Last Night's Dinner - Smoked Sausage and Cheddar Stuffed Peppers

I think this blog might wind up being as good for my eating habits as Tim moving in with me has been. Tim had an ultimate frisbee pickup game in Lakefield last night before his evening job at Lakefield College, plus he wound up going out with the guys to have a couple drinks afterwards. I was exhausted. Yesterday was not a good day. I couldn't focus on anything at work - and month end just isn't a good time for that to happen to me! I got home after work, hung out with Tim for a bit, napped until 7:00, sat around talking to Angel. I knew I had to make food because I needed something for lunch today and I like to make sure there's food in the house for Tim, but I honestly didn't think I'd eat anything. I usually don't if I'm tired and alone.

I made Chicken and Cheddar Stuffed Peppers, only I used smoked sausage that I had already. I planned to do this recipe because we have a couple of aging peppers in the fridge - only I didn't realize that they were supposed to be roasted and I have a bit of a phobia of roasting peppers in the oven. I'm sure that I'll eventually try it, but given that I had a jar of already roasted red peppers in the fridge . . . I used those. Cut down on the prep significantly. I was also groggy enough that I didn't read the recipe all of the way through and wound up tossing the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and sausage all together in the frying pan. And then when I threw the spices on, I didn't pay attention to the fact that the cinnamon didn't have a shaker top on and dumped WAY too much cinnamon in. No big deal, I just took a big spoon and pulled out the worst clump of it. Even with all of my mistakes, these came out of the oven smelling and looking pretty damn good.

Then I thought that I really kind of needed a picture of them plated so I could post it up on here! So I plated them, and then realized I should really just try to eat them - it was only 9:00 by this point, plenty of cultures in the world eat that late. And I am so glad I did. I was worried with the first bite that using the pre-roasted red peppers was a bad call. They're preserved in a pickled-type vinegar solution and they've got a little bite to them. But by the end, I was really glad I did - the acidity of the peppers kept the cheese, rice, and sausage mixture from being too heavy and rich. The smoked sausage was lovely in it. I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch today!!