Insomnia(?) dealings

Hello everyone,

You know those days when you go to bed at 2 a.m. and are completely awake and bright eyed by 6 or 7 a.m.?  it's rather maddening, especially when you were planning on waking up around... oh I don't know,, 9 or 10?  haha   anyway, that happened to me today, and as someone who loooovvves to sleep, I was perplexed and a bit vexed at the same time.  So I moped around for a bit until David suggested that I take McKinley on a walk since it was going to be a beautiful day in Seattle!  and I am soo glad I did because our neighborhood is truly a beautiful place!

So I thought I'd share some pictures of our beautiful neighborhood taken over the past month or so, in case you were also dealing with this insomnia (but it's more like the opposite of insomnia...?  because the inability to fall asleep happens after you wake up...?  meh, I don't know  haha) tendencies as well, and are on the interweb browsing  ;)

lake near our neighborhood...

ahh!  these were the cutest little duckies ever!

and of course, the forest in our neighborhood

our street

Mckinley just enjoying himself on our walk that we took the last day David was in Seattle

and this flying contraption that could gauge the wind and stay afloat without tipping over

McKinley making friends, per usual

our backyard.  Because McKinley is black it's impossible to see him in this picture, but he's peaking out from behind the tree on the top level  haha

our garden!
maybe it's the Nebraskan in me, but I absolutely looove gardens!  and ours is looking pretty prosperous, eh?  ;)  haha

Harvest from today.  =D     some lettuce, green onions, and some sesame leaves!  I think we're going to have some Korean BBQ tonight to eat with these lovelies!

I hope you have a fantastic day!  

Thanks for stopping by!

--Janny

Perfect summer recipe :: Stuffed Peppers!!

Hello everyone,

Summer is the perfect time to take advantage of all of the fresh produce that's coming out in the stores, or even better, at your nearest farmer's market!

When David was here (I know that was awhile ago, but I completely forgot about posting this recipe until now!) we took advantage of the fresh produce that was seriously over flowing at the farmer's market and whipped this up for the familia for dinner!

And though we already really like cooking together, having an awesome kitchen equipped with lots of marble counter space and an industrial grade gas stove made cooking sooo much more fun!  haha  oh the perks of cooking at home rather than at our dearly-loved-but-extremely-tiny-apartment...

It was so easy to put together, and a huge hit with the fam!

so here is the easy peasy, Roasted Stuffed Peppers recipe!!

Roasted Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

6 red bell peppers (or any other color of your choice)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
shredded cheddar and/or pepper jack cheese
Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbs ginger, minced
1 Tbs Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 onion, diced
1.5 cup diced tomatoes
1.5 cup diced mushrooms
1.5 cup diced cauliflower
1 cup diced steak (you could substitute this with ground beef or you could leave this out completely for a vegetarian version!)

Let's Cook!

1. Wash your bell peppers thoroughly, both inside and out, by cutting the top portion of the pepper.  But make sure you keep the top part so that you can use it as a lid!

here they are, mostly unseeded!

2.  Preheat your oven at 350 degrees.

3.  Heat up your olive oil in a pan on medium heaet, and add the garlic, ginger, and the diced onions to cook.

4.  Once the onions take on the clear-esq look, add the chopped mushrooms, cauliflower, and tomatoes!  (oh, and don't forget to add your choice of meat during this step as well if you want a non-vegetarian version) You should only have to sautee them for about 10 minutes total.

5.  Now, it's time to make your pepper live up to its name!  Stuffing time!  I laid down a layer of the mixture above, then a spoon of spaghetti sauce, and then a layer of shredded cheese.  Repeat the process once more, and you should end up with a fully stuffed pepper!

6. Once your pepper is stuffed to the max, sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese, and attempt to put the 'lid' back on.

7.  pop them in the oven for 30-35 minutes, and you should end up with these beauties!

8.  Serve them to the hungrily awaiting familia!  and enjoy them with some salad and perhaps some bread!

I hope you enjoy!!
Thanks for stopping by!
--Janny