Vege Stuffed Bell Peppers

6 Bell Peppers
2c Instant Rice (Brown, white, dirty - your choice)
12oz can of chicken or vegetable broth or 12oz water
1/4c frozen peas
2/3 of a can of whole kernel corn (or yield from 2 medium ears)
1 3oz can olives, sliced or chopped
15-20 broccoli florets
12-16oz tomato sauce
1/4 small onion
1tbsp minced garlic
2 Pkg of taco seasoning
4tbsp (more or less to taste) red pepper flake or jalapeno powder
1c Part skim or low fat shredded mozzarella cheese (pepper jack cheese is also yummy)
1/2 block of softened 1/3 less fat cream cheese


Preheat oven to 400. Cut tops off of 6 bell peppers & clean ribs & seeds from each. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of water in each pepper. Place on a baking sheet and put in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. This steams the peppers from the inside out and gives them time to soften up.

Cover the 2 cups of rice with broth or water & microwave for 2 minutes or until rice is cooked & fluffy. add peas, corn, olives, & broccoli. Saute onion & garlic until soft & then add to rice mixture. Add taco seasoning & tomato sauce. Add cream cheese and mix well until cream cheese is thoroughly incorporated. Add most of the mozzarella or pepper jack cheese.

Take peppers out of oven and, using a towel or oven mitt, carefully pour out the remaining water, if any, from the peppers. Fill each pepper generously with the rice & cheese mixture. Top each with the reserved mozzarella or jack cheese. Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and peppers have softened more.


***A couple of things about this recipe***
The cream cheese incorporates easier if you mix it with the rice right when you take the rice out of the microwave. The warmer the rice, the easier the cheese will mix into it. I did not do this because I fill a couple of the peppers with the vegetable mixture before I add cheese. With the whole weight loss & being in shape thing, I can't eat all that cheese. So, I make some peppers for me without cheese, then add the cheese for my husband's peppers. Trust me, this is just as good without cheese!!!

This is good as a side to chicken or steak or as a main course. I will try to post a picture off this soon.

I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE THIS!

Brushes with Fame

Who is the most famous person you have ever spoken to?

The most famous person I have ever stood next to was Jasin and Brent from a band called Shinedown. This being one of my all time favorite bands, I don't think I was actually able to speak to them, and if they spoke to me I was oblivious! Me and a friend went to a closed recording session with them and afterward they signed autographs and took pictures. They were very down to earth. If they had that typical rock star attitude they pushed it aside for this little meet & greet. They weren't rushing us to get through and they didn't act like teenagers who were forced to do something they really had no interest in.

Thankfully, I have a picture with both of them so I can reminisce and dream that we had some intelligent conversation rather than me just standing there like an idiot. The very same night, we met the guys from the band Three Doors Down. I think all of them were trippin and all they did was sit in chairs and try not to make eye contact with anybody. Totally the opposite of the guys from Shinedown. I actually have a different view of Three Doors Down after that - not because they were obviously high as a kite (my kind of people!) but because they were impersonal and didn't really want to deal.

Other than these two instances, I can't think of anyone even remotely famous that I know or that I have spoken to. I have seen local weather dudes in the grocery store, but I have never talked to them. And, let's be honest - that's not really a famous person! I have also seen some friends or acquaintances on the late night news or on America's Most Wanted. But, that's not really the 'famous' I am going for either!

My boss has a lot of stories of him meeting or having drinks with famous people and I am fascinated by all of them. I can't really think of anyone that I would just have to meet before I die or anything. I am more starstruck by musicians than actors or actresses but I am perfectly happy with going to their concerts. I don't need to have a conversation or move into the east wing of their house or anything. I can name several bands that I would love to do an acoustic set in my living room though!

I wonder, on average, of the people who have had the chance to meet their ultimate celebrity, who was satisfied with the outcome. I would think that most people are disappointed afterward. How often do you think celebrities live up to our expectations?

