Stuffed Pepper with Squash

 

Finally, a success! A yellow submarine success!  If I had planned for this meal, I would have used a different color pepper rather than yellow, like a green bell pepper or a poblano pepper (like last time).  I've made a few stuffed peppers (three, to be exact) and started thinking that stuffed peppers would be my go to dish for beef day.  

But this idea of a "go to dish" negates the theme of variety, which is very important here.  I think it's just that I haven't learned a variety of dishes to cook yet, and that being said, it's just easier to reheat frozen leftovers from last week and add a few fresh things to the mix than figure out something totally new.  

So back to my pepper.  It was good, and you can probably make it even better with the food additions of a non allergic person, although I didn't even think about food allergies while I was eating dinner tonight.  The "I can't haves" didn't even cross my mind.

I also made a little pumpkin dessert, with just canned pumpkin, chopped hazelnuts, agave nectar, nutmeg and salt.  It was okay, not great, but I have a plan for how to make it great next time.

Stuffed Pepper with Squash (Makes four servings)
(Rotation Diet, Day One)

Serve over rice.

4 fresh peppers

1 lb. beef, or ground meat of your choice

1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 cup chopped bell peppers (I used frozen)

salt and pepper to taste.

4 yellow squash (or 2 yellow squash and 2 zucchini) 

2 cup  Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (Brand name is Imagine) (Also, this is a bit of a cheat because it is a premade soup with additional seasonings, but I'm okay with that, nothing I'm already allergic to)

2 tsp. Safflower Oil (this is the oil I can use for Day One; you can use any oil if you're not on rotation diet)

2 cups ketchup (no HFCS) (That means high fructose corn syrup

1/2 tsp. marjoram and 1/2 tsp. thyme 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut tops off whole peppers and clean, removing seeds.  Set aside. Brown ground beef with frozen bell peppers (do not thaw before), sprinkling with salt and pepper to taste.  Meanwhile, thaw and drain spinach according to package instructions.  Mix spinach in with cooked meat and peppers.  Add ketchup. Fill peppers with meat mixture, brush with 1 tsp. oil and place in baking dish.  Slice squash, coat with marjoram, thyme and remaining 1 tsp. oil.  I actually used squash I sliced and froze last week, putting it in the baking dish frozen.  Place squash around peppers in baking dish.  Add butternut squash soup (I added this after 40 minutes, but I am sure it would be good from the start). Bake for 1 hour, or until pepper is tender.  Serve with rice, perfect to soak up all the juice.

Oh, and if you're not allergic to wheat, try some breadcrumbs and more veggies in the meat mixture please and let me know how that goes.