Do you have a staple meal that’s your go-to? Ours is home made burrito bowls and we probably make them (at least) once a week! If you’ve eaten at our house, you’ve probably had burrito bowls 😉 Here’s why we love them so much: SO easy, relatively healthy, and lots of opportunity for variety. You can basically just throw anything you want in your bowl which is fun and a great option when serving a bigger group.
Every now and then though, it’s nice to try something different or to just have a creative twist to put on your left overs another night of the week! We first tried stuffed bell peppers from the deli section at Costco. They’re a convenient, quick option for a busier night. You get 6 stuffed peppers for about $14 and they’re so filling – it’s usually two meals for us (or at least 1 dinner for both of us and enough left overs for Jordan to take for lunch the next day.) In Costco’s version, the stuffing has a flavor similar to spaghetti sauce and I’ve been thinking they’d be good with a more Mexican flare: Burrito bowls, meet stuffed bell peppers!
I grabbed some bell peppers from the grocery store and just threw in the groceries we already had, but you can get way more creative with these than I did – so many possibilities. There are great recipes on Pinterest! For our simple stuffed peppers we combined ground turkey, black beans, and our favorite rice/quinoa mixture in a pan. If you haven’t tried these pouches from Seeds of Change, you’ve got to! After you rinse your peppers, slice the tops off, scoop out the seeds, and fill with your mixture. Remember, you can put anything you want in yours! We kept it simple and I just topped the stuffing with some salsa before placing in the oven. We’re avoiding dairy right now, but I’d recommend sprinkling cheese on top as well!
Put your peppers in a baking dish and cover will foil. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then for 10-15 more without the foil. It’s THAT simple!
Of course we added avocado to ours and (as unexciting as our stuffing ingredients were) it was delicious! The peppers add so much flavor and it’s a deceptively filling meal.
The recipe is nothing special, but hopefully it gets your creative juices flowing about how you can think outside the box with your usual menu. Think about small and simple things you can do to put a twist on things you normally make. Here’s a few ideas:
Instead of making regular spaghetti – Put your sauce over baked spaghetti squash in place of pasta!
Instead of serving chili in a bowl – create a baked potato bar with chili as a topping!
Even if it’s just spicing up an ordinary meal by arranging it into shapes for your kids or choosing a theme for the night, mixing up your regular dinner routine is a great way to add some fun to your meal time.
Some of my BEST memories growing up were made around the dinner table. I really believe it was foundational to the close relationships I have with my family today and that’s something I want for my own kids. Sometimes dinner is the only time everyone is in one place, without any distractions, just connecting and enjoying each other. You don’t have to be eating anything fancy. Fast food or cereal for dinner is not uncommon in our house. It’s the together part that matters! When your meal planning and preparation is simple and fun you’re more likely to keep it up and enjoy dinner time.
Did you see our family dinner commitment on instagram? Click here to take the challenge with us!
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