Olympics

OK - I have to say that I am as patriotic as the next person, but will the Olympics please GO AWAY! i am so tired of hearing about the runners, the volleyball chicks, and the swimming guy. Like I said, all of this is awesome. I am proud of everybody & I know that they all worked really hard to get there. BLAH BLAH BLAH! I seriously don't remember the Olympics lasting this long before. When it was held in Atlanta I don't remember this much coverage of it! Is this another product of media over kill? Or, has there always been this much coverage and talk and I was just oblivious?

I will admit that I can be very self involved and sometimes I don't want to pay attention to current events or pop culture. I don't play Trivial Pursuit enough to need to keep all this information in my back pocket. Do they still make Trivial Pursuit? I believe that Hasbro (or whoever makes Trivial Pursuit) actually invented the Olympics so that they would have another category of questions. OK, maybe not. My true die hard conspiracy theorists might have fun with that one though.

In all serious, congrats to all the Olympians; even the ones who didn't get a medal. Just making it to compete in the Olympics is a huge accomplishment. Unfortunately, a couple of months from now the majority of people will not remember Michael Phelp's name or that Misty spread her mom's ashes in the sand when she won the beach volleyball gold medal. I guess that's the reason why I get tired of people talking about it is because I know that no one really cares enough to remember any of it past the next full moon.

So, I raise my glass to the Olympics... and I drink to it being over!!!

Tread Lightly

I will be the first to tell you that I am not a matchmaker. I don't really care who is in bed with who as long as my husband is in bed with me! I wouldn't want to set someone up because I don't want one person or the other calling me to find out what she/he said about them and God forbid it doesn't work out, then, I would be in the middle of two of my friends fighting and it would be all my fault.

That being said.... Yes, you knew it was coming. My cheeks are blushing and I am rolling my eyes. For a while now I have thought that 2 of my friends would make the best couple. Last year, the girl told me that she had a huge crush on the guy! Whoo hoo!

The problem has been that the guy was dating another girl for almost a year. This was a girl that no one outside our circle of friends knew before and, to be honest, she was obviously not right for him. When I heard that they broke up, I called him up! Hopefully, I was discreet in going about it, but I got him interested and he sent her a message on Myspace. (Yes, both parties have myspace and Yes, we are talking about grown ups! I know, save your remarks on that!)

This is just in the beginning stages, but so far everything is going good. Please, please, please cross your fingers for me because if this blows up I am going to be sooo mad at myself!

P.S. I don't recommend setting up friends to anybody for any reason! Oh no, this is not a good thing!

Breast Feeding

Someone made a comment recently that reprimanding a mother for breast feeding in public was absurd. While I don't know that reprimanding someone is the best solution, I do think that if you are offended then you have the right the politely ask the mother to do it somewhere else. I admittedly do not have children and have never been faced with this decision, so maybe I don't have an informed viewpoint. I have seen a mother that had a smock around her neck which covered her whole torso, therefore, I did not realize what she was doing at first. I did not mind that because I was not forced to look at someone's belly or exposed breast (which is the method I see mothers taking more often than not).

Again, I am out of my expertise and I don't mean to chastise, but is it possible to pump the milk into a bottle and save it for your walk through WalMart or during dinner at the steakhouse when Junior gets cranky? Please inform me as to if it changes the nutritional value of the milk or if this isn't possible. Seems to me that this would be the most logical solution to the whole situation.

Now, I don't think that I have ever said anything to a mother for breast feeding in public. I do understand the need for the child to eat and the mother's decision to breast feed. It does not offend me, but I know that it does offend some people. If you are one of those people who get offended I think you have a responsibility to be discreet in your complaints the same way you wished for Mommy to be discreet with the feeding. A mom shouldn't be chastised for the natural process of feeding their child. But, I shouldn't be chastised for not wanting to see it either.

I think that if people thought about the effects of their actions on other people then people would work harder to get along in situations like this and others.

What would you do in this situation?

