True Story

The picture for today is the last house plant I have alive. It's an African violet, and despite my best efforts, it has managed to thrive. He's looking very bushy in this picture, I'm quite happy he's lived this long. My other plants kicked it last summer when I went to the beach with my family for a week. I put them outside, thinking they'd be happy with the rain and the sunshine. I forgot the heat. They didn't like the heat.

So, maybe tomorrow, should the weather continue to be damn near FANTASTIC, I'll go to this garden center down the road from me and see if they have any indoor plants I could try my hardest not to kill. I do love plants.

In other news, I have reached my Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure goal already! Mostly through the single donation from a man my mother works with. I emailed him to thank him and he wrote back, telling me about all the women in his life that have been touched by breast cancer. So, many thanks to him for donating to the cause. I'm praying for a cure. If you want to donate to the cause, here is the link to my personal page: Donate Here. After you go to this page, look to the right, above the pink thermometer. In blue, there will be a link that says "Donate to Lindsey". That will take you another page where you will need to figure out how much you want to donate and fill out your information. This is done through credit card, so be prepared. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I'd love to raise some more money for the race!

On the same vein, I completed the second day of the 5th week of the Couch to 5K plan. It's getting harder! Ack! Next session, I'm supposed to run for 20 minutes without stopping to walk. I think I can do it. I think. I have a new mantra, "You're a machine. Machine's don't need rest." I repeat this while I'm on my last sets and just want to stop. So far, it seems to be working.

Because I forgot a while ago, I'm posting a recipe that I promised a couple of weeks ago in my "Not Interesting" post. This recipe is a definite four out of five noms. HH made the meat sauce from this recipe today and put it over angel hair pasta. So good!

Stuffed Peppers from Cooking Light
1 (3 1/2 ounce) bag boil-in-bag long grain rice
4 medium red bell peppers
3/4 pound ground sirloin
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon allspice
2 cups bottled tomato and basil pasta sauce, divided
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup dry red win
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
3. While rice cooks, cut tops of bell peppers; reserve tops. Discard seeds and membranes. Place peppers, cut sides down, in an 8 inch square baking dish; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH 2 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender. Cool.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and next 5 ingredients; cook 4 minutes or until beef is lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat. Add cooked rice, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, and cheese to beef mixture, stirring to combine.
5. While beef cooks, combing 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce and wine in a small saucepan, bring to a boil.
6. Spoon about 3/4 cup beef mixture into each pepper. Place peppers in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray, and add wine mixture to pan. Cover with foil.
7. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake an additional 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve peppers with sauce. Garnish with pepper tops.

Yield: 4 servings (1 stuffed pepper and 3/4 cup sauce)
Calories: 347