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Monday, April 11

Guest Blogger - Vann Clan

I have known Lori for years and LOVE reading her blog Vann Clan 5.... I remember the baby shower for her little one that is almost 10!  I asked her to guest blog because she is a former Marine Wife that I just admire for her transition into civilian life!

Ha ha, that’s probably what my husband was thinking “OMG, my wife actually cooked something NOT from a box, that didn’t burn!”. I got a new Redbook magazine in the mail about 2 weeks ago, and have been drooling over the stuffed peppers recipe from Trisha Yearwood’s new cookbook that was the cover feature. I just kept reading it and finally decided to just do it.
The recipe is simple enough, doesn’t require you to pre boil the peppers to wilt the skins. The last time I made this – that is where things went horribly wrong. The recipe does say you can prewilt the peppers to reduce cooking time, but I wasn’t taking any chances!
The ingredients are super simple – peppers, ground beef, rice, diced tomatoes (canned with their juices), a can of rotel & salt/pepper to taste. I also added garlic & some cilantro/jalapeno seasoning that Matt and I love.
Here are some photos!

Here is the mixture after I filled all the peppers.  I had a little over 2lbs of ground beef, and my peppers were on the puny side.  I actually ate some of this without the peppers = yummy!  The rest I put in a Tupperware container and froze.   I bet it would be good in any type of peppers, or even a tomato.  Oh the possibilities!

Small sampling of them before cooking, the pan I had was not big enough for the peppers I had.  8 of them fit in the other pan, 3 here and well – one half was cut up and eaten as a snack! 

After cooking for 40 minutes, the timer went off and I took them out and added cheese.  YUM!  I guess for a healthier version, you could leave the cheese off, but why would you want to?  Cheese makes everything better!  The recipe called for sharp cheddar, a whole pound of it actually.  I didn’t use a whole pound, I found that possibility a bit overwhelming!  So, I just put a little on each one! 
The end result was positively yummy!  Matt actually liked them.  Although he still ticked me off by saying “you took a chance making these because my grandma makes really, really, really good ones”.  I wanted to say I didn’t care if his grandma made them good, I wanted to know what he thought of the ones I made!  I love her cooking, but she isn’t down here and this is ME actually making an attempt to cook something from scratch dammit!    The only thing these did not have was a bit of a sauce (think Stouffers in a box kind).  They tasted wonderful without one, but I think a light tomato sauce would enhance them a bit.  Perhaps get a 2nd can of rotel, and a 2nd can of the diced tomatoes – puree them and then add the sauce when you add the cheese – or serve it on the side.
So from my Georgia kitchen to yours – happy cooking! 

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