I stuffed four large green peppers (even though there are only three in this picture) halved. Make sure you thoroughly wash you peppers! They top the dirty dozen list of foods with the most pesticides on them!

Inside the peppers:

Sauteed onions, garlic, carrots and celery (1 medium onion, 3 large carrots, 4 stalks of celery, one clove of garlic)

1 bag of Morning Star Farm Grillers Crumbles (a ground beef replacement in the frozen section)

1 cup quinoa cooked (about two cups cooked)

1 large can of whole peeled tomatoes (chopped up and including the liquid. You could use a can of diced but whole is what was in my pantry)

Salt and pepper

a sprinkle of parmesan cheese

a sprinkle of bread crumbs on top for some crunch

After your veggies are softened add all your ingredient to the pan and combine thoroughly and get to stuffing those peppers! Cook on 375* for about 30 minutes. It may take more or less time depending on how big your peppers are.

When my peppers started to curl up on the edges I pulled them out to add a bit of jack cheese to the top.

Mmmm check out that ooey gooey cheesy goodness

I whipped up this corn, cherry tomato and basil salad for the side. Tossed in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and s&p to taste. Easy and delightful.

I guarantee you could sneak these faux meat crumbles into you family’s dinner and they would never know! Enjoy!

But hey, anyway to disguise protein, fruit and my beloved oats into a killer breakfast, makes me happy. If you haven’t tried these yet you’re seriously missing out!

Top with all the good stuff- strawberries, peanut butter, coconut and syrup.

Hey, maybe I’ll be having this again tomorrow morning

We did take our time with these beauties though! Is it just me or are they pretty Barbie-ish?

I just love decorating cookies, definitely more fun than baking them.

Thanks for the fun time girls! Valentines Day doesn’t have to be just about a significant other! Just show people you love you care about them by making time and doing something fun

*  *  *

I had valentines day off and decided to channel my inner mom (I am not a mother, maybe someday!) and make heart shape pancakes for my Man-friend before he left for work. The first one came out great but it was all down hill from there…(must hone mom skills).

I made my now favorite three ingredient pancakes from this post. Topped with strawberry sauce (just frozen strawberries heated up and smushed (is that a word?) with a splash of OJ), peanut butter and coconut. Delightful way to start the day of love.

After breakfast I broke out my double boiler and got to work making some chocolate covered strawberries (is there anything better?!) when a package of chocolate covered strawberries arrived at the door. YUM now we have a ton…no problem there.

In an effort to avoid the crowds we have always (except last year when we were out of town) made an elaborate dinner at home on Valentines Day. We cook slowly, eat and sip prosecco slowly and just enjoy our time together

We got lobsters and mussels, rolls from Rosemont Bakery, and made a spinach salad.

and ate millions o’ strawberries for dessert I hope everyone had a wonderful V-Day!

I consulted Martha (Stewart of course) for some guidelines. I branched out on my own though after the “add ham bone to pot” part though. Sauté carrots, onions, and celery with salt pepper and thyme until they are tender. Add in two cartons of vegetable stock and two cups of water as well as a bag of split peas. Bring to a boil. Now here’s the trick! Liquid smoke, to replace the dimension added from the ham bone. I used about six dashes. Cover and let simmer until the peas are soft.

I stuck my submersion blender right into the pan to blend it until it was smooth. You could use a regular blender in small batches though.

Crusty bread for dipping

This pea soup was MUCH better and very flavorful! The Man-friend was very thankful and practically licked his bowl clean

To serve two:

2 bananas (I used brown ones from my freezer)

4 eggs

1/2 cup rolled oats

pinch salt

sprinkle of cinnamon

Blend it all together! I opted to add oats to this recipe (the Blogilates version is just 1 banana and 2 eggs) because the thawed bananas were pretty soggy and I thought the mixture would be too runny. Heat up a hot skillet and make just like regular pancakes, flipping when the batter starts to bubble in the middle. This mixture is much looser than regular pancakes so be sure to pour slowly.

Look normal right??

Topped with yogurt butter, PB, almonds and of course SYRUP.

They were delicious and I’ll be making these again! Lovely Sunday morning

Last night I roasted these puppies up with some olive oil and salt and pepper. 400* for about 20 minutes.

Mmmm brussels roasted to perfection.

Garlic shrimp! I really like shrimp but hadn’t had it in a while, I was delighted when the Man-friend came home from the grocery store with a big bag of it. YUM. We also had rice pilaf on the side (another of his picks). I haven’t had this in AGES, and forgot how good it was.

Lots of shrimp left, you’ll be seeing more soon!

Ingredients:

2 boxes of low sodium vegetable stock

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

s&p

1 bay leaf

ANY vegetables you like! I used celery, carrots, potatoes, kale, and kidney beans (1 can)

Directions:

Sautee diced onion and minced garlic in a little olive oil. Dice up the hard veggies and add to the pot. When the veggies are softened add in your liquids and season to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Add in the kidney beans and kale (easily over cooked). Eat whenever the veggies are cooked to your liking.

I love to eat my veggie soup with feta cheese and a big squeeze of sriracha… shocking I know…

Orange on the side! We’ll be heading to the land of oranges next week (Florida) and I’ll be thinking warm thoughts until then!

1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk, 1/3 cup water and a pinch of salt simmered to perfection. When the oats were almost ready I added in a handful of frozen berries. Maple syrup, almond butter and a bit of granola (thanks Aunt Nina!) for crunch.

No better way to start the day!

To be honest I didn’t read the recipe attached to the picture so I just did what I thought would work best. Cut squash in half length wise and place cut side up on a baking dish. I added in a couple tablespoons of water into the squash “bowls” and a teaspoon of olive oil. I diced a clove of garlic and tossed it in the liquid mixture along with s&p and red pepper flakes. Top the squash bowls off with the marinara of your choice. I baked uncovered at 375* for close to an hour before deciding to cover them with tin foil and putting some water in the bottom of the baking dish so they would steam (I should have done this from the beginning!) This sped up the cooking process and when they were fork tender I sprinkled with cheese and placed back in the oven for it to melt. Top with basil and enjoy! This is definitely going my new favorite way to prepare this! So easy!

Delicious! You’ve got to try this!

I was immediately pleased by the drink menu and this sake bloody mary with wasabi. There aren’t many beverages I prefer over a bloody mary, having one with dinner was a treat! My date had a small carafe of sake and a beer.

We picked a couple apps to share like this tuna sashimi salad and vegetable dumplings. I love loved the dumplings. Most places only have meat varieties and I was please to see this veggie option!

Check out that crisp!

My ramen had tofu, veggies and nori.

The Man Friend’s had egg and a big piece of pork belly under there somewhere…We spent dinner gabbing and raving about how much we loved the noodles. If you’re into ramen you’ve got to try the real deal! Next time I want to add a big squeeze of sriracha in mine