What's for dinner tonight: Stuffed Peppers and Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Matt has a broker event tonight where he'll be served a super nice 3-course meal and not have to pay a penny for it- one of the perks of being a broker I suppose! Us teachers, on the other hand, get excited when we get to order (and pay) for Panera and eat it in the teacher's lounge during lunch! ;)

Normally, if Matt's gonna be gone for dinner, I'll make myself cereal or eggs. But tonight, I decided to cook up a 'lil 3-course-esq meal of my own.

Yes, everything I'm about to show you was for me. By myself. Got no shame- it. was. good.

Stuffed Peppers:
My Uncle Jay used to make the most incredible stuffed peppers from scratch. It was one of his many staples, and man were they good. I've made my own from scratch before, but the only problem with making them from scratch is they're kind of time consuming and kind of expensive. Insert Publix ready-to-cook dinner entree section.

They serve two of these bad boys ready-to-go for $4.09/lb. The green peppers alone cost about that!

Ingredients:

• Pre-made stuffed peppers from Publix (They are available pretty regularly in the ready-to-cook section by the meats, but can also call and ask the butcher to prepare them for you in advance). They are also always available at Trader Joe's (they look like this at TJ's and are on the wall with the cold cuts and cheeses)
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 4 oz. sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together tomato sauce and sour cream. Pour on top of peppers. Bake for 45 minutes uncovered, or until meat is cooked through. 

Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes:

Serves 3-4

I tweak these each time I make them and have never made an actual recipe until tonight. Using the chicken broth for boiling instead of water gave them such a good flavor! I didn't even add any salt or pepper in the end, which is rare for me! Hope you like them too!

Ingredients:

10 petite red-skinned potatoes, cleaned

32 oz. chicken broth

2 tsp. minced garlic

1/3 cup half and half

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

Place potatoes in sauce pan and cover with chicken broth. Add garlic. Bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes on high, or until broth has reduced half way. Check to see if potatoes will mash. If they are still too firm, cut in half and allow to boil for a 3-5 more minutes before mashing. Add butter and half-and-half. Continue mashing until potatoes have reach desired smoothness. (You can use a hand mixer if you like them extra smooth.) Add remaining ingredients. Mix and serve.

Another knee update and fun times with friends

I had one last appointment on Friday to review the results from the MRI which was last Monday (who knew this process required 3 separate appointments?!). I learned that I have an MCL (medial colateral ligament) sprain and will need to do physical therapy 1-2 times a week for 3-4 weeks. What a mess... haha. And here I thought I was just going to the doctor out of precaution! I didn't think I'd actually end up in physical therapy. Gracious. BUT, I am super thankful that it wasn't worse. I keep reminding myself that I could have ended up having surgery, so I suppose a few weeks of PT is not the end of the world. ;) They couldn't get me in for the first visit until next Monday, so my goal is to do the exercises they showed me everyday this week, so that hopefully I can "graduate" before the 4 week mark. :) I'm ready to walk in this nice weather and get back to my Jillians! (Jillian Michaels that is- we're on a first-name basis. Actually, I just abbreviate everything).

In other news, we celebrated one of my best friends' birthdays this weekend. We spent the afternoon in Smyrna at Land of a Thousand Hills coffee shop (the views there are just beautiful!) and then went back to Andrea's house for dinner. Here are some pics from the day!

pa-pa-pa-pa-papa-razzi

How about Teagan's sunglasses?! ...and apparently the wind was only blowing on my side. 

Teagan sharing her sunglasses with Evie. :)

Catchin some snuggle time with T... I'll pretend like she was doing it intentionally

Scalloped Potatoes

This is another one of my dad's recipes that I pulled out for Christmas dinner with the whole fam this year (I know it's March... I just kept forgetting to post this!). These are a bit of a process to make, but they are SO good! And they make a ton, so you could definitely half this recipe for a smaller group.

