TRANSLATION OF PICTURE ABOVE: “Don’t forget to change your clocks ahead 1 hour!”             (May not be grammatically correct, but it gets the message across!)

Daylight savings time is upon us, meaning this weekend, we set our clocks ahead 1 hour.     Some folks are not happy losing the hour of sleep, but we’re looking forward to the extra hour of sunshine at the end of the day. We decided that change is a good theme for this week’s blog entry. Change can be difficult, but sometimes change can be fun! You can be creative by changing and adapting things. In honor of upcoming March Madness, we changed some UConn Huskies coasters into a banner! (What a surprise!) We also offer our recipe for Deconstructed Stuffed Peppers. It’s a quick and easy change-up of a classic recipe.

After this winter, the change we are most excited about is Spring! It’s just around the corner!

SPORTS BANNER FROM COASTERS

We’ll make a banner out of anything! This time, we used a hole punch to string blue and white ribbons through these UCONN coasters, creating a simple and festive banner! Go Huskies!

DECONSTRUCTED STUFFED PEPPERS

Kevin’s mom made great stuffed peppers. It was one of her go-to dinners. This one-pot meal brings to mind her classic stuffed peppers, but with a lot less work. It’s delicious and uses canned and frozen vegetables to good advantage.

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 medium onion chopped, 1 lb. lean ground beef, one 16 oz. package frozen multicolored pepper strips, 2 cups cooked brown rice, 2 cups crushed tomatoes, one 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with chiles, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce, 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

In a skillet, saute onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until soft, add ground beef and cook until browned. Drain excess fat. Defrost pepper strips in the microwave for 3 minutes; add to beef and onion mixture. Add both types of tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, garlic and oregano. Add rice and mix well. If mixture seems dry, moisten with low-sodium chicken stock or water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Easy and tasty!

A FEW DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME FACTS (source cnn.com) : 

• The idea for daylight savings time was conceived by Benjamin Frankin in 1784, to reduce the cost of candlelight.
• About 70 countries around the world observe daylight savings time.
• In the US, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow daylight savings time.

Remember what the Brady Bunch kids sang in their classic song :                                             “When it’s time to change, you’ve got to rearrange!”

Enjoy!

Roy & Kevin