Stuffed Banana Peppers*

*a non Betty recipe (one of the cook's originals)

1 bag Boca Meatless Ground Crumbles

4 Banana peppers, tops and seeds removed, cut in half lengthwise

1/2 onion, chopped

3/4 cup shredded natural cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon Safflower oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Enchilada sauce (remember to check ingredients!)

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix meatless crumbles, onion, cheese, oil, and salt and pepper.

3. Lay peppers on a baking sheet and fill with meatless mixture.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Top with enchilada sauce and serve.

Serves 2. 411 calories each.



I always serve this dish with the following...

1 can Pinto beans

1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

1. Empty can of beans in saucepan on high heat.

2. Add paprika and stir.

3. Cook at high heat for 3 minutes, then reduce to simmer until the banana peppers are ready.

Serves 2. 135 calories each.



I also baked the writer, aka cookie monster, cookies yesterday.



Chocolate Chip cookies with fiber (don't get turned off by that...haha)

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup softened organic butter

3/4 cup natural cane sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed organic brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup hot water

1/2 cup organic Smart Bran

1 cup special dark chocolate morsels



1. Stir together flour, soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Mix in hot water. Add Smart Bran cereal, flour mixture, and chocolate morsels, mixing until combined. Drop by teaspoon onto non-stick baking sheets.

3. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool on wire racks.



The writer must start with declaring my affinity for cookies. In the last post, the writer described the journey of a lifelong love of the cookie, and lifelong fear of things stuffed in the middle a perfectly delicious cookie, rendering it a 'mystery cookie.' Much like the writer's childhood preference of Blueberry Airheads instead of the Mystery Airhead (though there might have been a prize for the palate capable of determining the mystery flavor combos), the writer also has major bias toward an ordinary cookie over an artisan, unique cookie. Keep it simple...
Upon initial glance and first bite of the cook's cookies, everything was right with the world. The cook made a very aesthetically pleasing cookie, that smelled delicious while being freshly removed from the oven. The cook threw a minor change-up, using Dark Chocolate instead of the recipe's request for Milk Chocolate chips, but as the cookie melted in the writer's mouth, it was clear the deviation was a good decision. The Dark Chocolate gave the cookie a slightly bitter taste, which worked perfect with the super sugary sugar cane she also used.
Clearly a bitter sweet bite, but after a while, the cookie experience matched the cookie's flavor: bitter sweet.
As the cook and the writer were trying to distract the attention away from the fresh baked goods with a paint job that has been on the 'to do' board for some time, something started to become awry in the writer's stomach. And as the writer walked to the kitchen for another cookie conquest, I left behind me a trail of gaseous vapor. Hmmmm...what did the writer eat today that could have yielded such a violent result...
The writer immediately turned attention to the cook, who was sheepishly painting away in the corner.
"Did you hear that," the writer exclaimed.
No comment from the cook, who knew the question was rhetorical, and what question was soon to follow without an await for a response.
"What was in the cookie?"
The cook spilled her hidden ingredient, fiber cereal, that was stuffed in the underbelly of this perfectly concocted confection. The cook let the writer know that there was concern over the writer's digestive disbursement, which lead to the cook's idea to mince a mystery in the cookie.
Despite that information, the writer went on to eat an amount that is easier to write in numerals. Anything that the writer might be in for is well worth the experience of eating these bite-sized delights.
Later in the day, and after the painting was complete, the cook went for another non-Betty recipe. Stuffed peppers with minced meat has been a meal the cook has perfected over the last year. The peppers act as a tender conduit for the combination of beef crumbles, cheese and onion, and when mixed with the beans, gives a bite that is moist, gooey, sweet and salty.
It was a nice way to stuff our stomach's before our next visit with Tyler, aka, home wrecker.
The little guy was really in rare form last night. The writer made sure after dinner to put on my new jeans, a nice fitting shirt, do my hair just right, and wear the shoes that the cook bought for my birthday. What an easy way to score a few points with the cook before Tyler even had a chance to post an initial impression.
Of course upon arrival to the writer's parents pad, Ty crushed my impression by doing what he does best: being adorable. Laying in the middle of the room, sleeping like a baby, punching his arms in the air as if he was dreaming of backpacking through Australia, fighting off Kangaroo's and saving the cook from an Aborigine tribe looking for a fresh sacrifice.
After his imagined rescue, Ty awoke a little fussy...a chink in the armor perhaps? Of course not...he used his innocent tears and half-throated cry to attract the attention of the cook, who darted for the baby like she was actually being chased by the Aborigines. I was starting to think that maybe this wasn't a figment of the baby's imagination after all...
As the cook was holding Ty, the writer hovered, wanting to get a closer to hear the conversation between the two. No conversation, but as the writer looked down into Tyler's eyes, falling into his beautiful trance, the craziest thing happened, he smiled at me and almost started laughing.
At first the writer found it to be the cutest and most meaningful moment of my life, but it got me thinking. Was he smiling because he knows the writer is his fun-loving uncle that will teach him all the ropes as he progresses through life, or did he smile and laugh as a mocking gesture?
"Hahaha, I am going to take the cook and there is nothing you can do about it!!!"
The writer needed to have a conversation with Tyler, so I whisked him into my arms.
"Why did you smile," I asked
"Were you laughing at me, or with me, and what is your next move going to be with the cook," I was in full interrogation mode. Not even the hardest terrorist could resist my steely glare.
"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH," he bellowed.
Soon after, the writer's father took hold of Tyler, and after a couple of gentle laps around the blueprint of the downstairs, he was again settled into a deep sleep.
At the end of the night there were only three certainties: the cook successfully made two delicious recipes in the same day, Tyler is the most formidable opponent I could ever face for the love of my cook, and the writer will go home and eat more cookies, hoping to have plenty of toilet paper handy.