What’s cooking
Hi friends 🙂 How’s your week been so far?
Here are some of the things that have been cooking in our house lately:
lots of homemade kombucha
(I have the method down so one is fermenting in the pantry and one is ready to drink in the fridge. After the second fermentation, the last batch was super bubbly and tasted more fresh than store-bought versions. The current batch is cranberry-orange-ginger and it is amaaaazing)
(Even though I’m far from Paleo -I like my goat cheese and grains a little too much- but I love trying Paleo recipes. At least the ones that aren’t major flops — I can always count on Elana’s Pantry recipes to be spot-on)
May smoothies (with a new recipe to share!)
and stuffed bell peppers.
I decided to make some turkey lentil mix to have on hand for salads and Livi’s lunch, and saw two of the bell peppers I picked up this weekend in the fridge. They were begging for some turkey lentil stuffing, and it was an easy way to sneak in some extra veggies with our dinner.
I browned some turkey (veggie friends, you could easily use a block of crumbled tempeh instead)
added half a pack (about 8 oz) of Trader Joe’s steamed lentils,
along with olive oil, lots of salt and pepper, 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic powder, smoked paprika and chili powder.
When the mixture cooled, I stuffed it into bell peppers (one insanely huge one from the farmer’s market for the Pilot and a normal large bell pepper for me) and stored in the fridge to quickly bake for dinner.
The meal was quick and fabulous, along with brown jasmine rice (+ chopped spinach, sundried tomatoes and simple salads.
I also got a couple of things for this weekend’s big wedding extravaganza, picked up our sweatpants for recital, took Livi to the zoo, and at night, filmed a barre-inspired leg and core workout to share with you!
I still need to upload it, but it should be up tomorrow night!
What’s been cooking in your house lately? Any fun events coming up this weekend? Any mother’s day plans? Here are some gift ideas if you’re like me and haven’t shopped yet 😉
See ya later tonight with a Family post + short Livi video <3
xoxo
Gina
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On Friday we are taking our first cross country flight with 2 babies :-/ Flying with one was pretty easy peasy, but this time I’m a little worried!
oh man! i’ll be thinking of you! fingers crossed that they’re perfect angels for you.
Oh yum! I’m all over everything you’ve been making! Stuffed peppers are one of my weaknesses, but I tend to not make them enough! I may just need to though because seeing these made me crave Mexican stuffed peppers.
I still haven’t tried the paleo cookies yet.
Lots of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies have been coming out of my kitchen lately, and I was hoping to bake up some banana bread, buuuuuut then I ate the good bananas. Sad face! For Mother’s Day, I’m planning on having my mom over for lunch, and then we’ll -hopefully- head out to the park to get some BBQing done for dinner.
The eats look so good! Homemade on homemade- good for you!
I also love your workout outfit! I wish I could find more items with the cutout sides. So stylish and keeps you cool during an intense workout ;).
Have a fabulous day!
Mmm- I love stuffed peppers! I will definitely be making those soon. Though my version often has more cheese on it then yours.
This week is all prep for this weekend- as I have a murder mystery party on Saturday, and then I leave for vacation (to China!) on Sunday. It’s a very busy week!
that party sounds amazing!
i opened the drawer and we had no cheese :/ that was a blob of goat cream cheese- the only thing we had haha
I can’t wait for the workout! I have always wanted to try barre! 🙂
Adding stuffed peppers to my menu plan for next week! Bless you!
Can’t wait for that video! Last night I did one of your zumba videos and the 5 minute abs video.
I can’t wait to see your Barre inspired workout! I’ve been dying to try something like that out.
I haven’t tried goat cheese yet, can you believe it? I love the stuffed pepper idea – we’re trying to eat more veggies and this would be a great way. Plus, I haven’t made anything with lentils in ages so the turkey/lentil combo would be wonderful. Love the idea of topping with some greek yogurt or sour cream. Yum!
Those peppers look so good!
My mom’s request for Mother’s Day is to walk a local trail around a river. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can get our exercise in!
You’ve been busy girl! I’ve been cooking up lots of protein this week. I’ve been loving to change up all the toppings like salsa, spices, or cheese.
I agree with you on the paleo restrictions. Life without grains and cheese is no life for me! I think taking the best bits of all ‘diets’ is the most balanced approach:)
I’m envious of your kombucha-making abilities. I’m afraid I’d mess it up and end up growing some sort of weird bacteria in a bottle. As for what’s cooking in my house, lately it’s been what’s un-cooking! I’ve been enjoying raw kale salads and lots of fresh produce recently. Your stuffed bell peppers look awesome!
I love stuffed bell peppers! I like to bake them after putting the turkey in. The flavors blend so perfectly!
i forgot to mention that i baked them afterwards haha. 20 minutes at 375
Love love LOVE stuffed peppers! So envious of your kombucha skills! Sending you an awesome week! Love + Shine Courtstar
Ooooh you made your own kombucha? I’ve been dying to try that but I’m a little scared…
i was too, but it’s really easy and so much cheaper than buying it!
