Grammar is fun. I never knew a lick of it until I started learning foreign languages. Go figure. The only reason I point this out is that I’m a nerd who thinks the alliteration of “Turkey Taco” wins out over “Southwest Stuffed” on the coolness scale, so that’s why I’ve named my dinner as such. Throw in some onomatopoeia and BAM! you’ve got yourself a good dinner. See what I did there?

This spring forward thing is really messing with me. More than flying across the country 4x inside of 2 weeks did back in February. Go figure. My body has not yet realized that just because it’s dark outside at 7:00a, that doesn’t mean you can stay in bed until the sun comes up. This is extra annoying when it’s absolute soup outside, like this morning. Rain. All day. Rubber boots FTW.

I love southwest stuff. I saw stuffed peppers in the grocery store once. I decided to make some on my own. Ready, set… COOK!

Turkey Taco Peppers

Ingredients

• 2 Large Green Bell Peppers
• 1lb Lean Ground Turkey
• 1/2 Large White Onion, Chopped
• 2 Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Diced
• 1 Egg
• 1 Envelope of taco seasoning (or something paleo-ish like it)
• 1 tbsp Southwest Seasoning (Mine included, Chipotle flakes, Chili powder and Paprika)
• 1/2 tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 cup Salsa or Diced Tomatoes of your choice

How to get this pile of ingredients into something you actually want to eat:

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2) Time to have as much fun as safely as possible with your paring knife. Cut the bell peppers in half, clean out the pith and seeds and set aside.

(YES, I know the term ‘pith’ off the top of my head. How come they never ask things like that on trivia night? I digress.)

3) Really, this step should be 2B. Chop the onions and dice jalapenos as well. The onions didn’t make me cry enough for an Oscar acceptance speech.

However, I was curious about the jalapenos. They seemed so innocent on the cutting board, and somehow I managed not to get jalapeno oil shot into my eye while prepping. I’m usually good for something like that.

Okay, so I almost cut my finger hardcore when going at the onion. Happy?

Either way, I decided that because I couldn’t SMELL the spice of the jalapeno, that I had to lick my fingers that were now covered in eau de jalapeno to see if they actually were hot or not. The tip of my tongue then burned for 5 minutes. Cool. This is what curiosity gets me. I’m surprised that common sense managed to hold me over enough to NOT hug a cactus when I was in Phoenix a few weeks ago. I really wanted to. Some things in this world cannot be explained. Look how innocent it seems.

4) Grab a mixing bowl, and combine all ingredients except for the salsa and bell pepper halves that were set aside.

Now, I’ve got to ask… does anyone else get really cold when they’re mixing up refrigerated meat and veggies by hand? Pretty sure I’ve got Reynaud’s without ever going to a doctor for him to confirm my suspicions, so 90% of the time I make fun burgers or meatloaf, my fingers turn white. It’s a labor of love.

SLIGHT INTERMISSION – here is where I recognized that 1lb is a lot of meat for one girl. So, I took half of the meat mixture, formed it into patties for fun burgers when I’m terribly lazy and don’t want to cook something new sometime in the future. By sometime, I mean… next week.

5) Take each pepper half, and spoon the raw meat mixture into each, so that they are slightly heaping. That’s an oddly worded sentence. You know what I mean. Overfill them a bit. Place each in a shallow baking pan, with the bottom of the pan slightly covered in water to help generate some steam and not burn the peppers down to the bottom of your pan. I used a glass loaf pan for my 2 peppers, and the sides held them up nicely.

6) Spoon a layer of salsa onto each pepper, and stick the peppers into the oven (uncovered) for 60 minutes.

How to pass the time? Do the dishes. Have a dance party. Get your butt kicked in Words With Friends. Get your butt kicked in Scramble With Friends. Tweet about it. Put the dishes away. Get your daily dose of TMI by scrolling through your Facebook news feed. Plan what you’re going to have for dessert to ruin the healthy meal that’s in the oven. I opted for this:

It was mini. It was on sale for $1. Bazinga!