W7/Meal 2: Stuffed green peppers

or How to Get the Recipe You Need by Stalking a Stranger

I've mentioned before that I loved stuffed vegetables. You're going to see a lot more of that. Considering I'm more than two weeks behind in posting these meals, consider that a teaser. There will be stuffed vegetables.

Awhile ago, when my mother-in-law gifted me with a life-changing hand-me-down slow cooker, I was on a hunt for a good crockpot stuffed pepper recipe and found a great one-- delicious, nontraditional, easy, and so healthy.

Upon setting out to make it again, I followed the link I had saved, only to discover that it had disappeared entirely from the interweb.

FOR. SHAME.

I was convinced that it must still be out there somewhere, and began searching with every trick I could think of-- cache searching, modifying URLs, looking for the related images. The only thing I could find was a discussion of the recipe on a Weight Watchers message board. The woman mentioned that she had the book that it came from --which I recognized as the source of the online version-- so I knew for sure it was the same one.

She had a Weight Watchers member profile, which linked to her Etsy page.

And I'm an Etsy member, so I contacted her.

I watch enough crime dramas to believe that this type of detective work falls under the category of "clever problem solving" rather than "creepy stalking".

But yes, it's a fine line.

The kind woman not only replied, but she actually SCANNED THE RECIPE for me. I have restored faith in humanity and dangerously high confidence in contacting strangers on the internet. Maybe I should forward this act of kindness by giving those friendly Nigerians my bank account number.



Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers




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This recipe is perfect as-is so I made no adjustments, other than omitting that pesky cilantro. I just tossed some frozen peas in for the last 20 minutes or so to round it out as complete meal. Otherwise, a side salad would work just fine.

I only used two peppers and put the remaining stuffing into a scooped-out zucchini, which then went straight into the freezer (with the sauce in a separate container) for a lazy cooking day.

Verdict: This is now officially my go-to recipe for stuffed peppers. It's just so flavorful and satisfying. And considering I saved the scanned image on my hard drive, in my email, and on Etsy-- I'll never be without it again.

Thanks again, kind stranger! Many happy, delicious, stuffed returns.