It's all good . . .

Good game. My boys pulled out a win over our rival (although unranked) Michigan Wolverines last night. The boys in green looked pretty good (Hellooooo Raymar). Just in case you're not keeping track, we're now 8-0, undefeated in the big ten!! Oh and ranked 5 in the country, no big deal. :) I love college basketball season.

Lucas celebrating the win, he made a shot with 3.5 seconds left to give us the lead.

Raymar Morgan, my favorite and the other star of the night. He had 20 points, only missing one of his shots all night!  








Images from www.msuspartans.com.









Good weekend. Enjoyed some bubbly with friends this weekend before heading out on the town. This is my favorite sparkling wine and it hails from Suttons Bay, MI. I visited the vineyard a few summers ago and I've been hooked ever since. The only wines they create at L. Mawby are sparkling! Bring on the bubbles. Pleasantly surprised to find they sell a variety of this at the Whole Foods in Chicago. Visit the vineyards website here.

Good food. Tried my first Pioneer Women recipe on Monday. Turned out pretty good, although I should have halfed it, I have enough enchiladas for a small army! I made this after work and then after grocery shopping for the ingredients, so I apparently lost my energy to take a nice shot of the enchiladas all served up with a dallop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro. Sigh. But, here they are a bakin' in the oven.

Words for Wednesday

From my kitchen :)

good morning sunshine

Have you ever had these? This has been one of my favorite breakfasts since I was a little kid, my Mom would make these as a special treat. Here's one of the reasons I like them so much, I mean look at that box! I love the retro styling and how it hasn't changed in years, if ever. But most if all, I love Jiffy because it is made right in Michigan, Chelsea to be exact.

Jiffy makes a lot of different mixes, but you have to get the Apple Cinnamon! The only store I have found right in the city that carries this is Treasure Island. Pretty easy to whip these pancakes up and oh, so delicious when they're ready!

damask

I will admit I have a crazy obsession with anything done in a damask pattern. I don't own much in the pattern besides a table runner, but I'm looking to add to my collection. Apparently I am not alone. I went to Esty, typed in "damask" and got over 12,000 items back. Here are a few I really liked!

Love these, my favorite black and pink!

What a cute idea. This lady has a really cute shop on etsy too, I saw some awesome reusable lunch bags I really wanted.

Alright, this is beyond adorable.

And last, this little gem. Would love a couple of these for my living room. That's the great thing about damask, you can use it everywhere! In your home, on your kids, on your invitations, at your wedding...it just doesn't stop. Shoot, I can use those gloves in my garden!

In the Kitchen: Stuffed Peppers

I tried a new recipe! I found this on All Recipes.com, I really love that site, I like how it shows you actual reviews of the recipe and people's comments, very helpful. I varied this recipe slightly and I would even recommend making a few more slight changes. Here's the original recipe. I cut the recipe in half, but went a little overboard on the veggies, so I ended up with extra of the mix. Below is the halved recipe, which makes 2 peppers.


What you'll need:
2 Green peppers to use for stuffing
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 small zucchini, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup fresh spinach
Half (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Preperation:
Wrap both of the green peppers completely in foil, place in a baking dish and put them in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

While those are heating up, begin to brown the ground turkey in a pan. This was definitely a healthy recipe with the turkey instead of beef, but I would strongly suggest heavily seasoning the turkey or even using a lean cut of ground beef. I felt my turkey could have had more seasoning. Once it is fully cooked, set aside.

Gather up all the veggies. Put olive oil in the pan and throw all the veggies in the skillet except for the spinach. Cook until tender. Season with the garlic, salt and pepper, italian seasonings and anything else you think sounds good!

Once the vegetables are done, add the turkey back to the skillet along with the spinach. Now mix in the tomatoes and the tomatoe paste. Side note, I bought the same brand tomatoe paste we always had in my house growing up, Cantadina. I was extremely disappointed when I read the ingrediants list (once home) and the second item listed was high fructose corn syrup. Are you kidding me?? I passed up the all natural Meijer brand because I thought cantadina was so special, will not be buying that again.

Now get the peppers ready for stuffing by coring them. I edge around the top with the knife and pull that section out by the stem, then shake out all the seeds. You'll end up with this:

Now, get stuffing those peppers! Once stuffed, bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 350. Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle on parmesan cheese. The nice thing about this recipe is it's a full meal, all stuffed in one little pepper.