Southwest Stuffed Peppers

It feels so great to be back on track! I can’t believe that just one week ago I was getting married to the best guy I could ever ask for… We had an absolutely beautiful wedding in Disney World and got to spend time with our amazing family and friends. I couldn’t have asked for anything better!

Now here we are a week later and everything is winding down and getting back to normal – including eating normal (even though I was loving all the popcorn, chips and salsa, Mickey-shaped pretzels… Oh, and the occasional churro!).

Back to business though! One tip that I could give anyone who is trying to eat healthy is to buy a lot of ingredients you can use in different meals. Every week I usually buy onions, jalapenos (if you buy a can of pickled jalapenos you get more for your money and it will last for a few weeks), can of corn, and beans. The nice thing is these items are usually inexpensive, but can really add a lot of flavor and bulk up your dishes.

I find the key to eating healthy and sticking to it is to eat things that you actually enjoy and don’t get sick of. I can’t tell you how many times in the past I would do diets that were so strict and wouldn’t let you step outside the box. You know what happens you don’t stick to it – you’re back at square one again.

These southwest stuffed peppers are great for a weeknight dinner and if you have leftovers, use it for tacos the next night or throw into a skillet. Either way, you will love it!

Ingredients:

1lb. ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 cup corn
½ cup canned black beans (rinsed, drained)
½ cup shredded mexican cheese
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
4 bell peppers
4 slices of reduced fat pepper jack cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. In a large skillet brown ground turkey until fully cooked and set aside.
3. In a large bowl add diced tomatoes, corn, black beans, mexican cheese, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. Mix until well combined and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the turkey to the tomato mixture and fully combine. Set aside.
5. To prep the peppers, cut the tops off and scoop out as much as you can.
6. Fill each pepper with turkey mixture and place peppers in baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
7. Take out and top with 1 slice of pepper jack on each pepper and put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes until cheese is completely melted.

Nutritional Information:

Servings: 4
Serving Size: 1 stuffed pepper

Calories: 342
Fat: 10 g
Carbohydrates: 21 g
Fiber: 6 g
Sodium: 680 mg
Protein: 39 g