Hello? Don’t hang up! I’m still there! even though I came quite close to losing my operating room virginity this very afternoon. As it so happened, I was attending a routine 40 weeks check up today when the good doctor noticed that although the belly is prominent, it’s inhabitant is not, shall we say, very cooperative. After 30 minutes of close-up ultrasound and another 20 minutes of monitoring, my little drama queen was persistently refusing to move even a pinkie. My smiling, chatty doctor got increasingly silent, a storm gathering between her brows. At that point I was gently made to understand that if at the next ultrasound this baby will not preform any gymnastics, I was to be induced immediately or  go straight to the OR. Happily, my baby just decided to practice being fashionably late and finally moved her sweet behind just as the doc was about to give up all hope and the husband and I were wondering how to break the news to to both sets of anxious grandparents without freaking the hibijibis out of them.

So we were sent back home, with a stern order for me to lie down for two whole hours every morning in the purpose of counting the baby’s movements. If lucky number 6 is achieved, we are off the hook. Nada? back to the hospital. how’s that for a fun, cheerful morning routine?

Enough said. I will now cease to complain and provide you with the promised second recipe of this baby countdown. Stuffed peppers. Meat, rice, delicious sauce. And all in a cute little pepper package. Real comfort food, just as opposed to most greasy, bazillion steps comfort dishes, this one requires about 7 minutes of assembly. Love it.

Slow-Cooker Easy stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

6 -8 large peppers. Red, green or yellow, whatever floats your boat.

For the stuffing mix:

500 gr lean ground beef (1lb)
3/4 cup white rice

1 egg
1/4 cup dry chives
2 Tbsp soy sauce
salt
lots of ground black pepper

For the sauce:

1 large can crushed tomatoes (800 ml / 28 oz)
1 cup beef broth (careful with the salt if you are using commercial broth)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 cup chopped celery leaves (find them at the center of your celery hearts package)
lots of ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Remove the pepper tops and set aside for cuteness sake. They will not go into the slow cooker, I only placed them there for the photo cause they are pretty. Remove any seeds or membranes inside the peppers.
2. Mix stuffing and fill each pepper to 2/3 of it’s height.
3. Mix all sauce ingredients straight in the slow-cooker.
4. Place peppers upright in the sauce, placing a spoon of sauce on the top of each pepper, just to keep the stuffing nice and moist. Make sure the sauce covers about 3/4 of the pepper’s height.

5. Close the cooker’s lid and cook on LOW for 6 hours.

6. Serve in a pool of sauce, topped with the cute pepper lid you so intelligently saved.
Yum!