If you catch someone in a lie, but the incident in question was a couple of months ago do you still have the right to confront the lier? Or, does it make you a psycho if you confront the lier?
A couple of months ago, my husband went out of town for training for his job. There were 3 other people from his job that went on the trip with him. At the time, he told me that he couldn't talk to me very much while he was there because he was sharing a room with one of the other guys that went on the trip with him. (I do know that it is not uncommon for the company to ask them to share rooms, therefore, at the time, I didn't think anything about it). However, this past weekend we were talking to a couple of the people he works with and he made the comment that he enjoyed his training trip because he had the room to himself and he could do whatever he wanted.

The week in question that he was out of town, was one of the worst weeks of my life, just because of a couple of other things that were going on at the time. This week was also the week that I went into a deep depression, which I still teeter on the border of. Because of this, I don't know if I would be over reacting because of the state of mind that I was in. On the other hand, Saturday night when I heard the comment, I was my total self with no quams so should I still question my reaction?

I have not said anything to him yet and I am debating on whether I should or not. Do I really have cause for concern? My fear is that even if nothing did happen, why would he lie about something small like that?

Leave me a comment & let me know what you think! I could use the advice

Happy or Not?

Keeping things balanced is getting harder and harder for me. A few months ago, I went through a really hard time emotionally and mentally and the only thing that made me feel better was to keep busy. Therefore, I took on a second job and in the free time I have between jobs, I run or workout or clean my house. It doesn't sound like much on paper but it does keep me busy from the time I get up until the time I go to bed.

These days I am doing a lot better, although I still have rare days where I only have to work 1 job. On those days, I still get a little uncomfortable in my own skin and usually end up beating myself up for not working out enough or I sleep.

Having said all that, I do get overwhelmed sometimes too. More so in the last couple of weeks than ever. I am hoping that it is just because I have had to go out of town for the past couple of weekends. The weekends are when I have the most time to do laundry and clean the house and do the regular maintenance type stuff. Since I have been gone during the weekend, I tried to fit this stuff in between jobs or whenever I can.

I think I have mentioned in a previous blog entry that when I am happy, I am content with being fat. I am the opposite of an emotional eater. When something is going on or if I am sad about something, then I don't have an appetite. Also, I am prone to having low self esteem so when I am down on myself I have motivation to keep working out.

I hope that my feeling of being over whelmed is not a result of me being a happier person lately. I want to continue to work on my fitness, but I fear that I am running out of steam! My goal is to be a happy person who can control her weight and fitness.

The good news is that while posting this entry the UPS man brought my new weights, jump rope and body ball! Maybe the new stuff can keep me going through this feeling. Whoo hoo!

My Addiction to Running

There is nothing that makes me feel more accomplished these days than having a good run. I never know before I start if I am going to have a "good" run or a "not-so-good run." I put the terms in quotations because I am finding that every run is good for me. I love it.


There is no rhyme or reason as to what makes a quality run. It isn't dependent on how long it has been since I ate, what kind of day I had at work, or what house work I have to do when I get home. I can be mentally dog tired and/or physically exhausted, but nothing else matters once I step out on the sidewalk. I close off my mind and look forward.

I have not been a runner for too long and before this I was a sedentary person who looked at other people and wondered how they did it. Now, I understand. I have the disease. It is an addiction.

The familiar sights, sounds, and smells are my security blanket. When I turn the corner out of my neighborhood and the houses clear to to the lake, it keeps me going. The soft breeze hits my face and the ground under my feet turns to sand. The soft crunch keeps me in my rhythm.

I push the air in and out of my lungs and it feels great! As a former smoker, I never thought I could do this! Each time I make it to the next lamppost or driveway I get a rush that doesn't compare to anything else I have ever experienced. Now, I know what adrenaline feels like! Now, I know what it feels like to push myself beyond what I ever imagined and come out on the other side and realize that I made it. I didn't drop from exhaustion and my chest didn't explode. I am stronger than I thought I was!

I feel sweat pooling on the back of my neck and I consider it as my hard work becoming tangible. I can touch it, feel it, smell it. That is part of the experience. It is part of what I love.

