June 30, 2009

Stuffed Peppers

Summer's here and that means it's time for some delicious fresh summer foods. One of my all-time favorite summer dishes are stuffed peppers. It's a pretty easy recipe and freezes very well, which is great for a single person! This is a recipe that my mom made when we were growing up that I've (of course) made some modifications to. Below is the general recipe that I use, but I usually make adaptations to work with what I have on hand.
Ingredients:
5 large green peppers
1 lb ground turkey (ground beef or pork works great too, but turkey is healthier and cheaper!)
1 red onion, chopped

1 cup brown rice (or white, whatever you prefer)

10 oz. can stewed tomatoes and peppers

16 oz. can tomato sauce (any combination of tomato sauce, paste, stewed tomatoes, or tomato juice will work, as long as you achieve your desired consistency)

3/4 cup frozen corn, optional

16 oz. can black beans, optional

2 cups swiss cheese, shredded (swiss is my fav for this recipe, but I've also used cheddar & mozzarella)

1 tsp cumin, optional

2 tsp dried cilantro, optional

salt & pepper to taste


Directions

Cook rice according to package instructions. Brown ground turkey, add chopped onion.

Cut the tops of the peppers off and clean out the insides. You can stuff the entire pepper, or for a smaller serving cut the pepper in half (serving size & nutritional information based on smaller portion)

Combine turkey and onion with the cooked rice, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, seasonings and approximately 1-1 1/2 cups cheese; reserving some cheese for the tops of the peppers.

Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers, top with the reserved cheese. Cook peppers in a covered, shallow baking dish with a small amount of water in the bottom to steam the peppers. Cook in the microwave for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and the peppers are tender. Or cook in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

10 servings




June 25, 2009

Composting 101

In mid-May I decided it was high time I started to compost. I've wanted to for awhile now, but thought it would be hard/impossible in an apartment. Until one day I decided to research apartment composting and found out it was possible. After a month, our compost pile is ready to use! It looks and smells amazing (if you're into that kind of thing). Originally my roommate and I would go through at least 2 bags of trash per week, after starting to recycle and turning the majority of our food waste into compost, I'd say we're down to 1 bag of trash every 2 weeks! What a difference! I'm sure all my plants will reap the benefits of composting as well.

Here's how I started:
I bought a 34 gallon trash can (made from 70% post consumer waste) from Lowe's for under 20 beans. I used a hammer & nails to poke about 16 holes in the trash can (this is why I want a drill!). Then I started layering brown & green materials (see chart for reference). Being in an apartment, most of the brown materials that I add are from paper materials that would end up in the recycling bin, dryer lint, and egg cartons. (I think this is a great way to get rid of old financial documents! Take that identity thieves!) I have to admit, I did cheat and brought a bucket of leaves & grass clippings from my parent's compost pile. I continue to add materials to it, water it when necessary, and turn it about 3 times a week. I also rotate leaving the lid on and taking it off to get a balance of letting oxygen in and keeping it warm and moist. A couple weeks ago I noticed a lot of fruit flies attracted to my little project, but they aren't around as much any more... I don't know what to think about that.

I made a little chart to help remind my roommate and I of the composting process, hopefully you'll get some use out of it as well. There are plenty of compost guides online or you can always check out your local Extension office (shamless plug for my papa).

June 24, 2009

008 | Wallpaper Wednesday

Here's a saying that my co-worker shared with me. How powerful?

June 23, 2009

2009 Stone Arch Art Festival



The Stone Arch Art Festival was huge! We didn't make it to all the booths, but I listed a couple of my favorites from the event below:
- The Spark Plug Guy, who creates these amazing little sculptures out of found metal objects... he was the last booth we visited for the day and my favorite. I could find gifts for all the men in my life right there... he had everything from a grillin' dude to a mammogram machine! www.sparkplugguy.com
- I purchased my ring from a jewelry maker out of Texas: www.courtneymariejewelry.com I have a tradition where I buy a piece of jewelry to remember all of the locations that I've traveled to versus buying a destination spoon or bell... not that there's anything wrong with that!
- Branch Accessories had cute patterned bags, fabric flower pins, & fused glass jewelry! Very fun and trendy! www.branchaccessories.etsy.com
- And some beautiful paintings and mixed media pieces from www.winterberryinc.com the colors were great and very reminiscent of Mark Rothko's color studies.

I've been reminiscing about Iowa so much lately and trying to think of a way to express the love & appreciation I have for the great state. Being at the art festival this past weekend inspired me to create some mixed media pieces of my own. While I was driving through the beautiful countryside, I started visioning what I wanted to create. And I've already named the piece I want to make... now give me at least a year to crank it out. (It may fall in line with the other 217 craft/art projects I have in my head).

June 22, 2009

Minneapolis Weekend

This past weekend I was able to get away for weekend trip to Minneapolis to visit friends with a short layover in my hometown to visit the 'rents. Here's the highlights via bullet points:

- Peppermint Bon Bon ice cream in a waffle cone (my fav)
at Twin Shoppe in J-town
- No golfing with Daddy due to rain (it would have been
hysterical for both of us), but got to visit miniature horses
& miniature horse babies at a friend's farm!
- Quiche Lorraine from Angie's Tea Garden with my
Grandma & Dad (another J-town fav)
- Driving my new car
- Meeting friends in Minneapolis
- The hilarious romantic comedy, The Proposal
-
Room & Board outlet (where all my future furniture
shopping will take place)
-
Stone Arch Art Festival in Minneapolis, where I bought
my obligatory piece of jewelry from a vacation destination...
and it was handmade, which made it even better!
- Delectible sushi at Origami & drinks at Drink.
- 8.5 hour drive home, with at least 1.5 hour delay from construction

This weekend was full of my favorite things: friends, food, & the arts (minus the travel time). It couldn't get much better than that!

