Cheesy Cheesy Pepper Squeezy

Mmmm! Yummy yummy overnight oats :) Like I said in the last post, I got this idea from the blog Kath Eats Real Food because it's the perfect no-cook breakfast for mornings I leave from Brent's house. Since I didn't really know how much I was going to like it, I kind of threw everything but the kitchen sink in this one. I added 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup skim milk, and 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt. I also added vanilla, maple syrup, brown sugar, frozen peach slices, frozen raspberries, and some peanut butter! Probably not the healthiest idea, but I didn't know how it was going to turn out and I wanted to save myself from a gross breakfast.

The only thing I didn't end up liking about it was the yogurt. I've never been a yogurt fan and every time I try it again, I still hate it. I should really learn! I made some more for tomorrow, but this time I went a little bit of a healthier route...

Peanut-Butter & Banana Overnight Oats

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup skim milk
• 4 packets of Splenda
• 1 mashed banana
• 1/4 cup organic peanut butter

Directions

• Mix together
• Refrigerate overnight
• Reheat in the microwave for 1 minute, stir, microwave 1 more minute
• Enjoy!!

For lunch I made myself a bread-less tunafish sandwich with a side of avocado. 

Since my new apartment doesn't have laundry facilities, I had to go to my grandparents for a few hours today to do a load. When I got back around 7pm I was STARVING! I made myself some stuffed green peppers - a recipe I got from my Biggest Loser Family Cookbook.

The recipe was all-in-all pretty simple and healthy... I was done eating by 8:15pm.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients

• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 oz. feta cheese
• Olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups cooked rice (1 cup uncooked)
• 2 tomatoes, finely diced
• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375˚
• Cut stems off peppers and cut in half, top to bottom.
• Fill a large pot 2/3rds with water and boil peppers for 5 minutes.
• While peppers are boiling, cook turkey and garlic in pan with olive oil 3-5 minutes, breaking up turkey into bite-size pieces.
• Take peppers out of the pot, drain, and let cool.
• In a bowl, mix together turkey, feta, tomatoes, rice, eggs, and salt.
• Put peppers in an 8x8 glass baking dish and stuff peppers with turkey mixture (I had a bunch left over). Fill dish with about 1/4 inch of water.
• Place dish in oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until peppers are golden brown and slightly crusting on top.

The peppers were really good! I did need to add some salt once it was on my plate, but I was really pleased with how it came out. The tomatoes were actually my own addition to the recipe. When looking at the stuffing mixture, I felt that something was missing. I remember my mom's stuffed pepper recipe and that she always cuts up some of the bell pepper to add to the mixture. Since I had already cooked mine and didn't have extras, I decided tomato would be a good substitute. It would definitely have been found lacking without the extra pizazz my lovely vine-ripened tomatoes added ;)

Along with my stuffed peppers, I decided to make use of another recipe I found in the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook... cheesy baked sweet potatoes. Unfortunately I just bought a bag of russet potatoes on sale the other week that I should be using up, so I had to go a little bit unhealthy for this. But I made up for it without all the butter and sour cream!

Cheesy Baked Sweet (or regular) Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 potato
• 1 wedge Laughing Cow Lite Garlic and Herb cheese 

Directions:

• Scrub potato under warm water.
• Place potato in microwave safe bowl. Poke potato 5 times on each side with a fork.
• Place paper towel loosely over the bowl. Microwave 5 minutes on each side.
• Add cheese and salt.

I've always been skeptical of microwave-baked potatoes, but the oven just takes too darn long! I decided to try it just this once... and I really liked it. Huh! For a quick side dish... it was beyond my disgusting expectations. I have to admit that I added a LITTLE bit of margarine to my potato along with the cheese... but it was really good. And I love sour cream! This was totally worth it.