busy with school, I have to juggle being a full time mom and employer, and I can’t even shop at Target whenever I want because THEY DON’T HAVE ONE!! Those are a lot of really hard things to say goodbye to. BUT can I say one thing about all this complaining; I wouldn’t change it for ANYTHING!”

Amongst all of the changes that 2014 brought us I couldn’t be happier with where the Lord has led us, and it’s a great reminder that I need to trust God’s plans for not only me but my growing family. (Jeremiah 29:11 -- Go read it, it’s my fav). We have met the most wonderful people here in Pocatello, Deven is rocking the socks off of PA school (check back in a couple months, only 1 semester down), I got into a wonderful women’s bible study at church, and I have learned so much about myself that I wouldn’t have had if it weren’t for all the change.

So as I say GOODBYE 2014, I can truly say it was a wonderful year of Change (yeah that word again)! Maybe try out a little change in your life and see what it brings you.

Now onto 2015!

2015.

We start off the year with Harper turning 2 on January 30th!! Seriously, where did the time go?! If you just had or are about to have a baby, snuggle them tight, and don’t let go because they will be way to big in a blink of an eye.

We started potty training this week and can I tell you what a nightmare this is! I would seriously hire somebody to come and teach my child how to go peepee and poopy in a toilet (Did I really just say I would pay somebody, YES Of course not)! I ask her about a million times per day, “are your panties dry? Peepee and poopy goes in the toilet, you tell Mommy when you need to go peepee and poopy, ok?” All I dream about are the words peepee and poopy. The prizes don’t work, the chart doesn’t work, and ON TOP of the potty training we are down to 1 Binky!! This is pure tragedy in our house. I figured ok, I’ll let her potty train before I take the binky away from her because she is really, really attached to her binky, and baby steps right? Well yesterday, we somehow lost two of the most beloved binky’s so now I have a WHINING, CRYING, TANTRUM THROWING TODDLER WHO ONLY HAS 1 BINKY, AND WON’T GO PEEPEE OR POOPY IN THE TOILET!! Am I yelling?! Whoops, Yes, I am yelling! Ok, so maybe I honestly wanted to cry a lot, I mean a little, but all I could really do was laugh about all of it. In all honesty she may not be ready and that’s ok. This is my first time parenting, and I’m not perfect. This is her first time having to go peepee and poopy in a toilet, she won’t be perfect. So hopefully before the new baby comes she will be potty and binky trained…prayers accepted :)

Yes, as you know we will be expecting baby #2 in late May!! Yayy!! Seriously people, the excitement about baby #2 is just as exciting as baby #1. You may forget you’re pregnant on some days (if you’re a lady), and you may feel like you are not as able to enjoy the tiny movements in your belly, but knowing you will be able to love another little miracle is the best feeling ever!

We are not finding out if this baby is a boy or girl, and I don’t know whose dumb idea that was (me). I have been going through some seriously anxiety after our 20-week ultrasound because I don’t know how I am going to get the things I need for this baby before it comes. Very simple…you get a couple boy clothes (keep the receipts), and I already have girl clothes. What’s all the fuss about right?! I have no idea, but I have been testing out my sewing skills making some neutral baby blankets, burp cloths, and leggings. Obviously it’s nothing blogging worthy as I have not posted anything about it and probably won’t because I can’t sew in a straight line but I’m the only one looking J

So as 2015 has already been filled with the joys of being a parent and children, I took some time to write down a couple life changes I would like to start this year. I don’t like to call them resolutions as they normally don’t last, (except the 1 time, 7 or 8 years ago I decided to stop drinking soda, still going strong). I like to pin point the areas of my life that I think I need to work on to help with my faults or even insecurities. I don’t expect myself to be perfect at completing these by the end of the year. All I really want is to know that I have made slight or significant adjustments in my life this year to make my 2015 life changes a habit that will continue on for years to come.

2015 – Life Changes.

·      Make daily to-do lists and complete list by end of day

There are so many days that I get too-busy or I spend too much time on my phone that I forget to send out a letter, vacuum the floor, or make that dentist appointment that I have put off for 5 months. I want to get better at organizing my life and time. I do this for work but not my life. Time to do both!

