I have good news, and I have bad news.
Good news: The good news is that I have a phone again! If you pay as much attention to me as you should, you would know that my phone was mysteriously out of commission last week. … I still don’t want to talk about it. But I will say that it involves a ziplock of rice, a heat lamp, and a bio-hazard baggie.
For the record, Siri does not unlock your phone for you. Even if you give her your phone code. She’ll probably just say, “I’m sorry, Alyssa, but I cannot unlock your phone.” Bitch.
But the fact that I have phone again means that you don’t need to break out your bifocals to see the photos I post this week! (*cough* Mom.)
Bad news: The bad news is that today I was craving cottage cheese. There is something horribly wrong with me. Who craves cottage cheese? I don’t even like cottage cheese. And I don’t feel like I’ve become any older or more mature in the last few months, so my tastes can’t have changed that much.
Breaking news: (Surprise! More news!) This week, I made stuffed peppers in honor of Sukkot, and it went off without incident. No kitchen fires, no rugelach exploding, and definitely no dairy sneaking it’s way into a dish with meat in it.
… I did something right?
Something is amiss in the universe.

DANG girl, look at yo stuffed peppers!

Stuffed Peppers

I adapted this recipe from Lisa Katz– at about.com.

Ingredients

• 4-5 Bell Peppers (I used 2 red and 2 green.)
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tomatoes (diced)
• 2 Tbs oil
• I also used salt, pepper, onion powder, and some Grillmates seasoning to spice up my hamburger.
• Soy Sauce (optional)

When you’re cutting your peppers, be aware that the stuffing can and will fall out if you aren’t careful.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Begin cooking your rice! (I just did this step early, because my roommate’s rice cooker is ancient.)
3.  Seed and halve your peppers, then parboil them. (This was a new concept for me, but don’t worry, it’s super easy! Just boil a pot of water, then put the halves in and let them cook for about six minutes. You should be able to slide a fork through them fairly easily when they should be taken out.)
4. Brown the ground beef, and add the egg, rice, and seasonings.
5. Stuff those peppers!
6. Bake for 30 minutes. (The recipe I was using as guidelines for this said an hour, but my peppers were good to go in EASILY under half an hour.)
7. While the peppers are baking, cook the tomatoes with oil in a saucepan. When the tomatoes are done, just scoop a little bit on each pepper half, then continue baking.

Yes, it is as good as it looks.