Greek Stuffed Peppers

One of the recipes I shopped for yesterday was from the PlantPure website - Greek Stuffed Peppers.  I will put the recipe below and have added some photos to show what I did.  I knew my kids would turn their noses up at this dish, they do that to almost any dish whether they like it or not, depending on the day.  I told them they didn't have to eat the pepper, but that they had to eat what was inside and there were no second options.  This was dinner!  And you know what?  They liked it!  Everyone liked it!  This recipe will be kept and maybe I'll change the filling around a bit.....who knows, maybe use quinoa instead of rice.

Last night Shawn and I watched this movie.

Again, I feel like my eyes are being opened to what we've known all along.  Eating bad will not help your body get well or stay well. But, eating what is good for you will keep you healthy and heal you from your illnesses.  I would highly recommend watching this one too and it's free if you have Amazon Prime.

Greek Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4

Cooking time = 1 hour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients

6 lg. or 8 small bell peppers 

1 lg. onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced (I added this to the recipe)

3 small zucchini, peeled and diced

3 med. carrots, peeled and diced

1 C. low sodium vegetable broth

3 C. cooked brown rice

5 TBSP tomato paste

3/4 C. fresh parsley, chopped

3/4 C. fresh dill, chopped

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp Herbamare or salt

Cut around the stem of your peppers like you would with a jack-o-lanter.  Remove all of the seeds, wash and dry.  Place the peppers in an oven safe dish and arrange upright with the tops on.  Bake for 30 minutes.

You guys, cooking real food is time consuming and I think that's why no one likes to do it.  It's so easy to find something, defrost it and cook it.  But, look at how pretty this is and it was delicious!

 While those are in the oven, you can prepare the filling.  I cooked the rice according to the package first and set it aside.  Then I sauted the zucchini, carrots, onions and garlic in a pan with the vegetable broth for about 5-6 minutes or until the onions were translucent.

Disclaimer : animals were harmed in the making of my dish.  I forgot to buy vegetable broth, but I had chicken broth at home.  I am not against eating animals, so this does not bother me :o)

 When they are ready, add in the rice and the tomato paste, until coated through. 

I am just now noticing how terrible my cooktop looks!

 Then I added in the parsley, dill, lemon juice, pepper and Herbamare.  That is a salt substitute (there in the green and white shaker).  I found it with the salt and spices at Whole Foods.  Stir to combine.

 When the peppers are ready, fill them with the stuffing...

 Put the tops back on and bake for another 30-40 minutes.

Mine were ready in 30 minutes.

 Maybe it was the prospect of starving or maybe they really did like it, but I was surprised Caleb and Amelia both ate all of the filling.  Shawn ate 2 of them and I have one left over for lunch today!  

Try this recipe out!

A New Blog?

This past Saturday, I was able to watch a free viewing of this documentary.  I will start by saying I really, really hope you will go find this on their website (you can rent it for $6.95), or watch it on Amazon or online somewhere!  

For the past year, I have been trying to get my health back on track.    I never would have said I ate healthy, but I didn't eat terrible either. After being diagnosed with GERD, asthma, having asthmatic bronchitis and my allergies getting worse, I decided to start looking at my diet.  For so long, from my hippie friends, I had been hearing that your heath starts in your gut.  And after being given prescription after prescription  in order to make these illnesses better (and them not working) I really felt like I was fed up with doctors and medicine. I started researching holistic ways of helping my body get better.  There was so much out there, that I felt overwhelmed.  But I started with small things to help the reflux and saw them work.  When I would veer off of that path, I would immediately feel terrible again.  For so long, we have watched family members get and deal with illnesses that don't seem to get better with prescription medications.  We hate to watch them suffer and not be present to help them, especially when we know most of it is diet related. 

Last fall, I began selling ItWorks!, which never really caught on with anyone, but Shawn and I noticed that by using these products, we could actually see small changes in our bodies.  We see that there is actually truth, believe that or not, in getting in all of your fruits and vegetables and using a probiotic to get your gut regulated.  

That brings me to this documentary.  A friend from church is part of a local PlantPure Pod.  They were showing this film along with serving some plant based foods.  I decided to go and see what it was all about.  I expected them to try and sell me some item or product and Shawn thought they would just show us videos of animal cruelty so we wouldn't eat meat anymore.  Neither of those were true.  You can, of course, purchase meals from their website, but they also have recipes online and you can Pinterest or google any vegan recipe and find it for free.  There's that word!

Vegan.

While they didn't really say it, that is essentially what they are doing.  Eating vegan.  They like to call it a Whole Food Plant-Based diet, which consists of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and legumes/beans.  And I am sold.

For a very long time, I have realized meat, red meat especially, doesn't agree with my stomach.  I don't like milk and will eat yogurt, but only because I'm told we have to have calcium in our diet.  According to this film, we have it all wrong.   

So, without making this first post super long, I am going to just leave you with that.  I would highly urge you to watch this film.  It is well worth the $7 and your time.  We also watched Forks Over Knives on Amazon Prime (rent $3.99).  You cannot deny the results of their studies and the information given is so good!   

I feel like I want to plead with so many of you reading this to just try this.  It's going to be hard at first!  I did not throw everything in the refrigerator or pantry away.  What I did today was, find 3 recipes online (I found two on the Forks Over Knives website and one on the PlantPure website) and we're going to try those.  One blog suggested just starting with a Meatless Monday until you're ready to add in another day.  

There are groups all over who are affiliated with PlantPure, where you can join a group each week for a meal and to learn more about health.  If we have the power and resources to fill our bodies with food that will not only make us healthy, but possibly prevent serious diseases, why would you not try?!  Why would you eat that fatty cheeseburger and french fries and drink a Coke and then eat a bowl of ice cream, only to feel terrible (physically) later?  Is that worth it?  I'm starting to feel like it's not.....although In-N-Out Burger is sounding pretty good right now.

What I plan to do with this blog is to tell you where we're at on this journey....to become vegetarian, vegan, whatever.  I say healthy.  I plan on posting what meals I'm making or have made and what we thought about them.  Tonight I am making Greek Stuffed Peppers from the PlantPure website.    

I am super excited about this!  I want to make our family healthy.  I want to share this with you, because we love you and we want you to be healthy.  I am just starting and going to be learning alongside you.  Join us on this journey!!