Couscous Stuffed Peppers

Thought I would share another recipe. This is from the Food Network (courtesy of Giada). It is something different but was super good. Instead of currants I just used craisins (since I had them already) and used sour cream instead of creme fraiche (much cheaper and very delicious). Try this - it's easy and so yummy!

Couscous-Stuffed Peppers with Basil Sauce
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

.Prep Time:15 minInactive Prep Time:-- Cook Time:1 hr 0 minLevel:
EasyServes:
4 servings.Ingredients
Filling:
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 cup couscous
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup dried currants
1 packed cup chopped baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium red bell peppers
1 medium yellow bell pepper
1 medium orange bell pepper
Hot water, as needed
Sauce:
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) creme fraiche
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon water
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus extra, as needed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra, as needed
Directions
Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Filling: In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth and cumin to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the couscous. Cover the pan until the couscous is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 to 6 minutes. Put the couscous in a large bowl and add the beans, currants, spinach, feta and 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir until all the ingredients are combined.

Slice the tops off the peppers and remove all the ribs and seeds. If necessary, cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up. Stuff the peppers with the filling and drizzle the tops with olive oil. Put the peppers in an 8 by 8-inch square baking dish. Fill the baking dish with 3/4-inch hot water and bake until the filling is golden and the peppers are cooked through, about 55 to 60 minutes. Cooks Note: If the filling begins to brown too quickly, cover the pan with foil.)

Sauce: In a blender, combine the basil, creme fraiche, olive oil, water, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Remove the peppers from the oven and arrange on serving plates. Spoon the sauce around the peppers and serve.

Mmmmmm....Frosting!

Like mother like daughter. Frosting is by far the best part of cakes, and clearly Lilah thinks so too.
As per Lilah's request, we made some cupcake the other day. Nothing too special, just boxed funfetti cupcakes with frosting (including sprinkles!!!). She is a good helper and LOVES to help cook/bake/stir and I found out frost and put sprinkles on cupcakes. I mean really, who doesn't like that?
When it was FINALLY time to eat the cupcakes (that is a lot of waiting and patience for a two year old), she ate the top of the cupcake off (with the frosting) and then asked for more frosting. I don't blame her...definitely the best part!

Seriously?!

Watercoloring=a little delicious. Yep, she had to taste the blue to make sure it was working correctly and tasted okay.

Lunchin' With the Ladies

A playdate at our house turned into lunch for the little ladies - pb&js, crackers and fruit. They all sat around Lilah's table and surprisingly quiet and all ate pretty good. They are such big girls...we could hardly believe as we watched them eat and sit around the table like they've been buddies for years. :)

Celebrating Gretchen's "2nd 20th Birthday"

This is what Vaughn called it and I think it's pretty great. And who wouldn't want to be celebrating their 2nd 20th Birthday anyhow!?
Gretchen wanted her birthday to be spent this year all together at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, doing what the Wileys do best - camping. They have gone here for years and as kids have many fond memories camping at Fort Casey. So, it is appropriate that Gretchen would want to spend a weekend celebrating here, making more family memories.
We woke up Saturday morning and went to our favorite little breakfast place in Coupeville (you have probably never heard of Coupeville, but it's actually very quaint and a sweet little town) - Knead and Feed. Some of us got breakfast and most opted for the gigantic sweet treats and coffee. We got a marionberry bear claw and a walnut caramel roll. Oh yummy! It was a perfect weekend to be camping also - the weather was perfect. Not too cool and not too warm. The kids spent a lot of time playing in the sand, collecting rocks, making a fort, and our daughter's favorite, throwing rocks in the water. We spent Saturdays afternoon celebrating Gretchen's birthday with a good ole bbq with all the fixins, and a special cake made just for Gretchen. Afterwards we decided to try to walk off some of the fatty goodness we had eaten by walking by all the gun implacements and to the lighthouse, and just walking around and enjoying the views.
We had to finish off both Friday and Saturday nights with campfires and smores (to add on what we had walked off that Saturday).
Other than not getting the amount of sleep I would have liked, it was a pretty great weekend. The kids had so much fun together and we got to do a whole lotta relaxin.

The Daredevil of the Family

Lilah has proven several times that as a 2 year old she really has no fear. She'll climb up to the highest slide and slide down with the biggest smile on her face (and want to do it again). She will go head first in the pool even though she has no idea how to swim. And, she can definitely hold her own at the water park with all the big kids.
Last week during one of our few sunny and warm days we joined Julie, Samson and some of her family for an afternoon in the sun and water. We went to this little water park play area. Like usual, Lilah was ready to go and ran immediately under all the waterfalls and sprinklers. She didn't care that she was completely soaked and water was running in her eyes. Samson played in it a little too, but I think he liked the swing way better. It was his first time and he just swung there with his mouth open real wide (which pretty much means a happy boy). :)

4th of July: Sunshine and a Scrooge!

Last year by 4th blog title was- 4th of July: Sparklers and Scrooges. This year it is almost the same.
We opted for a relaxing day instead of running around and being social. We just got back from our weekend away yesterday, so had some catching up to do around here and were really just to have one more night at home hanging out before Lance heads back to work.
This year it was so very beautiful. We went to the Kirkland parade which was great - and I think Lilah liked it better this year (she was only scared of the firetrucks that were super loud). She even did some dancing with a little 2 year old friend that sat next to us. The sun was shining with a wonderful ~70ish degree weather. Nice.
I am however still a firework scrooge. Yep, I hate them. There is not one thing I like about them other than possibly I may enjoy a sparkler or two. Other than that, they suck. And, they give me ulcers worrying about if they will wake my daughter up. That's the main reason why I dislike them, other than they're just dumb.
The positive part about all of this is that we just recently got annexed into the City of Kirkland, where fireworks are BANNED!! Whoop whoop! Julie joked with me today that I probably will have the police department on speed dial tonight. I may just do that for those fools that break the law and set off fireworks tonight.
So, that's where the "Sunshine and Scrooge" comes from. I will be happy when tonight is over and the sunshine is out tomorrow and all the firework stands go back home. ;)

Leavenworth

We just got back from our camping trip to Leavenworth. It was (for the most part) a very relaxing, beautiful weekend. The weather was perfect. Lance and Erik golfed Saturday morning at Lance's favorite course over by Lake Wenatchee. We spent a lot of time playing outside and swimming at the pool. Lilah is like a fish. She was shivering and shaking and still didn't want to come out of the water. I think she thinks she is like one of the big kids. She just screams with excitement as they're playing and screaming, and then has to copy whatever they're doing (including a face plant in the water). We could hardly get her to come out of the pool. It was a great time with family - we did a lot of sitting around, chatting, eating, and just enjoying our time together. If you know me, it's hard to just "sit around". I'm constantly doing something productive - laundry, blogging, making lists, painting my nails, responding to emails, planning some activity or event, or making more lists. Lance is much better at relaxing than I am. So, it was nice for both of us to just be able to leave work and lists at home for the long weekend.

Happy Birthday Mimi!

We celebrated an early birthday for Mimi with bbq hamburgers and all the fixins, along with some raspberry filled cupcakes. It was a decent day out, so we all played and sat outside. Lilah really loves Mimi and Van (she calls him "Bane"). I think she said hello to Van at least 50 times, and doesn't let him get too far away from her before she starts searching for him. It was a nice afternoon spent relaxing and hanging out, telling stories and being entertained by our daughter. :)