Day 13: Stuffed Peppers, Leftover Chili

I didn't bother taking anymore leftover chili photos, because at this point, everybody tuning in knows what my chili and bowls look like. (Side note: I bought 8 of those bowls at a yardsale two and a half years ago for a dollar - never buy new dishes unless you really care about your stuff matching).But that was my lunch.

But tonight I made stuffed peppers. I'm trying to find new recipes that my boyfriend will eat and things he is unfamiliar with. I used my crockpot, mostly because that's the way I remember my mom making them - although she mostly filled them with Spanish rice. That was actually my original plan, but the boyfriend has a thing against rice that isn't plain, unless it's mixed with chicken and buffalo sauce, so I avoided a rice-only stuffed pepper, opting for ground beef instead.

Recipe:

• Approx 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 small can green chilies
• 3 stalks of celery
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 tsp. creole seasoning
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Cut tops off green peppers and discard tops, insides, and seeds. Brown ground beef. Just before ground beef is finished cooking, add minced onion and celery. When beef is done, stir in remaining ingredients. Add mixture to peppers in crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Overall, these were...okay. I prefer them with rice. But one thing I did not do was drain the can of diced tomatoes and green chilies at all, and a lot of liquid ended up pooling in the bottom of the crockpot, and the green peppers became really soft and sort of watery. Boyfriend thought that the meat tasted good, but the dish overall with the pepper was bland. This is definitely a good starter recipe, but if I made it again, I would probably use less beef, add some rice, and some other sources of flavor - perhaps some Worcestershire sauce?

I actually made three of these, but boyfriend ate one before I got home. Also, I didn't realize how bad the photo quality was before I'd already eaten another. Whoops!