Thirty-seven weeks. Full term. Hazel could come any day. The midwife says she's 'engaged,' which in medical terms means the baby's head is in position and in military terms means she's locked and loaded.
I'm enormous. More enormous than I was with Caleb, if that's possible. The belly enters rooms before I do. Caleb likes to rest his head on it and listen for the baby, which is adorable for approximately thirty seconds before he gets bored and asks for a snack.
The Braxton Hicks are back — the rehearsal contractions, the body practicing. I know the difference now between practice and real, which is the advantage of the second pregnancy: you're not panicking at every twinge.
Elena has stepped up the way Jen stepped up at Lejeune — bringing food, checking in, offering to watch Caleb when the time comes. She brought green chile stew on Monday and said, 'Eat this. Spicy food induces labor.' (This is not scientifically proven. But I ate the stew and Hazel kicked hard enough to be visible from across the room, so maybe Elena's onto something.)
The book is in final production. Printing has begun. Somewhere in a warehouse, eight thousand copies of 'Dinner at 1800' are being printed, bound, and stacked. Eight thousand copies with my name on the cover and Mom's recipes inside and Dad's tomatoes in the acknowledgments.
I haven't seen a finished copy yet. Clara says she's sending me the first one this week. The FIRST COPY. The first physical book with my name on it.
I told Mom. She said, 'When it arrives, don't open it without me.'
'Mom, you're in Norfolk.'
'FaceTime. You open it on FaceTime. I want to see your face.'
She wants to see my face when I hold my book for the first time. Donna Abernathy, who doesn't ask for things, is asking for this: the moment. The face.
I'll wait. For her. For the moment. For the book and the baby and whatever comes next.
Made Mom's chicken soup tonight — the medicine soup, the pre-battle soup. The baby is coming. The book is coming. The soup is warm.
Two weeks until Mom arrives. Two-ish weeks until Hazel.
The kitchen is ready. I'm ready. (I'm not ready. Nobody's ever ready. But the freezer is full and the bag is packed and that's as ready as it gets.)
The soup was for the soul — Mom’s recipe, the ritual, the thing I make when I need to feel like someone is taking care of me even when I’m the one at the stove. But the freezer meals are for survival, and these chicken-stuffed peppers have been my workhorse all week. They pack well, reheat beautifully, and feel substantial enough to actually feed a person who just had a baby — or a husband holding down the fort while said baby arrives. I made a double batch on Wednesday, and knowing those containers are stacked in the freezer is genuinely more calming than any breathing exercise the midwife has suggested.
Chicken-Stuffed Peppers
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 large bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange), tops cut off and seeds removed
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 cup cooked white or brown rice
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce, plus extra for spooning over tops
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a baking dish large enough to hold all four peppers upright with cooking spray or a thin layer of olive oil. Arrange the hollowed peppers cut-side up in the dish.
- Cook the filling. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook 3—4 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the ground chicken and cook, breaking it apart, until no pink remains, about 6—8 minutes. Drain any excess liquid.
- Build the mixture. Stir the cooked rice, drained diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper into the skillet with the chicken. Cook 2—3 minutes until everything is combined and heated through. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella.
- Fill the peppers. Spoon the chicken mixture evenly into each pepper, pressing gently to pack it in. Spoon a little extra tomato sauce over the top of each filled pepper, then divide the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella among them.
- Bake. Cover the baking dish loosely with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10—15 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the cheese is melted and beginning to bubble at the edges.
- Rest and serve. Let the peppers rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired. To freeze, cool completely, wrap each pepper individually, and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat covered at 350°F for 20—25 minutes.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 370 | Protein: 30g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 530mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 301 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
