Southwestern Stuffed Peppers: Using the Right Tools & Ingredients

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Disclosure: I received free items and/or compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

Creativity runs in my family, as I am sure it does to some degree in all families. My grandmother and my aunt are artists. When I was small, my grandmother took me into the recesses of her storage closet and pulled out some old paintings and drawings. I remember that they were beautiful! Most were bright watercolors and scenes of foreign cities. Grandma told me that they had been done by her great uncle who was a famous artist in his time. They made such an impression on me because I wanted to grow up and make similar beautiful pictures.

Southwestern Stuffed Pepper Recipe. Using the right tools and ingredients to make a materpiece in the kitchen!

I did grow up, but I do not paint. I wish that I could, but funny-looking stick people and block houses is about all I can manage. My mother makes jewelry and another aunt is a writer. I too am a writer, but I feel that my real creativity is released when I cook. When I cook, I am transported to another place. Time stops and the muse is unrestrained. Like with painting, I have a palate of colors and textures – mine just happen to smell and taste good! I combine my ingredients in specific ways, using methods and techniques learned over time, and cook those ingredients into sensations that others sometimes describe using words as majestically as a critic enthralled over a beautiful portrait or masterpiece. I do like the compliments.

Today I am making my Southwest Stuffed peppers, using one of my favorite secret ingredients, Better Than Bouillon vegetable base seasoning. Better Than Bouillon is award-winning for its full-bodied flavor and ability to boldly enhance almost any dish it is added into. I love to use it! Just 1 teaspoon makes all the difference. Cooking savory dishes without this ingredient would be like running a race without shoes.

Cooking and painting share another trait in common besides a palate and myriad of textures and colors. Kitchen artists and paint artists, like any respectful crafts person, must have proper tools. My husband once told me that he would not paint a wall if he did not have very good paint brushes. I asked him why he insisted on such high quality brushes and he told me that no job could be well done without the proper tools. I had never done wall painting at the time and have since learned the wisdom of his comment to me.

For me, I must have the proper tools to cook with. Not only do I need good utensils, and beautiful serving plates and platters, I need excellent cookware. I will only use award-winning Swiss Diamond Cookware. It is created at the Swiss Diamond laboratory in Sierre, Switzerland, where engineers have developed a method of combining real diamond crystals with a high quality non-stick composite for superior cookware performance. All steps in its manufacture process is green which makes me happy and non-guilty. The pans last twice as long as their nearest high-end competitors. It is durable, light-weight, non-stick, and come in sizes so that almost all favorite recipes can be prepared in them. I love my kitchen tools. For now, I must be excused while I go ‘paint-up’ a masterpiece for family dinner.