Good Morning, Sunshine

Despite the fact that for the first two hours of the morning, I thought it was Thursday, I am having a spectacular day so far.  I need to remember how much better I feel when I wake up before 6 and get to the gym.  And I've mentioned it before, but weather like this makes me so happy.  I love driving to work with the windows down without sweating my balls off.

We had stuffed peppers last night for dinner, and unfortunately for you, I failed at taking any pictures.  I made them in the crock-pot, and while they were really good, they would've been ten times better if I had used Italian sausage instead of the apple sausage I had on hand.  Recipe below...this made enough for Miah and me, plus two containers of leftovers.

10 banana peppers (the long yellow ones, with just a little heat)
1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 lb (approx) sausage
1 cup cooked rice
1 egg
1/2 a medium onion, chopped finely
Italian seasoning
garlic powder
salt and pepper

Turn your crock-pot onto low heat, and pour enough sauce into it to coat the bottom.  Mix all ingredients together (except the peppers and the tomatoes) until combined, and stuff the mixture into the peppers.  I used a small spoon and chopstick operation to get the stuff in there, however, I'm sure there are other efficient methods.  I had quite a bit of leftover stuffing, so I just formed them into little patties/meatballs-ish things, and put them on the bottom of the crock-pot.  I then put the stuffed peppers on top of the patties, so the patties would still get some of the pepper flavor into them.  Cover it with the remaining sauce, put the lid on, and if you're fancy enough to have a crock-pot with a timer on it, set it for 6 hours.

I also made cucumber salad as a side, since Miah brought home two enormous cucumbers.  I have no idea where they came from, and I really didn't care, because I love free food.  One of the cucumbers is probably 15 inches long, and 3 inches in diameter, so tonight, I'm going to try my hand at pickling, in hopes of making perfect burger-sized pickle chips! 

And for dinner tonight, since Emma will be over, along with her friend, I'm making them pizzadillas.  I'm pretty happy that I can make fun food "for the kids" when really I'm probably more excited than they are.  I shall return with pictures tomorrow.