Cooking Thursday

I like stuffed peppers and recently came across a recipe for stuffed peppers with a little twist. Instead of the usual flavoring, these are a Mexican/Taco flavor. We tried them out and found them to be very tasty! Because it's just Bob and I, I froze half of the filling and made only 3 of them. It made making another batch later, very easy!

Cheese Taco Stuffed Peppers

6 large bell peppers, tops sliced off and insides cleaned
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup of your favorite salsa
3 tablespoons taco seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 (8.5 ounce) bags, pre-cooked cilantro lime rice
1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Slice tops off the bell peppers, remove seeds and membranes. Set the hollowed peppers upright in a 9x13 baking pan.
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Stir in corn, tomatoes, onion, salsa, taco seasoning, garlic salt and the rice. Let mix simmer for 5-7 minutes.
Fill each pepper generously with the beef and rice mixture. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 17 minutes.
Remove from oven and top each pepper with shredded cheese. Return to oven and bake for another 12 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Flooding part 2

The flooding continues here in Michigan.  At this time, the whole state is under a flood watch; 33 counties out of 83 counties are under a flood warning and in a state of emergency.  The news agency's report this is historic flooding. There are dams in damage of failure and areas being evacuated.  Roads and bridges have been washed out. 
The river in our area is flooded but nothing like some of the other areas around us and we aren't in danger at our home.

Bob and I went to a park near us where we like to walk in the summer. This park is called Grand Ravines, because of the deep ravine the river runs through, so we knew flooding would be contained here.

Looking down from above on the river.  The walking path is usually high above the river.

Here's a photo I took in the same spot last summer.

I showed you this bridge last week.  It's usually on dry ground, but I'm afraid it's going to be awhile before that happens.

While we were walking, we saw this.  It's a beaver!

We watched him swim and dive, and then he made his way to shore.

We saw evidence of some little trees being chewed by the beavers.

We thought it was pretty amazing to see this beaver so close!

Here's one more view of the swollen river.

This was taken on Friday night. Unfortunately, we had rain all that night and by morning we'd gotten another 0.65 inches again.  I know some of you are dealing with drought conditions; if only we could share!