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!

Time for a walk!

Bob and I enjoy finding places to walk in our area.  We are blessed with lots of parks and trails to hike. After our long winter, we were able to get out for the first time and try a place that was new to us. It had beautiful trails, so we'll definitely be back!

This park is close to Lake Michigan so there are sand dunes at the entrance.

Great walking trails!

I love seeing all those tall, straight tree trunks.

It'll be fun to come back when everything is green. Right now, the leaves are just starting to pop.

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

Cinnamon rolls! They are such a treat, but not something I make often because they aren't too good for the waistline...  But occasionally I do make them.  I made these for Easter.  This is a short cut recipe.  It uses premade frozen dough which makes this an easy way to put out a pan of cinnamon rolls!  These rolls are soft and fluffy and sure to please.

Frozen Cinnamon Rolls with Heavy Cream

12 count Rhodes Frozen Rise and Thaw Cinnamon Rolls
1/2 cup heavy cream at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Grease a 9x13 pan and lay rolls in pan at a slight angle, about 1/2 inch apart.
Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non-stick spray and place on pan, spray side down.
Let rolls thaw on counter for 4-5 hours until rolls are doubled in size. You can also put them in the refrigerator and allow them to thaw overnight, then rise on the counter for a few hours until doubled in size.
Once risen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter and allow it to cool. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon.
Pour the room temperature cream evenly over the rolls.
Put sugar mix over rolls and spread to cover.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
Drizzle provided frosting over top.
 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Spring!

It's true - Spring is really here!  We've had several days where the temp made it to 60 degrees.  Of course, the next day it might be 30, but we're making progress.  Spring is my favorite time; I love the blue skies, the warmer temps and all the trees and flowers starting to wake up. Last week, I wandered around the yard with my camera to document a little of that beauty.

Beautiful sight of buds on trees

Even the pine trees are showing new growth.

These are Lenten Rose plants. Many of you said you had never seen them before. They like cooler climates and grow in the shade. They are one of the first plants to bloom in the Spring and bloom for a long time. We have two plants, the green/white one and the rose color.

Miniature daffodils

The sun shining on new leaves is a beautiful sight!

These are Grecian Windflowers. They are quite small and grow in a carpet, low to the ground. Once their season is done, the whole plant disappears and isn't seen again until the next Spring.

This is their usual color, but we get a few pale ones, as pictured above.

This is Siberian Squill.  It's another tiny plant, only 4 inches tall. It grows in patches, creating these lovely spots of blue.

"To everything there is a season and a time for 

every matter under heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Spring Flooding

I mentioned last week that we had to do our egg hunt in the garage because of all the rain we've been getting. The rain has continued, causing flooding on the Grand River which is about 2 miles from our home.  We're far enough away and high enough that we aren't at risk. We went down to the park near us, and took a little drive along the river and I'll show you how things looked.

Usually you can walk under the bridge, but as you can see the sidewalk is covered with water.

This is a drive where people can back up their boats and kayaks to get onto the river, but as you can see, the drive is flooded and no trucks will be unloading boats.

What is that out in the water?  It's the top of a picnic table!  You can see the tree behind it which is usually on the riverbank.

As we drove along the river, we came to this area. The actual river is way in the back. The front area is usually home to cows, but now it's a lake.

This is another park near our home that is very flooded. There are trails by this bridge that we often walk on.  

Here's that same bridge a few years ago...

The ducks don't mind all the water!

These poor people have a barn full of water. If you look at the doorway, you can see chairs sitting in the water.

And here's a road we came to that was impassable.

Thankfully, the water is starting to go down.  I wish we could share this with some of you who've been praying for rain in your areas!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

Today's recipe is one I made for Easter.  It's Key Lime Pie and it was delicious, very smooth and creamy and a hit with all of us. An added bonus is that it was so easy to make!  If you like Key Lime Pie, you need to try this one.

Key Lime Pie

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons melted butter

2 - 14 ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice (I used regular lime juice)

grated lime zest for garnish
whipped cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan and bake for 10 minutes.
Combine the sweetened condensed milk, sour cream and lime juice. Pour into graham cracker crust and place in oven for 10-15 minutes until tiny bubbles form on surface of pie. Turn oven off and leave pie inside for another 30 minutes. Do not let pie brown.
Refrigerate pie until ready to serve.
Garnish with whipped cream and lime zest.
Store uneaten pie in refrigerator.

Wordless Wednesday

 (The Lenten Rose is blooming!)

A day in my life - April

I'm so happy that April is here!  Spring is in the air and I'm ready for sunshine, warm temps and flowers. 
It was a busy day for me - here's how it went.

April Fools!  I started out the day by setting up this prank on Bob in his bathroom.  It was an easy, fun thing to do and it made him laugh.

Then, I headed downstairs and spent 45 minutes walking on the treadmill.

After walking, I got ready and had breakfast - a boiled egg.  I'm a creature of habit and this is my usual breakfast.  I did a little straightening up around the house and then headed out to get groceries.

It was a cool and cloudy day, the temp was 42 when I left the house.

Here's the grocery store.  It was a frustrating trip for me because for some reason, the produce dept was out of so many things.  I've never had this happen - no regular tomatoes, no raspberries, blueberries, hardly any peppers...  So I'll have to go back later.  I also ran into several people I know and did some talking to each of them.  That was nice, but it made the trip longer than usual.  

I got home, unloaded the groceries and had some leftover chili for lunch.  Then I headed back out.

(This little guy is attached to the vent in my car, a cute little passenger when I'm driving)

I've mentioned before that I do a newsletter for my church. On this day a friend and I went out to interview a couple for an article in the next newsletter. I try to do a person or couple every month so we can get to know people better. We had a nice afternoon, looking at old photos and talking about how God has worked in their lives.  We were there for several hours and got home about 3:30.

When I got home it was a little less cloudy and I walked around the yard. We have some crocus ready to bloom!

I also found that Bob had put up this house number sign while I was gone. Our son Andy made it for us, and we were waiting for the weather to improve to install it.  He also brought our porch chairs and table out from the storage barn.  This is also a happy sight!

Shortly after 5, we drove to our church for supper. On Wednesday evenings we have supper together and then there are classes for kids and some for adults.

Here we are in the gym, enjoying good food and fellowship!

Bob had a men's group after supper.  I came home and did a little reading in this new study I'm doing that starts this coming week.  It talks about sins like pride, jealousy, sefishness... and should be a good one!

The evening ended with the Survivor show, which I'm a big fan of.

Another good day!