Making the block and coming back into the neighborhood, I see people watching me jog by them. I wonder if they have the same thoughts I used to have. Do they wonder if they can do this too? Do they think I am a crazy health nut? Because I am not. I am not far off from a college kid who drinks too much alcohol and gorges on fast food and chocolate. If I can do it, they can too.

It is all another part of the rush for me though. I want to become accomplished enough be worthy of being a role model for other people to get hooked on my addiction. In a sense, I want to be a dealer.

When I step back into my yard, I am happy that I took another day to feed my addiction. I take another deep breath and image the blood pumping through my veins as fast as my heart is pumping it out. I feel renewed. My head is clear. I feel like a normal person. As if I belong somewhere.

You see, when I am running, I am my biggest fan. The 'real' me doesn't have it in her to accomplish this, does she?

A few months ago, I really thought that I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I felt like no one understood and like I was all alone. That's not to say that I don't have a lot of people around me that care about me or love me. Since I have been running, my mental health has improved tremendously. Sometimes, I do still feel like I am alone, but then, I think that if I can run when I had no business running and come this far with it, then I don't need to be as dependent on other people. I can rely on myself more than I ever thought I could!

So, here's to running and here's to doing something you never thought you could. I think everybody should go out and do something totally out of character and see what comes out of it. You might learn something about yourself.

Up & Out!

http://www.chickfila5k.com/

I thought I would include the link for the 5K I am running in September so that if you are interested you can find out about it and come out and run too, if ya want. This is really making me nervous. I know that I can finish the race with no problem, but I want to be jogging the whole way and it just doesn't look like it is going to happen. I tend to psych myself UP for something and in the process, I freak myself OUT. I am so excited, but my desire to do everything right really messes things up. I was able to jog half my route without stopping the other day and I was so excited that I almost cried!! I know that everybody is tired of me talking about this but, unfortunately, until September, it is all I will be thinking about so we all just have to deal with it!

Something else that I am scrambling to get everything together for is a big 30th birthday party. My husband turns 30 in October and I have been planning his party for at least a year now. Since I have been planning it, 2 other friends have let me know that they are turning 30 the same month. I have a couple of things for him that I think are really going to be awesome, but I need to start getting the decorations. That stuff is usually the most expensive part of the party! Which is just crazy. This year the theme is goth or death or something to that effect since these people are that much closer to death. HAHA It is a stretch but I did not want to have an "old people" party and have people come to the house in diapers or something!

One of the Dirty 30 is a girl. I have no problem coming up with party favors and nick knack things for the guys but for her, I just have not found anything. If anybody has any ideas please let me know! I really need to get working on this party so that I can really make it good.

Vegetable Rice Recipe

Here is another recipe for ya...

Vegetable rice

2c Instant White Rice
1/2c of water or chicken broth (any kind of broth will do, so vegetarians, go for the vege broth!)
2 Carrots
1 Head of Broccoli (About 1 or 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 bell pepper (doesn't matter what color pepper)
1/2c Parmesan Cheese
3Tbsp of Ranch Dressing

Pour rice into a microwave safe bowl and add the broth or water just until it covers the rice. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Let rice sit until other ingredients are done so that the rice has time to absorb all the broth and cook all the way through.
Add carrots, broccoli, and bell pepper to a food processor and grind until a chunky consistency.
Add mixture to rice. Add Parmesan cheese, ranch dressing and salt & pepper to taste.

This makes a fresh rice that is low calorie and tasty. Hope you like it!

Zombie & Pur Evil

Rob Zombie needs to make another movie or album or something. I love his music and his movies are at least original horror movies compared to what the "mainstream" horror movies are. (Even his re-makes are original in creativity, I think) I feel that we need a gory, weird movie to kind of break up the monotony. I wonder what he has been up to lately. Think he will sit in the corner of my bedroom and tell me bedtime stories?

