SCORE one for the kids!!!

I awoke last Friday morning to the sound of the cold wind rattling the glass in my bedroom windows. What happened; yesterday was 70 degrees?!! Today posed quite a challenge for me… I had opened my mouth and volunteered to cater the tailgating portion of a charity soccer event that my company was sponsoring with an organization called America SCORES... 60 kids and about 20 adults and it was absolutely freezing outside!!! This organization focuses on empowering students in urban communities by using soccer, writing, creative expression and service-learning… they help to inspire youth to lead healthy lifestyles, be engaged students and become agents of change in their communities. In keeping with the theme “healthy” yet needing the food to be cold, I settled on a Chicken Fajita Bar as the menu. I had already cleaned and cooked 40 lbs. of chicken breast and my partner & I had already purchased all of the food so I HAD to do it now… even if it was only 35 degrees outside!

I can now honestly tell you that neither a hurricane nor a monsoon could ever keep me from doing this again and by the time the event was over I had dozens of new friends and had helped put smiles on the faces of these extraordinary children that live in a place where life challenges them daily. I work with other charities, however, this one allowed me to actually interact with these children. They made some really cute comments to me about the food and were extremely grateful for all of the efforts… they figured we’d bring chips & soda and never dreamed it would be fresh chicken breast with all the fixins’ for make-your-own fajitas. One little girl with “low fat” pudding all over her face came to me and said, “Toni, I’ve just GOT to thank you… I just had a party in my tummy!”  I think I laughed & cried at the same time.

When all was said and done I was relieved to find out that we will have many opportunities to work with these kids in the future. I met my husband for dinner that evening and he even noticed that I was flying high! I feel sorry for people who have so much and don’t give anything back… they’ll never experience the sheer joy of actually making a difference.

I returned home with about 30 red & green peppers, a bag of onions that Danielle just could not get through after slicing the first bag, salsa, sour cream and a big bag of shredded cheddar cheese. First I thought, “Bonus!” But then I started to feel guilty; this food did not belong to me, it was purchased by funds provided by my company. What to do, what to do??? Finally, it came to me… I just added a couple of extra ingredients and came up with a new recipe; Spicy Stuffed Sombreros!  I brought them into work and fed some of my coworkers and co-volunteers. Feedback was great and I could finally feel good about having the leftover ingredients and a new recipe for the book! This is one of those things that you kind of just throw together; no measuring! With all of these tasty ingredients there is no way they could come out bad!!! So… in honor of those special kids from “Eastie”… give this recipe a try, close your eyes and feel the joy of knowing that YOU can make a difference!

Spicy Stuffed Sombreros

Red and/or Green Bell Peppers

Brown Rice (cooked & cooled)

Canned Black Beans

Italian Hot Sausage (removed from casings, cooked and crumbled)

Ground Beef (browned & drained)

Bread Crumbs

Shredded Cheddar Cheese (don’t be stingy)

Salsa

Sour Cream

Slice off top of peppers and remove core.

Combine the next 6 ingredients in a bowl and generously stuff it into the peppers. Carefully place in a baking dish and top each pepper with more cheddar cheese.

Cover with foil and bake in a 375° oven for 1 hour. Turn oven off, uncover peppers and leave in oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with lots of salsa and sour cream! Soooooooo yummy!

A couple of shots from the day: