chipotle style stuffed peppers and mousse!

well i had a whole day off and decided to have some fun in the kitchen.  i love stuffed peppers and got a hankering to make some and add my own twist. i did mine vegetarian style because soy crumbles are way easier to cook than ground beef and they're healthier anyways. as i've said before i like to wing my cooking so i'll give you a rough estimate of what i used and in what amounts.  but this is a pretty easy and super healthy dinner.  the rice i used was legit organic brown rice so that took the majority of the cooking time or i would say it's a quick fix meal too.  substitute instant brown for the real deal and it's def quick fix. due to lack of money and ingredients i only made enough filling for 2 peppers which can be inconvenient or convenient depending on who's reading this.

2 green bell peppers
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 8 oz. cans tomato sauce (i used one can sauce and one can soup because that's all we had)
1 can black beans
1 cup rice (before it's cooked)
1/4 white onion
1 clove garlic
1 bag of crumbles
seasonings of choice--i used red pepper flakes and cilantro and a lotta shakes of chipotle tabasco (my faaaave)

after my rice was cooked and steaming, i sauteed my garlic and onion in 1 tbsp. of olive oil.  then i added my crumbles--they were mostly frozen so i turned the heat down to let the big chunk break apart.  then i added my tomato sauce, black beans, and rice.  once everything was combined i filled the bottom of the baking dish with part of the mixture and then wedged my peppers into it.  i overflowingly (i made that word up) filled the peppers with the mixture and put the remainder around the peppers.  my mixture was sort of dry; i probably could have used more sauce or less rice but it still tasted good anyways.  cook them at 350 for about a half an hour.  i sprinkled some 4 mexican cheese mix on top at the very end and ta-da you have yummy chipotle stuffed peppers. mmmm

and for dessert. the best part obviously.  i wasn't going to make anything originally but while getting my ingredients for the peppers ready i saw that we had a box of jello mousse temptations that needed made up.  and for 110 calories a pop why the hell are they sitting in there not getting made and eaten! crazy.  so it took about 5 minutes to whip those bad boys up.  all you need is milk.  it calls for 2% but we have skim and it worked out fine.  i topped a couple of mine with some crushed up andes mint because god forbid i dont have 5 of those incorporated into my day. and wallah! a low cal chocolatey goodness dessert. you cant go wrong.

i love cooking healthy because it makes me feel really good about myself and what i'm eating because i know what's going into it. it also makes me extra excited about eating healthy too which is always good especially when i'm in a rut which i somewhat am right now...mainly just the new schedule adjustment and because i'm a girl and this is what happens once a month.  sigh.

bon appetit!