Alright, who's coming with me?

The Renegade Craft Fair comes to SF next week and is FREE to attend. Last minute holiday shopping, browsing and I'm sure tons of creative inspiration. Support local and hand made goods. Who's coming with me?

Find out more HERE. 

Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers

The holidays are now in full swing. Thanksgiving is a recent memory and Christmas is just around the corner. Lots of over indulging and validation of said over indulging cause it's the holidays! I am all for that, trust me; however this year I'm trying to take advantage of the days in between celebrations to make up for the over indulging (as much as possible). 

If you're in the same boat as me or just want to try a new recipe, here's one for you: Stuffed Bell Peppers with Mexican rice. I made them vegetarian using Yves veggie meat (don't knock 'til you try it, actually really good and SO EASY) but you could also use ground beef or turkey (cause it's the holidays!). The Mexican rice I made along with this batch of stuffed peppers really is easy peasy. In fact, I will never buy boxed Mexican rice again because I think this turned out better. 

Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers

Bell Peppers - the bigger, the better for stuffing

1 package Yves ground veggie meat

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Cheese, grated (i used cheddar)

1 carrot, grated

1 small bunch broccoli, chopped finely

2 green onions, chopped finely

Spices (a dash of each: garlic powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper)

Olive oil 

Veggie broth (optional)

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Preheat oven to 350.

Cut tops off of bell peppers. Scoop out insides of pepper and rinse out seeds. Chop up any edible part of the tops of peppers and add to mixture below.

Pour 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add carrot, onions, broccoli and any edible bell pepper tops. Add some veggie broth or a little water. 

Add spices and cook veggies until a bit tender.

Add veggie meat and black beans to vegetables mix and stir. Keep in pan until warm.

In a glass dish, lightly oiled, put bell peppers standing up. 

Sprinkle a little cheese into the bottom of the pepper. Spoon some veggie mixture and push down into pepper then sprinkle with some grated cheese. Repeat until pepper is full. 

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until peppers are soft. Turn off oven and put reaming cheese on the top of the pepper. Leave in the oven until the cheese is melted.

Easy Peasy Mexican Rice

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 of a medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked
2 cups veggie broth
1 cup chunky salsa

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Heat oil in a medium or large pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix rice into pot and stir until it begins to brown. Stir in chicken broth and salsa. Reduce heat and simmer (covered) for 20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Recipe found here courtesy of the Dish on Delish.

Enjoy! 

1,032 miles

 Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend we drove 1,032 miles round trip. Not quite the over the river and through the woods kind of holiday for us. Although we spent quite a bit of time in the car, we had a fabulous trip! We saw a lot of places, spent quality time with family and friends and ate (too much!) good food. 

Here are a few of the highlights along the way: 

- We met the Kruegers for dinner in Glendale (off Colorado St. coincidence? i think not!). Even if it's only an hour and a half, it's always a treat to see C&T!

- Spent Thanksgiving in Surf City USA (aka Huntington Beach, CA)

We watched football, ate delicious food (garlic mashed potatoes and apple pie were my favs), walked off our dinner on the beach, watched Elf and the Taylor Swift special. An all around GREAT Thanksgiving!

 Geraldine & I 

Walk on the beach with the fam: Aunt Christina, me, Aunt Melissa and Uncle Eddie

Buddy  is thankful for the dog beach,
stylish jackets and his tennis ball.

- We spent our Black Friday eating lunch at the Crab Cooker, walking along Newport Beach and the Pier and driving down the coast to Crystal Cove and Laguna Beach. My aunt told us a story about one of the Real Housewives of OC and then we literally walked right by her in Laguna, OMG!

Welcome to the Crab Cooker - an Evans family favorite

Sunset in Laguna Beach
Pretty wreaths on the life guard station (complete with sea shells, of course)

Greetings from Laguna Beach!

- On Saturday we headed to Santa Monica to meet B's college friend to watch the Iowa game. Lucky for me, the bar was on the SM Promenade so I window shopped while the guys watched football. 

