Paint and Peppers

It is officially October!  My favorite month of the year.  A time of year where just a mere glimpse of outside is an antidepressant for me.  To kick off the season I decided to try two new things with the potential of uber mess, paints and peppers...

It is chilly out and I wanted to enjoy something heavy and warm in my tummy.  I had an over abundance in red bell peppers and zucchini last farm food go around and decided that Italian stuffed peppers and squash would do the trick.  I found a couple of recipes that sounded tasty, took the best parts of each and combined it into literally one yummy hot mess.

Here's how it goes:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup grated Romano
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan 
• 1/4 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 zucchini, ends removed, halved lengthwise and crosswise
• 3 short red bell pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Step 2: Lightly drizzle the olive oil into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Whisk the egg, ketchup, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the Romano cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in the turkey. Cover and refrigerate the turkey mixture.

Step 3: Using a melon baller or spoon (I used one of those little cookie scoops), carefully scrape out the seeds and inner flesh from the zucchini, leaving 1/8-inch-thick shells. Be careful not to pierce through the skin.

Step 4:  Fill the zucchini and pepper halves with the turkey mixture, dividing equally and mounding slightly. Arrange the stuffed vegetables in the baking dish. Pour the marinara sauce over the stuffed vegetables.  Top with the Parmesan.

Step 5: Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer the stuffed vegetables to a platter and serve.

They turned out perfect and there were no leftovers.  Yup, people.  My kids ate them...

Next the paint.  Just for giggles I drew my kiddos a little tree and pumpkin scene with a black sharpie.
Adelyn was very excited.  And yes, at our house we eat saucy things and paint nakie.  It's just how we roll.

I gave them each a little plate with fall tempera washable paint colors and cotton swabs and showed them how to "dot" the leaves on the trees.  Kept them busy for an hour!  That's like a year toddler time!

Messy yes, cleanable yes, memorable yes :)