What's the weather where you are? This weekend has been gorgeous, but it was really cold at the beginning of the week with wintry mix and I was craving something warm and cozy! I had a bunch of peppers in the fridge, so I started searching for stuffed peppers recipes. I had a problem though...my husband does not like tomatoes or tomato sauce, so I couldn't go the traditional stuffed pepper route. I finally found a recipe for Mexican Stuffed Peppers and we both thought they were delicious, so I wanted to share!
Ingredients:
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 packet taco seasoning
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup white rice
* 1 cup water or chicken broth
* 1 1/2 cups salsa
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 3 large green bell peppers, tops and seeds removed
* 1 8oz package shredded cheese
Directions:
1. Cook the white rice, clean and prepare green bell peppers (removing seeds and tops), preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain grease out.
3. Stir 3/4 cup of water and taco seasoning into the ground beef, simmering until the liquid has evaporated (about 5 minutes).
4. In a separate skillet, heat vegetable oil and cook the rice until golden brown- about 5 minutes. (I used minute rice, so mine never got brown.) Add to the rice 1 cup of water (or chicken broth), salsa, chopped onion and garlic. Bring it all to a boil and then lower heat and let it simmer (covered) about 15 minutes.
5. Stir the ground beef mixture and the rice mixture together.
6. Sprinkle cheese in the bottom of your green bell peppers. Then add a layer of ground beef mixture, another layer of cheese and top with more ground beef mixture. Arrange stuffed peppers in a 9x9-inch dish. Sprinkle cheese on top of everything.
7. Bake in the oven until peppers are tender and cheese is lightly brown and crispy (about 30 minutes).
8. Enjoy! Because you will! These are delicious and I felt like we were eating something healthy that was equally tasty!
Last June Kevin was notified that he had been nominated to enter his high school's Hall of Fame. WOW! What a great honor. There are some stipulations. You have to have graduated from Rice Memorial High School in good standing, be out of high school for 10 years and someone already in the Hall of Fame has to nominate you for you to even be considered. You also have to have a quality of greatness. It can be defined as striving to be an outstanding athlete or coach or be of strong personal dedication. We learned later that teammates tend to go in together, so it made sense that some of Kevin's buddies and teammates went in with him. I was super proud, but that feeling would grow as the Induction Brunch approached.
In late September, we traveled up to Vermont for Kevin's Hall of Fame weekend. My mama joined us, which was awesome! Her first time in Kevin's hometown. We enjoyed some time with family after arriving on Saturday evening and then got ready for the ceremony on Sunday morning. The Rice Memorial High School Hall of Fame Induction Brunch was held at the Burlington Country Club at noon on Sunday, September 27. We started with eating brunch and then the ceremony started.
It wasn't until I started looking at the program that I realized the Hall of Fame was started in 1993. It's fairly new. Then I realized they've only inducted 17 years, so not every year since 1993. When looking at the Hall of Fame Classes, I noticed that most classes included Rice graduates from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, etc. So, these aren't all present-day all-stars. When they started the Hall of Fame in 1993, they had to go back many, many years to include the best of the best in Rice High School history. The class of 2013 includes a 1950 graduate, one from 1968 and a few from the 80s. Kevin's 2015 class includes a 1970 graduate and a 1971 graduate and then the rest are from 2000 and above. When I realized this, I was even more impressed. This truly was an honor.
Kevin's former Principal and Priest at his hometown's catholic church was the MC for the event and gave such a wonderful introduction for Kevin, who went in for Soccer, Basketball and Baseball. Once again, I was so proud!
I didn't record Kevin's speech because I didn't want him to feel extra nervous and potentially beat himself up about the way he delivered it or if he left someone out, but he did a marvelous job of thanking everyone and speaking about what being in the Hall of Fame means to him! I was so proud of him! Kevin was a state champion in soccer and basketball and was named Player of the Year in baseball his senior year.
We ended the event with pictures with other inductees and family members. One of the other inductees was Kevin's coach Gamache, so it was really nice to be inducted with someone who helped shape Kevin's life!
The next day we had a chance to visit Kevin's high school...something I've never gotten to see. And there was a special Hall of Fame spot. I was once again, really proud!
For me, this weekend wasn't just about a Hall of Fame induction, it was about a kid who played with everything he had and was good enough to get a college scholarship for baseball. A kid who chose to go down to Wilson, NC and play for the Barton Bulldogs and then to take a job in Cary, NC with the RailHawks. A kid from Winooski, VT, who happened to cross paths with me and made me a proud girlfriend and then fiance and now wife. A man who has a quality of greatness. A man I'm extremely proud of and love fiercely! Yeah, I'm pretty darn proud of my hall-of-famer!
Our Anniversary also came and went and I missed blogging about it. It was very low-key this year! It was on a Wednesday, so we didn't have big plans and we both worked all day. We were going to go have dinner with friends and then that fell through at the last minute, so we went to Sushi Thai for dinner and then stopped by Hayes Barton for a slice of cake to take home.
Our sushi came heart shaped!! Cute!
Chocolate Raspberry...yum!
Kevin got me beautiful flowers that match my wedding bouquet. He's the best!
The gift for year 3 is leather. I got Kevin a new belt and gave him a leather journal (that was one of our wedding gifts), where I had written a few weeks worth of love letters to him. I'd like to continue writing letters to each other as the years go by, so we can look back and read and see our true love for each other.
Kevin waited until the last minute to get my gift, so it didn't arrive until weeks later...and I helped order it, but we both got leather covers for our passports. Each of them has our initials on them and they're really pretty! We used them on our last trip abroad and it helped tell whos was whos and protect our passports along the way too. A gift we'll both use and appreciate for awhile!
We did Anniversary Pictures at Falls Lake this year. I think I made some people think I was pregnant. Not yet people. Just celebrating 3 years with 3 pumpkins.
Happy 3rd Anniversary Babe! Love you! Thank God you love me back!