June 21, 2009

My Daddy


Today is Father's Day and I gave my daddy a new waffle iron... I'm hoping this will prevent any more soggy waffles on my future visits (sorry dad).
But I just wanted to say (and I've told anyone that will listen to me) how much I enjoy my "adult" relationship with my parents. I finally seem to be past the stage in my life where I was disrespectful to/annoyed with/a teenager to my parents and am finding out now how much I truly enjoy their company. Now that I've been in the "real world" for 2 years (yikes!) I feel like I can talk to them on a whole different level. I relate to the stresses and challenges that they're going through with their jobs and other committments. And it's the weirdest thing... I can talk to my parents about my love life! What?!? Before I was too embarrassed/giddy/immature to talk to my parents about any sort of relationship that I was in, but now it seems like a normal topic. I can't say it enough... I am just really loving this time in my life and the growing relationship with my parents. I'm hoping it will continue to develop as I get older and more mature (ewww!).
So... Happy Father's Day, Daddy!


June 19, 2009

007 | Wallpaper Friday

I'm starting a (bad) tradition of missing Wallpaper Wednesday... but here it is only a couple of days late! This one is from a day away I had here at Hallmark, I can't remember who said this, but I think it is so true and so profound. I'm glad that I have this on my desktop, because I need to be reminded of it every once and awhile!

June 18, 2009

Jae's Bridal Shower


Speaking of weddings... we had a bridal shower for one of my co-workers on Wednesday to celebrate her up-coming union. This may have been my favorite shower so far! Jae made it easy on us and had originally created two color palettes for her wedding; one with soft pinks & golds, the other with pinks & greens. She decided to use the pink & gold for her wedding and we used the pink & green palette for the shower! Jae had also originally intended on using a bird motif in her wedding, but wasn't able to, so we picked up that theme and I created some "Love Birds" for her shower.

Above the beautiful bride with her traditional bridal shower bow bouquet to use during her rehearsal, the delicious party spread, flower decorations Dayle and I made, and the gift table with the laser-cut bird & heart strings. So pretty in pink!

June 12, 2009

Wedding Season is here!

If I counted right, 8 of my friends got engaged in the past 4 weeks. Eight! Right now we're in the midst of wedding season and I can't seem to tear myself away from all the eye candy I've been seeing on blogs lately. My co-worker gave me a link to a great wedding site and it's snow-balled from there... I usually try to stay away from dreaming about weddings (it's so cliche), but I'm using the excuse that it's "research for friend's weddings." So for all you newly-engaged out there, here's the wedding sites I've been gushing over:


The circus-themed wedding my be my favorite, so far, check out the site for more photos. It featurs lots of real weddings, with many unique & DIY solutions: www.oncewed.com

The name says it all, if you want to DIY: www.i-do-it-yourself.com

Of course, any list would not be complete without Martha's wedding blog.

Featuring unique or themed weddings: greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com

Showcasing real weddings: www.stylemepretty.com

Maybe not the most glamorous, but it's well... practical: www.apracticalwedding.com

And for the non-traditional ladies out there... offbeatbride.com

Enjoy!

June 10, 2009

006 | Wallpaper Wednesday

This is an oldie, but a goodie. On my way home from work Friday my car broke down. It had been a long time coming and I was already in my hard-core car researching mode, but still it didn't happen on my schedule and I was extremely frustrated with the situation, to say the least. With great family & friends I was able to go car shopping on Saturday and Monday and now have a shiny, new-to-me car to call my very own. This quote was on the wall in the car dealers office and it was great to be reminded of. I probably didn't react the best on Friday night when things weren't going my way. In the end, my old car breaking down was just a kick in the pants for me to start the process a bit earlier, otherwise I never would have made a decision!

June 5, 2009

005 | Wallpaper Friday

I'm making up for missing Wallpaper Wednesday and publishing this week's wallpaper today. Most of the quotes I collect are graphic design related or inspirational, but this one popped up on my desktop this morning and I thought it was a great one to share.

June 3, 2009

It's summer time!

I went on a bike ride tonight around the quiet streets of North Kansas City and it immediately took me back to my summers in J-town, where my bike was my main form a transportation.
I rode my bike everywhere. Across town to our acreage with warm bottles of milk riding safely in my backpack while hungry bottle calves were waiting. To riding to swim team practice in the crisp morning air, with dew on the grass. To riding as fast as I could in the rain for fear of being late for my summer school classes and crashing head-first into a telephone pole and cracking my helmet in the process (and that's why we wear helmets, kids). To considering the last block of my route the "speedway" where I would go as fast as I absolutely could to finish strong. And having my mom put a zip-tie on the right side of my bike, so I knew what side of the road to ride on. I still have problems with the right-left thing, but thankfully I don't need a zip-tie in my car!
Oh, the good ol' days!

oops... I missed Wallpaper Wednesday...