- In the evening we headed to Chino Hills to visit B's childhood friend who is currently in med school. I got to eat my favorite salad (and several rolls!) at Wood Ranch. Low key night, but so nice to finally meet a friend I've heard so much about.  

- We woke up Sunday morning to SNOW on the mountains. Rain from the the night before made for a beautiful clear day for our drive. The LA area is gorgeous sans smog!

Gorgeous! Lisa Kay, do you recognize this view? :) 

- As we started our journey back to NorCal, we drove down Hollywood Blvd and saw the stars on the sidewalk and the Kodak Theater, something I've wanted to see forever. We also made a stop in Calabasas for brunch with the Wiedners. It was so nice to see Ris + baby bump and Eric too. It had been far too long since we'd seen them last. It seems every time I meet up with Ris in the LA area we see a celebrity (Eric says she has celebrity recognition in her DNA, probably true). Sure enough we saw Leann Rimes! 

- Our last stops on the way home were Santa Barbara and Paso Robles where we had a snack and sampled the beer at the Firestone Walker Brewery! One of B's favorite, so I'm glad we finely made it there. 

Now it's back to reality, which includes work and lots of holiday crafting! 

i am FULL of thanks.

i am FULL of thanks. what are you thankful for?

Wishing you a very happy, healthy Thanksgiving

and a Happy Birthday to the biggest turkey of all, my Dad!

 

Speaking of TURKEY, how cute/funny is this hat?
{Turkey Lurkey hat found here on Etsy}

I am thankful for Brian.

i am thankful for Brian. his sense of humor, love of the outdoors, sense of adventure, work ethic, knowledge of football, insurance and electronics (especially thankful for the last two) and doesn't take himself too seriously... just a few of the things i love most.

i am thankful for all the great new music he brings to my life. i always thought i had good taste in music. what i didn't realize was that it was all pretty similar (lots of one man bands). i'm thankful for the variety now in heavy rotation on my ipod.

i am thankful for his frugality financial knowledge and understanding. we balance each other out. i'm learning to save more, he's learning to spend just a little more. 

i am thankful for homemade lattes courtesy of barista Brian, especially in a Denver mug!

Today we're hittin' the road in route to Southern California for Thanksgiving. We'll be spending turkey day with my mom's family in the OC!

i am thankful for creativity.

i am thankful for creativity. for me it comes in a variety of forms - crafting, cooking, planning parties, music, pictures, blogging - and i thrive on it.

i am thankful for creative collaboration. let's be honest, even martha stewart has a team of people helping her accomplish projects. i love being able to bounce ideas off others (and vice versa) to make a project or craft that much better.

i am thankful for creative inspiration from my dear friends and complete strangers (thank you blogosphere!). i am also thankful for sweet comments and encouragement.

i am thankful for stores like paper source that just ooze with ideas and resources. you can't help but do something creative everyday if you're in that store.

i am thankful for organization. i could not stay sane or be creative without organization in my life.

i am thankful for holidays that give me extra inspiration me to make fun new things, like these pumpkin placecards for Thanksgiving. These were inspired by this and this. 

 

I am thankful for family & friends.

 Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.  ~ Marcel Proust

i am thankful for my loving family. 

i am thankful for growing up in a house where i had to do chores, didn't have sugar cereal, was put on skis as soon as i could walk and always had at least one pet in our family. 

i am thankful to have inherited nice handwriting, thick hair, sense of humor, positive outlook on life and a strong work ethic. 

i am thankful to have an older brother who protected me from intimidated mean boys on the playground at south lakewood elem, would rollerblade to c+c music factory with me, and is now a fabulous professional (and my personal) mechanic. 

i am thankful, and proud, to be the third generation of my family to graduate from the University of Colorado. we are a family of buffaloes (fans, that is). 

i am thankful for so many amazing friendships. 

i am thankful for the inspiration, humor, encouragement, motivation, and love you all bring to my life.

i am thankful for all the memories we've made and look forward to many more.