Beef Enchilada and Veggie Stuffed Red Peppers

Today, at work, we had a baby shower for my good friend Shalom. This is the same girl that I made the food for this past weekend. Damn these baby showers and my new "lifestyle change" of eating better. Let me clarify. The showers have been great, but the food....oh man the delicious, delicious food... Today, we catered Moe's and got an ice cream cake. Moe's was build your own fajitas, so that wasn't too bad. I ate a bit of cereal and fruit before I went so I wouldn't be too hungry, so I just had a small plate of grilled chicken, black beans, and pico. But the cake...layers of red velvet and cake batter ice cream mixed with Oreos with a layer of chocolate fudge, topped with vanilla frosting and sprinkles...it was calling my name. My mouth is watering just describing it. BUT, I am trying very, VERY hard not to eat sugar and have done just that since Labor Day. Supposedly, after two weeks, your body will no longer crave it. We will see if that is true or not soon.

Keeping on my lifestyle change, I made some pretty good stuffed peppers the other night. You know my love of Mexican, so I had to fit that into the meal plan this week. These were suppose to be vegetarian style, but I added extra lean ground beef to the mix. The only thing that I would change next time is to add more enchilada sauce since when you bake the peppers, a lot of water cooks out of them and makes the mixture a bit bland. I made that change in the recipe below. Other than that, they were pretty delicious and a great way to eat veggies. I served mine with a little black beans that were left from the mixture and when I brought the leftovers from lunch, had a piece of corn that was left from the night before. A serving size in one half a pepper, but at 5 points each, you can def have two!

 Beef Enchilada and Veggie Stuffed Red Peppers

• 3 red peppers, cut in half vertical and seeded
• 1/2 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 cup black beans (I made mine prepared, following this recipe, but you can just add them as is if you like)
• 1/2 large green pepper, diced
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 small zucchini , diced
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 3/4 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar, divided in 1/4 and 1/2

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown ground beef half way.
3. Add onions, peppers, black beans and cook for 5 minutes until peppers and onions are tender.
4. Add zucchini and enchilada sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add 1/2 cup cheese and stir until melted.
6. Stuff each pepper and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
7. Put in baking dish and cover with foil. 
8. Bake for 25 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

• If your peppers won't lay flat, cut a small slice off the outside to make flat bottom.
• Feel free to add more veggies or go meatless. Corn and carrots would make good additions.
• For bigger portions, don't cut peppers in half. Cut tops off, remove inside and stuff whole pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.