Mornin’ Lovins

I might lose some readers by saying this but I guess I’ll just have to deal.

I’m a Yankees fan.

Yes folks, I live in Boston and I am a Yankees fan. 
Dennis is not. He’s a Red Sox fan.

Below: Us at a Yanks/Sox game at Fenway Park 2006.

We were sitting just above the media box when one of the photographers spotted us. He thought it was so funny that we were an “intermixed couple” so he offered to take our picture.

This was at another series in 2005 at Fenway.

So those of you who follow baseball (and even those who don’t) understand that there’s a major rivalry going on here. And we’re in the middle of a four game series. There’s no doubt about it, one of us is going to bed mad when the Yanks and the Sox play each other. It’s just a game, yes, I know, but dammit, we’re die hard and there’s nothing we can do about it. Last night’s game kept us up late going into 15 innings, so when Marley tried to wake us up nicely this morning for his breakfast, neither of us were feeling it.

He was not happy to be ignored so when he ran across my legs at 9:00 this morning, I woke up very quickly. 26 pounds of fierce on my shins followed by a “MEOW!” isn’t always the most fun way to wake up.

These cats are funny. They have a routine and they like to stick with it.  After I drag myself out of bed to feed them, Dylan comes running over with a friendly “love me” meow. He likes to play in the morning. Once he’s done with me, he runs across the house to get attention from Dennis.

Keep in mind, Marley is eating this entire time.

 

My buddy playing with my stuffed soccer ball (I’ve had this for about 16 years.) He loves this thing! Marley—not so much.

Moving on to my attempt at making healthy stuffed peppers.

The Recipe:

• Six whole bell peppers (red, yellow or orange preferred)
• One pound lean ground turkey
• 1C. brown rice
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown in skillet on medium-temperature.
3. In the meantime, cook the rice with half the amount of liquid (using chicken stock rather than water will add flavor) and half the time as noted on the box directions. Once the rice mixture is transferred to the peppers, the liquid in the peppers will cook the rice the remainder of the way in the over. Be careful not to over cook the rice before filling the peppers as it will get soggy.
4. Add the can of tomatoes, liquid and all, into the skillet with the ground beef.
5. Once the rice is done, add that too to the skillet along with the minced garlic and salt and pepper.
6. Combine all ingredients well.
7. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove all the seeds from inside.
8. Take your meat and rice mixture and fill the peppers to the top. If there's any extra stock from the rice, add it to each individual pepper. After the peppers are full, put the tops back on.
9. Cover the entire baking dish with aluminum foil and throw the dish into the over for 50 minutes.
10. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

I found this recipe online when I Googled Healthy Stuffed Peppers.

They were OK. I really wanted this to be an awesome recipe but it lacked something…and since they said not to cook the rice all the way through, I didn’t and it was hard. Next time I’ll just make the stuffed cabbage I wanted to make in the first place. I thought Dennis would like the peppers better. Oh well. Plus, peppers give me heartburn big time. Boo.

I’ll leave you on a positive note with more kitty lovins. Enjoy your weekend!

 
Above: Marley hates it when it’s hot!
Below: Sharing the window