Blessing Bowl Full Of Peppers!!

The last of the garden blessings came in on Monday afternoon. I walked out to peek, and found 8 green peppers, still firm and growing. They were not as big as those that I picked during the peak season, but a huge and unexpected blessing for sure!!
My husband asked me to make stuffed peppers with them, so I gladly jumped into the process.
Now, that may not look the same as at your home. Since my husband has type 2 diabetes, I need to keep the carbs as low as possible. That means NO rice, low amounts of bread crumbs and a large meat to pepper ratio. So, I try to add as much flavor as possible, and that starts with roasting the peppers over flame, steaming them and scraping the char off. Not a hard process, but a bit more time consuming than using a raw pepper.
I make sure to mix all the wet ingredients into the bowl before mixing the ground beef in, to prevent the meat from getting tough.
My wet ingredients are: ½ grated raw onion, 2 cloves grated fresh raw garlic, 1 whole egg, 2 tbl. Milk, ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese and my herbs….which are usually fresh from my plants. Mix in the 1 pound ground beef and ¼ cup homemade bread crumbs just till combined.
Place some yummy canned or homemade marinara sauce in the bottom of your baking dish, fill the peppers to overflowing (the beef mixture will shrink, so you do really need to overfill) pour more sauce over top the peppers and bake, lightly covered for 40-50 minutes.
When you take them out of the oven, sprinkle as generously as you like with a bit of extra freshly grated parmYour family will love these, I promise….and it is even better when the peppers are an unexpected blessing from the garden!!

Breakfast Fo Dinner

Breakfast for dinner….yes? no? Do you have this at your house? We do on a very limited basis, as my husband has really never been a fan of it….until Monday night! I made pancakes with a mixture of whole wheat flour and coconut flour, a little stevia, vanilla, cinnamon and the usual wet ingredients….they were a big hit, and my sweet husband has decided that he likes breakfast for dinner…at least a few more times a year!
Here is my recipe which I concocted Monday Night:
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp pure stevia (natural sweetener)
small pinch of salt (sea salt is best)
1 egg well beaten
¾ cup skim milk
1 tsp vanilla (only real vanilla will do)
1/8 cup canola oil
Mix wet ingredients together, add into sifted dry ingredients.
If the mixture seems to thick (and that is entirely possible) add in more milk, ¼ cup at a time.
Butter the griddle (only real butter for us) and fry by ¼ cup full amounts….these are dense and require a bit lower temp and longer fry time, but believe us, they are worth it!
I personally chop some raw pecans, placing them on my pancake, and if I really want to guild the lily, I add a few sugar free chocolate chips before drizzling with a high quality sugar free (all natural if possible, like an agave, or local honey from local beekeepers, fresh from the hive) syrup, or better yet, REAL maple syrup, as that is an all natural sweetener.

I have not had sugar in 6 years. I do eat natural sugars like fruit and things of that nature. For sweetening and baking, I use as pure and natural as possible, like a stevia or another bark sweetener.
My husband is type 2 diabetic, so non-processed foods are the better choice for him, that is why I use whole wheat flour and organic coconut flours.
And honestly, it is better for anyone to eat foods in it’s most natural state, the less processed, the better. That does not mean, however, that it is low calorie, so restraint is still necessary, as much not fun as that is sometimes.

p.s. I can only find coconut flour in our small town at our heath food store, but if you are in a large town that has a whole foods or even a large grocery well stocked grocery store, you may find it a bit more easily…but it can be gotten on line from several companies, like Bob’s Red Mill (organic) which is what I use.

Feelings, & Plans...

Feeling as if I really need to get my Christmas shopping done as soon as I can…not sure why I feel the urgency, as there are so many other things that need to be done much before Christmas, like digging thru all the photo’s taken this past weekend, and getting the discs mailed off, finishing up Thanksgiving shopping, cleaning, deciding what my centerpiece will be for the thanksgiving meal, what dishes should I use….and it goes on and on.
I intend to create a pretty tone on tone centerpiece for our table, and am excited to get started on it…I will make sure to document it in pictures for you and try to get it done as soon as possible, as to not post it too late… to possibly give you an inspiration for your own table! I am thinking levels of white….creamy white, bright white, pale white….lots of candles and sparkle, hoping to make it from all that I have already , and not having to purchase anything (with the exception of unscented tea lights, as I NEVER use scented candles on my table to avoid offending any of my guests).