·      Read 10 Books (5 Non-Fiction, 5 Fiction)

I don’t like to read books. There I said it. The world now knows. I will read articles on Facebook, or blog posts, or People magazine articles all day long, but I will not read a book. In my heart I want to read a book (I think), but once I sit down to read the endless to-do list start going through my head. Plus, the only books I can justify reading are ones that will help make myself more successful financially, career wise, and just life wise. Why can’t I enjoy some murder mystery or sappy romance book…? I shall conquer this goal.

·      Put Down the Phone!!

The other night I was thinking about how much time I spend at my computer working, Pinteresting, Facebooking, and then how much more time I spend looking at my phone. I look at it while I’m cooking, walking, watching TV, and lying in bed. That can’t be good for me, and why am I wasting so much time on my phone? I think this is something we all can work on. I’m sure it’s better for our health and lets be honest, overall safety.

·      Journal & Send Letters

Last year one of my life changes was to start keeping a journal for Harper on her life, and all the funny things she says, and does, and when she is naughty. It is so fun for me to go back even a couple months previous and see how much she has changed and how big she has gotten. I want to continue to do this for Harper and the new baby as I think it will be something they will truly cherish. I’m not sure when I will give them the journal (maybe their 16^th birthday)?

My cousin Emily and I have started pen palling over this last year by fluke (she is way better at it than I am), but honestly I just love getting a hand written letter in the mail from her hearing about her life. I want to be able to make somebody’s day by sending him or her a letter and just tell them how much I appreciate them and that I’m thinking of them.

And the Last One:

·      Keep Dating My Husband

With how busy my husband’s schedule is it’s really hard to get quality time together, but that doesn’t mean that we have to stop thinking or caring about each other. It’s as simple as waking up to make him breakfast, putting a note in his lunch just saying, I love you, and appreciate your hard work. Simple things like buying him new underwear, when you finally realize Elmo has taken on a new grunge ragged look J. This is one life change that for any married person should never stop!

I would love to hear what your 2015 "Life Changes" Are! 

I hope that this year bring all of you great joys, and even some changes that may be tough at first, but you will be able to look back and say, I am thankful for that change.

Happy New Year!

 -Tess

Deciding to Blog

I finally did it! 

I am writing my very first post as a "blogger"! My poor husband has been hearing, "I think I'm going to start a blog", for about the past 3 years so I'm pretty sure he is really happy that the day has come that he doesn't have to hear about it anymore. Well...he thought he didn't have to hear about "that blog" however, now the daily question will be, "what should I blog about today?" Ohh...the joys of marriage :) 

So, now that I have taken the plunge and joined the blogging world lets answer that BIG bad question of, " Why am I starting a blog?" Honestly, I am asking myself that same questions right at this moment, Why am I starting a blog?! The simplest way to answer that questions is to say that I'm doing it for my pure ENJOYMENT! Umm...what? Some people may say, "well that's kind of selfish." YUP, doing it just for me...with hopes that what I share will relate with other mothers, wives, women, and individuals going through the ups and downs of life just like me!

My blog is simply about my life (hence the name..Simply Tess) and all the things I love wrapped up in one place. Most all of the things I do from day-to-day will be shared such as: 

DIY PROJECTS
GLUTEN FREE RECIPES
WEEKLY MEAL PLANS
MOTHERLY JOYS 
BEING A(SUPPORTIVE) WIFE OF A GRADUATE STUDENT
MOVING TO A NEW TOWN
FINANCES
EXERCISE
TECHNOLOGY TIPS YOUR MOM CAN UNDERSTAND
...AND EVEN SOME PRINTABLES

As you will read in my About Me page, I have lots and lots of things I like to do however, I am truly not an expert at anything so please don't expect perfection cause you ain't gunna get it. 

So... if your ready for that blog that's something like a "box of chocolate, you never know what your gonna get" type of thing, Simply just follow along!

-Tess