I'm sitting here eating cheese toast and drinking orange juice (it's 3AM, I know this, shush) because my blood sugar is low and my arms are all shaky (a bad sign generally speaking). I tried making real food. I really did. Unfortunately, my can opener has gone missing. I have looked through every kitchen-related box that isn't unpacked yet, and the one drawer that exists in my kitchen as well as every other likely (and not-so-likely) nook and cranny and it's not here. The oddest thing is that I'm sure that I had it here at some point because I distinctly remember using it to open a can of peaches not too long ago. I'm thinking that I either took it to work with me to open soup with (I doubt that since there's one in the kitchen at work), in which case it's in my car, or the can opener gnomes have run off with it. I didn't know there *were* can opener gnomes, but apparently there are, and apparently they are closely related to the shoe gnomes, who have also attacked recently. They were kind enough to return the shoe that had gone missing, however. In fact, they placed it right next to it's mate. I'm certain it wasn't there earlier since I remember spending a good deal of time the other day looking for it and couldn't find it. I may have trouble believing in a lot of things that normal people find easy to believe in, but I am officially a shoe-gnome convert. Which has opened the door to be also believing in the can-opener gnomes too.

So what was I making food-wise when I discovered my can opener was missing and why did this prevent me from making said meal? I was making a vegetarian (and quite delicious) filling for stuffed peppers. I am pepper-less at the moment, but since my favorite part is the filling, I figured this was okay. I figured if I really decided I needed a wrapping, the cabbage in my fridge would do nicely. But probably I wouldn't want a wrapping since it's me and Izzie here and I have a tendency to do like many women living alone with a cat and eat either over the sink or over the keyboard.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked rice (more or less depending)
• 1-2 crumbled garden patties (I prefer these, but those recipe crumples they make these days are also very yummy if you want something more closely resembling meat)
• 1 can corn (fresh corn is fine, of course, but who has time?)
  
• 1 can tomatoes (ditto above comment)
  
• 1 can black beans (I like them. It's perfectly fine to leave them out or use a different kind of bean. And if you're so inclined, making from dry is fine too. If you use canned, rinse them first. I can't stress that enough: RINSE THEM FIRST.)
• garlic
• some spice that starts with "C" whose name I can't remember... (when I find it again I'll let you know. It goes very well with beef. Come to think of it, curry powder might be a good substitute.)
• salt and pepper to taste (especially the pepper part...mmm...)
• minced onion if you have it, otherwise a bit of the powder is fine

Directions/Notes:

If you used onion and garlic, make sure they're finely chopped, saute in the pan perhaps with a bit of olive oil and the spices if you like. They're done when the onions are kind of soft and sort of translucent (they don't go all the way clear, of course). Mix it all together in the same pan (it should be big by the way, and you should read recipes all the way through before attempting) and heat, add some cheddar cheese to the top when serving and allow to get all melty on top. It's very yummy. It doesn't take much to be filling, it's quite satisfying for someone like me who craves spicy foods (spicy as in spices, not necessarily as in "bring me a pail of water please"), tomatoes, garlic... you get the idea. I like strongly flavored foods. It's also good for those who like milder foods since the spices, onion, and garlic can be easily omitted to preference.

It's very good inside a bell pepper whether you eat the pepper or not (I do usually). The flavor is richly enhanced by the presence of the bell pepper. If bell pepper isn't your thing, placing it inside a slightly-hollowed out zucchini or wrapping spoonfuls of it inside cabbage leaves is just as tasty. I'm a big fan of cabbage leaves personally because they make this a very mobile meal if not allowed to get too soggy. And since this is just as good cold as warm, it turns it into a great summer meal.