Rice

I like rice. A. Lot.  I could eat it everyday but the rest of my family, not so much. Sometimes when I put a nice bowl of steaming rice on the table I can read the disappointment on their faces, "rice again."  I started making rice because I kept forgetting to make side dishes for dinner,  probably because I was distracted by one of our current five children we have. Rice has a lot going for it, is quicker than mashed potatoes and its easy, it goes with everything, oh and I have 100 pounds of it.... but that's another story. Its especially easy when you make a triple batch of it and put it in the freezer and all you have to do is defrost and reheat. Really its great, and that's what I did tonight.

I had to deviate from my menu plan for for several reasons.  One- My mom brought me over a few summer squash and zucchini from a friend's garden so I'll need to use those up.  Two- Walmart didn't have ANY eggplant for my eggplant parmesan and three, my wonderful husband is coming home a day early from a business trip of sorts and I wanted to make him a nice dinner.

 While I was looking at the empty self where the eggplant should be I glanced over and saw pablano peppers and then remembered the three that I have in my veggie drawer in the fridge and thought, "Yeah, stuffed pablano peppers for dinner." I've never made them so I looked at several recipes and took a little from this one and a little from that one and this is what I ended up with.

Jen's Stuffed Pablano Peppers

6 Peppers (cut in half and seeded)
1 lb. ground turkey
1 onion (roughly chopped)
a few cloves of garlic
1 Roma tomato
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oragano (Which means joy of the mountain in Greek)
1 cup of  cooked rice ( from my freezer. I just thawed in the micro and took what I needed)
1 cup of chicken broth (just to add a little moisture to the lean turkey)
Shredded cheddar cheese

I browned the meat with the onion and spices. Added the tomato, rice and broth and let simmer for a few minutes.  ( I probably added more than a cup of rice. I didn't measure it and I like rice, remember.)
I sprayed a 13x9 pan with cooking spray, arranged the peppers, filled with the meat mixture and topped with shredded cheddar. Bake 350 for 40-50 minutes, uncover the last 10 to brown the cheese.

I made a double batch of meat and froze the rest for later use. I also scored a great deal on 5 pound bags of potatoes, I got 4. To save my family some dinner time angst, about rice, I made 5 lbs. of mashed potatoes and froze them for one of those distracted dinner time days.

Oh and the family loved the stuffed peppers--rice and all.

Jen