Ingredients:

8-10 potatoes, peeled

2 medium onions, divided

16 oz. sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

2T garlic

2T butter

2T olive oil

1T cavendars

2tsp salt

3 cups mozzarella

1 cup parmesan

2 cups milk

Directions:

Use food processor to scallop potatoes and onions. Saute 2/3 onions in butter, olive oil, and garlic. Set aside remaining onions with potatoes for laying. Blend soup, sour cream, and milk. Pour into a mixing bowl. Stir in cavendars, salt, and parmesan. Grease a large baking dish (for this recipe I used a lasagna pan) with either butter of cooking spray. Layer potato/onion mix, then soup mixture, then one cup of mozzarella. Repeat three times. Add sauteed onions and garlic on top. Sprinkle liberally with parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake on 425 uncovered until cheese and onions brown (10-15 minutes). Then cover (spray inside of foil first) and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

If you want to prepare part of this recipe in advance, you can cover the potatoes in milk and refrigerate them overnight. You can also use cold water and a drop of lemon juice. They need to be completely covered though to keep them from browning.

You can see where the potatoes will still get a little brown, but it doesn't alter the flavor. If you have a large enough pan to keep them covered with milk or the water, they shouldn't brown at all.

Knee Update and Highlights from the Week

Well Tuesday I went in for an X-ray on my right knee after my misfortune on the slopes last week. Ironically, I had to walk to four different buildings before finding the right spot. Yep- stairs, evelavators, parking decks, Peachtree Road and all before I arrived at the right location.  I'll admit, the misunderstanding was 75% my fault. Fortunately, my limp had gotten much better by Tuesday, so I reminded myself as I walked that I could look even more awkward limping down the sidewalk had the appointment been just a day earlier.

On second thought... that's still pretty awkward

Once I arrived, I got to wear these stunning 'lil  knee-length shorts:

That's when she told me that it's most likely my meniscus (inner, smaller tendon on the right of this pic, but on the left of my knee) and cartiladge, but they'd have to do an MRI to be sure.

So that's the next step. The MRI is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 4:45.

I'm supposed to stay off of it and not do any exercising outside of pilates, but I had GOTR (Girls on the Run) Thursday after school and couldn't bare to not at least walk laps while the girls ran. Yeah- I found out Friday morning why she said no exercising. I don't do stationary well.

On a brighter note, here are some highlights from the week!

Since I had the day off on Tuesday for my appointment, I got to meet Matt for lunch! Us teachers view eating out for lunch as a special occasion. :)

This is the tree in the front of our yard that bloomed this week. Wish it stayed like this all year!

These are pictures of Ark Ark that my sister found on her phone this week. Apparently, Maddox got a hold of it and decided to do a photo shoot with his favorite stuffed animal. :)

I went to TJ Maxx and found this bathroom towel rack for $6.99 to organize my necklaces! ...Love TJ Maxx and love organizing.

Friday night, Matt and I sat out by the fire pit in our back yard.  It was perfect weather for a nice outdoor fire! We need to do it more often- it didn't feel like we were in the city or in our back yard. Think we may start a new habit (now that it's almost Spring). ;)

Saturday morning, my super sweet mama and I had a mother-daughter morning out. She treated me to the most incredible facial of my life! Okay, maybe it was only the third facial I've ever had, but I'm pretty sure I won't ever have one that's better. They had me at cheese, crackers, apples, brownie-bites, and mimosas. :) That bottom left picture is post-facial- how gorgeous is my mom?! Bea-U-ti-ful. And, of course, we went to Souper Jenny for lunch afterward.

Saturday night, we went out with our friends Tanner and Caroline. We more or less had a progressive dinner/ate our way through Atlanta. We started at a place called Truffle's Grill (thanks to a coupon I got in the mail this week) for appetizers (quite good I might add!), then went to Taqueria Del Sol for tacos (which is always good), and then walked over to Ormsby's, which is a fun little game bar, afterwards (actually, it's a big game bar- but "fun big game bar just doesn't sound right). It was quite a fun night!

Hope you all had a great week!