Remember these.... the pumpkins that I made for our table last year????

Well, they are being re-purposed for this year....stay tuned!!

District Champs!

I may post twice today, maybe.

Just wanted to share the photo taken of our "Player of the Game" #55 (He really was named that this past weekend, just to pad the already numerous honors that he has earned this season) receiving the trophy. Totally Cool! T, we are so proud of you and so happy that we were able to be a part of this amazing day!

Just a Quick Take on Our Weekend

More to come another day, but today, I give you three pictures.

First, my sweet hubby enjoying the view from "The Top Of The World" as the locals in the U.P. call it, and it was quite breathtaking!

2 & 3....I just had to take these pictures. And they are two different pictures, not the same that I turned to b&w. I am, I guess, drawn to the obscure, and I find it to be quite beautiful in it's simplicity. I have to decide if I would like this in color or black and white on my wall, but it will be framed for my eyes to look upon, remembering a precious weekend with family, a special meal with a wonderful young man (who's team took district championship in football in triple overtime....stressful!), I will share a few photo's that I took at my photo shoot with him for his Sr. Pictures another day also, but for today, just this.

Tell me what you think.....color or black & white????

Friday & Lots To Do!

Let's start off with last night (after working and grocery shopping, where I threw away my grocery list ON MY WAY INTO THE GROCERY STORE!)...I accomplished lots! Made a spatchcock oven roasted chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots...yummy! Put 2 future chicken meals in the freezer. Made chicken salad for my mother with the leftover roasted chicken. Put up 22 cups of fresh home made chicken stock. All with 2 four dollar chickens!

Then I cut my daughters hair, she is just so pretty....makes a Mommy proud!

Swept my floors, changed the sheets on our bed and collapsed to watch a bit of tv with said daughter.

Oh, let's not forget the pork loin that I broke down into 16 pork chops to take up north with us for our family up in the UP of MI. We are leaving this afternoon, so that I can do a photo shoot for our Sr. in high school....how did THAT happen?????? A Sr.?????!!!!!!!!!

He is a star football player (which I have mentioned before, but will say it again with pride) and has received multiple honors for his undefeated season this year.

I am putting my foot down and not traveling any more for the year 2011...I have been to New Orleans twice this year, the UP of MI 5 or 6 times this year, Door County WI, other areas of WI many other times and I am looking forward to a two months of being home, filling our home with family and friends and just being with my husband. Doesn't that sound wonderful!

So I shall leave you this weekend with a picture of a wonderful young man, having just defeated their biggest rivalry, loving on two of his young cousins....3 young men I love with all my heart.

I am a blessed, blessed woman!

Are You Ready For Thanksgiving???????????

Well, as I mentioned a few day ago, I have my menu planned for Thanksgiving…and here is how it looks. I put together a book of sorts, (as I have for several years now) with the menu, the dishes that I have asked others to bring (I cook the meat, potatoes and all the desserts) and the recipes that I personally need for my part of the feast. I also send recipes to a couple of my relatives, as they always say…”you just let me know what you want, I am willing to try anything” [I have a fantastic family!] and they get to try something new and fun to bring with.
I find this tool to be one of great value and there are 3 reasons why.
1) When the menu is set, there is NO last minute panic. I know exactly what is being served and I never worry about not enough or too much food. Welllllllllll, I like a bit too much, as then everyone gets to take a bit home with them, as thanksgiving leftovers are the best!
2) I have all the recipes at my fingertips….I am not searching for anything when the time comes to bake and cook!
3) I can make my grocery list up way in advance, allowing me to keep it with me, and then I can buy a bit each week, and I am not doing a huge grocery run the day before thanksgiving….the more organized I can be ahead of time, it allows a stress free cooking time and I am much more relaxed during the actual meal.
We usually have anywhere from 12 – 25 people at our annual meal and the farther ahead that planning and work can be done, the more fun I can have!
I would encourage you to try making a book of your own….it may just make your holiday a bit more fun!!!