New Favorites for the Year

Throughout the year I want to showcase different foods, and products that I love and use in my everyday life. Today I want to share a recipe, snack, and beverage.

The recipe is Stuffed Green-Peppers! I am addicted to bell peppers. About 90% of the recipes I make include peppers in some capacity. They are so simple to add to any meal and are a great vegetable, especially since they count as 0 points on Weight Watchers! I found this recipe on Campbell's webpage but made a few slight changes :)

Here is the link:

http://www.campbellskitchen.com/Recipes/RecipeDetails.aspx?recipeID=50159

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked quick-cooking brown rice
1 pound extra lean ground beef
3 cups Prego® Heart Smart™ Traditional Italian Sauce
6 medium green peppers
4 ounces shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)

• Cook the rice without salt or butter according to the package directions.
• Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it's well browned, stirring often to break up the meat. Pour off any fat. Stir 2 cups of the sauce and the rice in the skillet.
• Cut each pepper in half lengthwise. Discard the seeds and white membranes. Place the pepper shells in a 17 x 11-inch roasting pan.
• Spoon the beef mixture into the pepper shells. Pour the remaining sauce over the filled peppers. Cover the dish.
• Bake at 400° F. for 45 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Top with the cheese. Let stand for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

I decided to add red onion to the meat mixture just because I also love onions. I cut up about a cup of red onion, sauteed it in a pan with a small amount of EVOO, and then stirred it in with the meat, rice, and sauce mixture. Here is the result:

They were SO GOOD!!!

When I am shopping, I also like to look for something new to try. I love to do this especially when I am at Whole Foods. I usually just buy one of the new item that way if I hate it, I didn't waste a ton of money. Also, if I love it I can pick up more on the next trip. Last week when I was at Whole Foods they had a great sale on the Clif products so I decided to try one! I love peanut butter and chocolate, so I thought you can't go wrong with this...

One serving includes 2 bars which equals 5 Weight Watchers points; therefore, it can serve as a breakfast on the go or pre-workout snack! I am excited to try all of the different types of granola bars and other Clif products!

Lastly, my new obsession this week is Vitamin Water Zero. My mom accidentally left some in my refrigerator on her last visit so I decided to try it. I am now obsessed with the lemonade flavor and the great portioned bottles! I pack one everyday for work and take one when I go work out at the gym. I generally love lemonade flavor items, but most of the time it is too sweet for me so I can't drink that much. However, Vitamin Water Zero gets it right with just the perfect combination of water and lemonade flavoring. Also, it is 0 points on Weight Watchers!! :)

Those are my picks for the week! I hope you enjoy the products as well! :)

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. -Virgina Wolf