Southwestern Stuffed Bell Peppers PINK Style

Yesterday was day 4 on the P.I.N.K Method diet and I am feeling good. I ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill at the Gym, took the dog to the dog park, visited the orthodontist, cleaned a little, did homework with the kids, made dinner and took a long walk with some friends in the evening. I seriously have more energy than I have in the past but that is not to say that the past few days haven't been hard. The first day on the PINK diet, I was starving. Day two I dealt with massive cravings, Day three was a mild headache but yesterday I felt great and I am seeing results. I don't want to focus on my pounds lost because this is really a journey of health and I don't want others to compare themselves to my results and get discouraged if they aren't seeing the exact same numbers but I will say this diet is working for me.

Tonight's dinner was incredible. My husband loves stuffed bell peppers so I was determined to figure out how I could make them using the PINK method approved foods.  I didn't want to have to make 2 different meals and double my work load. So here is my PINK version of southwest stuffed bell peppers also the version my husband ate and the variation of what my kids ate. Hey, I am all about only having to cook once to feed the family even though not all may like what we are having.

Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers (PINK Version)

4 ounces ground turkey
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup mushroom
1 cup cauliflower
1-2 bell peppers
1/3 cup Salsa
Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning

(I used a 20 ounce package of ground turkey and browned all of it. I then removed 4 ounces of ground turkey and assembled my filling while the rice for my hubby's was cooking.)

Saute onions, carrots, mushroom, cauliflower in a pot until it begins to soften.

Add in the 4 ounces of ground turkey and  1/3 cup of salsa and Mrs. Dash. Stir around until mixed up and stuff filling into peppers. Top each pepper with a little more salsa and bake at 375 for 20 to 30 minutes until the peppers have softened.

Hubby's Stuffed Bell Peppers

Remainder of ground turkey should be about 16 ounces
1 cup of rice cooked
1/2 cup onions
1/2 cup Fajita sauce
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper

Saute onion until soft, mix in ground turkey and rice. Add the fajita sauce and stir to combine. Add in cheese and stir again.

Pink version peppers are the ones without cheese.

Stuff bell peppers , top with a little fajita sauce and a little more cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until peppers are soft.

Kid's version

So my kids won't eat the bell peppers but the stuffing used in my hubby's peppers is okay with them so I simply piled it into a flour tortilla for the kids and they had burritos, simple, easy and I didn't have to make a bunch of meals. I simply modified one to suit the entire family. That is my kind of meal and it was really tasty.

My First Post

I have been a stay at home mom for a long time, my oldest is 13. I am guilty of putting everyone else's needs above my own and there fore I have ended up over weight, okay let's be honest, obese. Well, not any more. My youngest went off to school full time this year giving me a lot of free time. I decided that with that time, I was going to finally focus a little more on me and getting healthy. I have tried diet and exercise over the years but quickly became overwhelmed. For this weight loss journey I chose to break up the two and first focus on exercise and then add in the diet part when I felt I was able.

Me running the race!!

I am happy to report that on Thanksgiving day (2011) I ran in my first 5K. I completed the run with a finishing time of just under 45 minutes which was my goal. I was elated and overjoyed to reach my goal of running a 5k. I finally felt like I had exercising down, it was becoming enjoyable,and it didn't hurt all the time so I decided I needed to add in the diet portion to a healthy lifestyle. I have chosen to do the P.I.N.K. Method for my diet plan and am currently on my 4th day or reset. I am down 4 pounds and feel great! I have found that eating on this plan can be tricky just because it is a new diet plan and there are not a lot of resources out there. So I thought blogging one of my meals that I came up with might be fun and help encourage others.

Turkey Meatballs with Marinara Sauce over a Bed of Roasted Vegetables

Marinara Sauce (made enough to serve 6

1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatos (I used Hunt's 100% natural)

1/2 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 1/2 TBSP Italian seasoning

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

To make sauce, saute onions and garlic until they soften, add can of tomatos and Mrs. Dash and let simmer for 30 minutes or so. Near the end add a dash of balsamic and stir. Add your cooked turkey meatalls and  let simmer about 5-10 more minutes.

Turkey Meatballs (made enough for 5, 4 ounce sevings)

1 package 97% fat free ground Turkey (20 ounces)

Few Shakes of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

Dash of pepper

To make meatballs, mix everything together and form into little meatballs. Saute in a pan with a little spray of canola oil until cooked through or mostly cooked through. They will cook in the sauce a little more so they don't have to be completely cooked.

Roasted Vegis (I ate the entrie amount, but eat what you want.)

1 small zuchini

1/4 red onion

1 cup brocolli

Mrs. Dash any flavor you like

To make the vegis, heat overn to 375, spread vegis on a cookie sheet, mist with olive oil or canola oil, whatever you have and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash. Roast about 20 minutes or until vegi's are tender.

To serve, lay roasted vegis on your plate and divide up the meatballs into five equal portions that way you know you are getting about 4 ounces since we used a 20 ounce package. Spoon sauce over meatballs and vegi's and Enjoy!

Edit: I should add that this is another family friendly meal if you add a tweak.  My family ate this also except instead of having it over roasted vegis, they ate it over whole wheat spaghetti noodles.