Stuffed Peppers

I am all about making meals inside their own food bowls. Between stuffed sweet potatoes, stuffed squashes and stuffed peppers we have a wide variety of options to cook a nutritious hot meal on the go!
You can wrap them in tinfoil or put them in an oven safe container and put them in the airplane oven or your hot logic. They keep you full all day and they can be flavorful and fun. Depending on if you are eating meat or you are plant based, whether you are choosing grains or beans, there are a wide variety of ways to prepare this fun and easy meal in advance and even take a couple with you for a multi day trip. I have had no issues with keeping them for a 3 day trip. 

CHOOSING YOUR PEPPER

How many humps in a pepper?

When shopping for a pepper there are many options on how to choose the perfect pepper. There are lots of rumors and speculations on whether when you turn your pepper upside down are there 2 or 5 humps and if that means it is male or female, does one have more seeds than the other, is one sweeter? This site suggests that 3 bump peppers are great for cooking and stir fry and 4 bump peppers are better raw with salads. Either way, it seems to be personal preference, so don't worry too much about that. ​

Organic vs. Non organic?

Peppers are not in the EWG's dirty dozen list this year however they have been featured on this list previously. ​I try and do everything organic, but sometimes it isn't possible.
My personal rule of thumb is this: 
If you eat the peel of the fruit or veggie,
buy organic if you can afford to. 
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What color pepper do I choose?

The Meal Prep Manual says, "Do you know the difference between the color of bell peppers? They actually all come from the same plant and are at different stages of the lifecycle. A green pepper is the youngest while the red peppers are the oldest. There are a few different shades you can find but the most popular are the once pictured here. 
Green peppers spend the least amount of time on the vine. They are picked early on and because of this they are more bitter than the other colors. It’s just like any other fruit, pick it before it’s ripe and the sugars won’t be developed yet. Green peppers are the cheapest of the bunch because of where they are sourced from and they don’t require the same amount of time and care to grow as the others. Out of all the varieties they have the lowest content of vitamin C and second lowest vitamin A. 
Yellow and orange peppers are a bit harder to find in stores. They don’t usually carry as many of these. Yellow peppers have the highest vitamin C while orange is highest in vitamin A. One reason for why these may be more expensive is because they higher in nutrient density than red or green. If you are getting plenty of nutrients from other foods, it probably won’t make a difference to choose orange and yellow over red and green. 
When picking peppers, look for ones that are firm and deep in color. Some wrinkles are normal but try and pick ones void of lots of them. The easiest way to cut peppers is to put them upside down on their stem and cut down from the bottom of the pepper to the top. This keeps the seeds in tact and slicing quick."

Personally, I am obsessed with phytochemicals in food and all of their health benefits. I even have a workshop about nurturing your chakras with phytochemicals! It is really important to eat all of the colors of the rainbow. I choose all the colors of peppers and stuff them with my favorite fillings and rotate which days I eat what color. Sometimes I will eat half a green pepper and then half a red pepper. Switch it up! Have fun with it!

RECIPES

I really love this recipe for stuffed peppers. 
Depending where I'm at for the month, I might be feeling some real organic ground meat or I might be more inclined to use beyond meat. My favorite is the spicy Italian sausage. I find that it is way less greasy than real meat which makes it easier for traveling. 
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One of my favorite and unconventional ways to make a stuffed pepper is a vegetarian shepherd's pie stuffed pepper! 
Of course you can make it with meat, or with the Beyond Beef Spicy Italian Sausage. That is up to you!
You can even replace regular potatoes with sweet potatoes for a completely different flavor! 

This recipe shows the basic construction of the peppers with the mixture but I don't think their actual shepherd's pie recipe is the healthiest.  

This recipe is the perfect healthy version for the shepherd's pie to fill your stuffed pepper. 

This recipe really depends on you and your digestion. Whether you know how grains and lentils affect your body. This is a power house recipe for protein and will keep you full all day and give you that energy you need for that 12 hour day. If you aren't sure how grains affect you or if you have any food sensitivities, I highly recommend avoiding this recipe until you take a food sensitivities test. Click here for a discount code on an Everly Well at home food sensitivity test. 

There are so many ways to enjoy stuffed peppers. Have fun and use your imagination! Don't forget to eat the rainbow and tag me in the pictures of your creations! @barefootphilosophy on IG