On another note, I went to Nashville for a training class last weekend. The 3 hour drive there gave me some of that boring "think" time. What I thought about was really of nothing important but because I was by myself, I was able to observe some things. For instance, why is it that if you try to pass somebody on the interstate, they will all of a sudden speed up? Is it a power thing of not being passed? Do you get your man card punched if you get passed on the interstate?

I came up behind someone in the left lane who was driving 65mph (the speed limit is 70!) Don't you hate that? I rode behind him for a minute thinking he would get the point and move over, but I guess the joint that him and the guy in the passenger seat were passing must have been much more interesting. (I am quite certain that it was, by the way! I could never compete for attention with a joint!!). When he didn't move, I went into the right lane to pass but all of a sudden he speeds up to 80.

OK, fine, I got back over behind him because I was coming up behind someone in the right lane going slower. No sooner than I get over he is doing 65 again!!! UGHHH! After 10 more freakin minutes of 65mph I try, again, to pass him. Same thing happens. He speeds up to about 80 -85mph. I move back over and he starts going 60. At this point I am tired of looking at his "PUR EVIL" license plate, so I step on it and move to the right lane. He speeds up to 85 and I keep going to 100! I just want around him. Mr. Evil is not going to turn my 3 hour drive home into 3.5 or 4 hours! NO WAY! I am so much more evil than him. I am female! That, in itself, is evil enough.

In order to avoid a devastating crash with the blue Ford Taurus that I am speeding up behind in the right lane, I whip back over in from of Mr. Evil, kind of cutting him off. Of course, he drops the joint and flips me off. Ha! Go, figure. He was too stoned to know that I tried politely to pass him twice and he also failed to notice that he pissed me off severely by not knowing how to drive!!! I am sorry that he was not coordinated enough to hold on to the perfectly good joint, though.

By the way, if this guy (who was kind of nerdy) has a license plate that says "PUR EVIL" what license plate do you think Rob Zombie has? I know he deserved a "PUR EVIL" tag waaayy before this nerdy guy who can't drive! Marilyn Manson has one that says "GOTH THUG" which fits him quite well, I think. Maybe, Rob's says "I HAVE A REALLY HOT WIFE AND YOU DON'T ." Think all that fits on a plate? haha

So, the moral of the story is.... Learn to drive! And, don't piss me off! Don't you know who I am? I am kind of a big deal around here!

Also, If anybody has any plate ideas for my car, please let me know. I am interested in this now! HAHA Have a good day

Healthy Tuna Cakes Recipe (Sort of like Crab cakes or Salmon Patties)

I don't like strong tasting fish so instead of making crab or salmon patties, I use tuna fish. Here is my recipe if you want to try it. These are probably much healthier than what your mom and grandma make!

4 cans of tuna fish
3 pieces of wheat bread
3 sticks of celery
1/4 of onion (more or less to taste)
dash of parsley
dash of salt & pepper
1/4 package of onion soup mix
1 tbsp mustard - yellow, Dijon or creole, whichever you like
jalapeno powder (if not available use 1/2 jalapeno & grind in processor with other foods. More than 1/2 a jalapeno will overpower the dish) (OPTIONAL)
Shredded cheese or Parmesan cheese

Grind bread, celery, onion & jalapeno (if desired) in food processor until its the texture of bread crumbs.
Add salt, pepper, parsley & onion soup mix to taste. (if using jalapeno powder add it here. Be careful! It is very strong and it doesn't take a lot to overpower the whole dish! You can add but you can take back to go slow here)
Add finely shredded cheese of your choice. Hard, medium and soft cheese work well in this dish.
Add mustard. May need more or less. The mustard in this recipe is used rather than egg to bind so you may need to add more or less.

Spray non-stick pan with cooking spray and fry on medium heat. Cook for about 2 minutes on one side before cooking to prevent the cake from falling apart. If you like more firm cakes you can brown in a pan on the stove and finish in the oven.

Makes 4 medium sized cakes.

Just thought I would share! I use cheddar cheese, but different cheeses can really make this a "new" dish so this is a good recipe to experiment with! Hope you all like it.