Staying Home

I made the greatest decision of my life at the beginning of the month. After some thought and prayer, Bruce and I made the decision for me to quit my job and become a full time stay at home. It is one of those moments that I was absolutely terrified for. But it has been the best two weeks since I have been home. I get to spend all day with my baby and I get to have my nephew with me. My sister, Cheree, has been wonderful to let me watch her little one to help earn some extra money.

When I had told someone that I was quitting to be a mom, I was asked if that wasn't wasting my education. I honestly believe that my having an MBA is only an asset for my children. The more you educate a mother, the better it is for the children. The best job I could ever do is be a mom and I find myself feeling so blessed to have this opportunity. No matter how tight money is or how little our house will be (when we finally get one), it will be worth it to be there for my children. I want to be there when first steps are taken, when knees are skinned and need to be kissed better, and all of those special moments that I couldn't get if I was working.

Bruce is just finishing up his student teaching for the semester. He has been working so hard and I get to watch how he has developed into such a great teacher. I am so excited to see him in a class of his own. When April comes, he gets to work on his licensure and then on to finding a job. I am so grateful for him. He has worked so hard to finish this degree and he has such a love for education. If all of our teachers loved what they did as much as Bruce does, we would be in great shape. The truth of the matter is that I think most teachers choose to teach out of a love for kids. They couldn't possibly do it for the pay! Thank you for all of the teachers out there who devote so much time to doing lesson plans and grading papers and so many other menial tasks.

As part of that, I have gotten back into the habit of cooking dinner. I love cooking and I have had such fun finding new recipes and ways to use ingredients in my house. So, hopefully, this recipe will be as popular at your house as it was at mine. To be fair, the original recipe came from Paula Deen, but I did make some minor changes to fit with what I had in my fridge and because I hate fake cheese! So here it goes:

Stuffed Red Peppers
4 large red bell peppers
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 c cooked rice
1 c shredded cheese
1/2 c salsa
1/2 c sour cream
1 c. diced tomatoes.
1/2 c. chopped green onion tops
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 c hot water

Preheat oven to 350. Start by cutting the peppers in half lengthwise, leaving the stems intact and halving them also. Remove the seeds and ribs inside the peppers.

Using a hot skillet, saute the ground beef, pork, onion, garlic, 1 tsp bouillon, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Saute until onions become translucent. Drain the fat off. Add the rice, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, green onions, soy sauce, and salsa. Mix well and stuff the mixture into the peppers. In a small bowl, mix the hot water and the remaining bouillon. Pour this mixture into a shallow casserole dish large enough to hold all of the peppers. Place the stuffed peppers in the dish, cover with foil, and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Remove the foil and spoon the juice from bottom of the dish over the top of the peppers. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

These are so yummy! Now I just need to make dessert.