Vegetarian Taco Stuffed Peppers

I recently started following "Tasty" on Facebook. For some reason, the videos both intrigue and relax me. Weird, I know...but I love them. I saw a recipe the other day that I knew would be a hit in my home. The Henrys love tacos...in fact, we have a weekly taco night. So, I was fairly confident that Taco Stuffed Peppers would kill. So I took notes and made some vegetarian tweaks. Enjoy!

Ingredients

4 bell peppers *you'll definitely have enough filling for more if necessary

1 package of tofu (chopped)

1 onion (chopped)

1 clove of garlic (minced)

1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 cup of rice (cooked)

1 cup of Mexican shredded cheese (plus more for garnish)

Taco Seasoning

Olive Oil

Guacamole (for garnish)

Sour Cream (for garnish)

Directions

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees while you remove the tops and insides of your bell peppers. Rinse the peppers, place in a baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes.

While those bake, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat for your tofu. I like to squish mine a little while is cooks so it isn't so perfectly cubed.

Toss in your taco seasoning and let cook for a few more minutes. My kiddos don't like things too spicy, so I didn't use a ton of taco seasoning. Be your own judge!

Move your tofu to the perimeter of your pan and toss in your onion and garlic. 

Once your onions begin to look translucent and nicely sauted, toss in your black beans.

Let your beans get thoroughly heated and then toss in your rice.

After a few more minutes, toss in your diced tomatoes.

Lastly, toss in one cup of your shredded cheese.

Once your cheese has fully melted, remove from heat and remove your bell peppers from the oven. Stuff your peppers with the deliciously smelling mixture and top with more cheese!

Bake for another 15 minutes. Remove and let cool before plating it up!

I topped with a spoonful each of guacamole and sour cream...then sprinkled on even more cheese!

This dish was delicious and will be added to our list of regulars! Chris and I both tore it up....while Harrison and Lily picked at it. Lily said she liked it "a little" and basically ate the black beans and cheese! I tried to get a picture of her trying it but they were all blurry and she had her eyes closed in all of them! ;)

*The original recipe called for a pound of ground beef and a can of corn. I bet the corn was delicious...we just didn't have any in our pantry!

On the Road Again {5K Prep}

So...nothing says self-loathing louder than signing up for a 5K a year in advance and doing absolutely no training for it until a few weeks beforehand. And this is the exact situation that I currently find myself. Joy.

I have the desire to be a runner...truly. However, I cannot find a reasonable way to add that activity into my daily schedule. I know...this sounds all too familiar...what an excuse! Am I right?!?!? But I'm serious...between working, weddings, and general mom/wife/person activities, I generally can't find the time. We leave the house at 7:15am (cough) and don't get home until after 6:00pm. By the time the kids are down, the house is cleaned, and the preparations for the following day take place, it's after 10pm. The only solution is to wake up earlier...and I just can't fathom how I will function on less sleep. So...unfortunately, the deliberations continue. Since I'm currently on holiday, I've decided that is future Rachel's problem.

In the meantime, I've picked the habit back up and with gusto...or enthusiasm...maybe focus? I'm not sure what the right word is...but I'm excited!

Yesterday was, what I'm considering, day one. I "ran" one mile...in 13:25 minutes. Not stellar but I didn't pass out or vomit...so success! Today, I "ran" that same mile in 12:08 minutes. Already making progress! ;)

Blogging and social media are a way to hold myself accountable...lame, I'm aware...but it oddly works for me. So that is exactly what I am about to do. I'm going to track my little 5K prep adventure...the good, the bad, and the ugly. Oh Lord, help me! We'll see if it continues past January 16th...hopefully it does, but one goal at a time! ;)

With that being said, here I am...checking in at a 12:08 mile, 138 lbs, and already exhausted!

#ignorethemess #mirrorselfienewbie

The goal this week is to just jog continuously for one mile. Here we go!

May The Christmas Spirit Be With You!

Each year we grab on to a theme for our Christmas. This theme could pop up in our Christmas card, wrapping paper, decor, Christmas Eve pajamas, and maybe even the gifts from Santa. It started innocent with a few super hero pajamas on Christmas Eve a couple years ago...and then last year our love for Harry Potter influenced the card and gifts. Well, this year...this year we had a lot of fun.

For those not as familiar with the Star Wars universe, we are embracing Darth Vader, Queen Amidala, with Luke and Leia. The Skywalker Christmas card that could of been...possibly. 

Don't worry, for you purists, we added some "normal" pictures to the back!

Each year we also add a little insert to review our past year. Chris typically writes it while I design it. Enjoy!

The Chenry Show

Episode V

Year in Review

It is a period of stability in the Henry galaxy. Two-thousand and fifteen has come and gone with many exciting events taking place for the family of four.

Young Harrison is growing fast. Now at 20 months of age, his mastery of creating chaos in the home is developing swiftly. His rebellious streak has lead to incidents of crayon on the walls, peas thrown at dinner, and pulled cat tails. Fear is growing he may turn to the dark side, but hope remains strong his happy, fun-loving nature will keep him in the light.

Princess Lily seeks to restore the balance caused by her brother’s commotion. The lady has taken her first steps into the world of team sports with forays into tee-ball and soccer. Both were had with mixed success, but we can be sure that trophies are the greatest reward in the galaxy. Little does she know that Kindergarten waits around the corner and the family eagerly awaits decisions on applications to learn of young Lily’s educational fate.

Turmoil has engulfed the Louisiana republic. Hoping to resolve the matter, Chris was dispatched from his job at Louisiana State University and has joined the state’s House of Representatives Fiscal Team to help settle the conflict.  The capital has proven to be an exciting place of employment full of characters that could fill the cantina at Mos Eisley. What spare time he has left is spent obsessing over fantasy football and enjoying time at Costco.

To everyone’s surprise, Rachel had an uneventful year. She continues to juggle weddings and LSU while attempting to maintain some semblance of organization for The Chenry Show. In a stunning move, she did embrace the technology of the FitBit and even ran her first 5k. Deliberations continue over the fate of her hair length. 

Gentle Oliver underwent two surgeries this fall to help curb his chronic ear infections. Outside of repressing memories of wearing his cone of protection, he is currently recovering well. The cats continue to be cats. All in all, the creatures of the Henry house continue to persevere.

We hope your year has been equally full of danger and excitement. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,

and May the Force be with You!

Love,

Chris, Rachel, Lily, Harrison,

Mr. Kitty, Lola, and Oliver

We are now off to enjoy one of my favorite days of the year...Christmas Eve! On our agenda today includes service at Healing Place Church, last minute grocery shopping, some baking, and our traditional "Favorite Things Dinner"! Oh, I love it! Each of us picks our favorite food item and then we just enjoy a meal of all our favorites! For tonight, I think our menu will consist of Guacamole and Chips, Sushi, Olive Pizza, and Mac and Cheese! Then we'll slip into our Star Wars pajamas and wait for Santa to visit!

In the mean time, we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!