Yes! Thanks for posting this homemade kombucha recipe! I really enjoy it, but my wallet doesn’t. 🙂
You got me on a major salmon kick! I’ve been marinating in a mix of fresh squeezed lemon juice, tamari, Dijon mustard and chili pepper and then baking it. Delish!
I’m diabetic, and still eat carbs in moderation, but I often love to add in some paleo recipe’s for a good low carb option. Adding a few paleo recipes in to your diet is a good way to get some different kinds of nutrients, and if you’ve had an especially carb-y day, then it gives your blood sugar a bit of a break
🙂
Also, I had an idea for a post I’d love to see 🙂 I’ve been reading your blog for over 3 years now! Crazy. You’ve mentioned work out clothes you love regularly, but I’d love to see a post dedicated to maybe different kinds of work out clothes for different activities / budgets.
For instance, I’ve lost a lot of weight, so I love compression pants & tanks that hold everything in, but I have trouble finding any that aren’t CRAZY expensive. Old Navy has some that I like, but I’m hoping they last.
Anyways, just an idea! 🙂
I’ve been totally loving the smoothies a day for May – this morning I had kale, frozen mixed berries, chocolate sun warrior, chia seeds, almond butter, and unsweetened chocolate almond milk. Sooooo yummy and the perfect accompaniment to the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having in Canada!
The stuffed peppers look so pretty!! Last Sunday, I cooked up a new pancake recipe: 3 eggwhites, 2 tbs oatbran, 1/2 avocado, liquid vanilla stevia and ground vanilla. Mix and cook – they turn out green, seem to be strange but SO GOOD!!!
gina, what method do you use to hollow out your peppers? i’m sure it’s super easy and i could google it but you seem to have tried and true methods. i’ve never made stuffed peppers before just because i’ve never seen a recipe worth it. yours = totally worth it.
I love kombucha! I have always wanted to make it at home… was it difficult? How did you find your mother culture?
I’m teaching quite a few classes this weekend and then heading to a baseball game with the hubs. Those cookies sound delicious. I even have almost all of the ingredients in my pantry!
My fiance and I are having our second engagement shoot this weekend! We weren’t planning on a second one but our wedding photographer emailed me and said she’d love to shoot us again. I’m not one to turn down that opportunity! haha
hey! i tried your mexican and chicken caccatorie, they were DELICIOUS!! 🙂
now i have to make coq au vin for my french class friday. anyone have any good recipies?
so happy you liked them!!
i haven’t made coq au vin but my first guesses would be to try an ina garten or alton brown recipe
I had never heard of kombucha. Tonight, I convinced the fiance to buy it. He made so many snide comments until he tried it. His eyes lit up and he’s a convert, too! Will have to try it homemade soon. 🙂
One question though: how is it pronounced?
ahhh that’s awesome he liked it too!
kom boo cha 🙂
This weekend I’m just hoping to survive w/o toothpicks holding my eyes open! I teach 9 kids yoga classes in 2 days, both my boys have baseball practices and games, I coach (and they participate) in run club, then we head out to camp for a Cub Scout advancement weekend.
Lately our favorite go to meal is the polenta veggie bake from EatingWell.com’s vegetarian meal plan. So easy, so good, makes perfect leftovers! We add smart grounds to ‘beef’ it up a bit.
I made a ground turkey with bell pepper, sautéed onions and brown rice mixture last night for dinner. I didn’t even think of lentils but that would have been delicious!
I just tried my first batch of kombucha and it’s fabulous! Definitely felt like a science experiment. Mine tastes great, but isn’t very fizzy. Any advice?
you have to do a second round of fermentation. when the taste is there, bottle and flavor the kombucha, then put in the pantry again for 3-4 days with some dried fruit or raisins in there. make sure the lid is sealed tightly! after 3-4 days, put it in the fridge to chill, and when you open it, it will be fizzy!
I love the idea to mix in lentils with your ground turkey – what a great way to get some extra fibre and nutrients.
This week I’ve made stir fry and black bean tacos with homemade guacamole. Tonight I think I’m doing Greek food!
Hi, Gina! These stuffed peppers look delicious – I’m going to try them out this weekend! I’ve been reading your blog for about a year now, and finally worked up courage to create my own.. its eatsandfastfeets.wordpress.com
Thank you for inspiring me 🙂
Hi! I’m just making my first batch of kombucha (still in first fermentation period) and am wondering what you added to make the cranberry, orange and ginger flavor. Many thanks!
Your dinner looks amazing! I love stuffed pepper but the idea of adding the chopped spinach and sundried tomatoes to your rice sounds awesome. I’ll have to try it! I love sauteeing kale with sea salt, EVOO, and subdried tomatoes. Mmmmm….