Blog Faves

I have been following a few blogs for several years and wanted to share some favorites:

• (never) homemaker - http://www.neverhomemaker.com/ and their family blog page: http://www.writingchapterthree.com/ 

• A Healthy Slice of Life - http://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/

• Daily Garnish -  http://www.dailygarnish.com/

• Two Peas and Their Pod - http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/

• On Anna's Plate - http://onannasplate.com/ 

• Kath Eats Real Food - http://www.katheats.com/

• Edible Perspective -  http://www.edibleperspective.com/

• Joy the Baker - http://joythebaker.com/ 

•  Cookin' Canuck - http://www.cookincanuck.com/

• Brown Eyed Baker -  http://www.browneyedbaker.com/

Recipe: Stuffed Peppers (meatless)

Used this Eating Well recipe (http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/greek_orzo_stuffed_peppers.html) as a base, but made some modifications:

• 4 green bell peppers
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup of pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth (didn't have vegetable broth)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of greek seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon of course ground pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425*F.
2. Halve peppers lengthwise through the stems, leaving the stems attached. Remove the seeds and white membrane. Place the peppers cut-side down on baking sheet. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add orzo and cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
4. Mash chickpeas into a chunky paste with a fork, leaving some whole.
5. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the orzo, olives, oregano, chickpeas, 1/2 cup feta, tomatoes, broth, pepper, seasoning, and salt; cook until heated though, about 1 minute. Divide the filling among the pepper halves and sprinkle each pepper with some of the remaining 1/4 cup feta.
6. Bake for additional 15 minutes. 

Updates

With the holidays and then coming down with the flu and pneumonia, I took a step back from a lot of things...mainly social media and the blog. Just a few quick updates:

•  I've signed up for a sewing class that will be a 6 week course starting in February.
• We have done a lot of cooking and plan to post some of the recipes soon. 
• Recipes coming soon for a blueberry liquor, amaretto, french 75 and eggnog.
• Booked our room at one of the taverns in Colonial Williamsburg (thanks to Mom and Dad K for that wonderful Christmas gift)
• Researching all things Europe. As of now, the plan is to go to Germany, Belgium, UK, and Paris.
• Book recommendations - "Room" by Emma Donaghue; "Undead" by Kirsty McKay; "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn. I'm currently reading the 50 Shade of Grey series while I wait on three books to become available at our local library. 
• Starting back up with Zumba - our instructor was out on maternity leave. Really missed this with KB!