I have an insomnia problem.  

I've had it at least since the age of eleven.  

To be as specific as possible, I wouldn't classify it as insomnia.  Insomnia is the inability to either fall asleep or to stay asleep.  My problem is just that I won't fall asleep at a "normal" time.  (And therefore one reason I think I'd make an awesome vampire.  The other reason is my amazingly pale skin.)  That being said, it creates problems when I have to wake up before noon and be a productive member of society.  I'm so grateful to have la beast, who generously brought me back a diet coke from her lunch break today.  That extra burst of caffeine was just what I needed to stay awake and resume my doodling... today consisting of pictures of a bed with lots o' pillows and the sentence "I want to sleep." in as many fonts as I could create (four - the sleepiness stunted my creativity).  Hopefully I'll be able to kick this horrible sleep cycle soon.  Otherwise I might have to open a new credit account to support my caffeine habit.  

Completely unrelated, several people have asked me for the recipe to the stuffed bell peppers I made recently.  Here it is, from the book "The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook" by Tosca Reno. 

(Stuffed Peppers - pg. 220)

Ingredients: 

- water

- sea salt

- 4 large red bell peppers (any color actually, make sure the peppers can sit upright nicely. Remove top, ribs, and seeds.)

- 2 cups cooked brown rice (I accidentally used 2 cups of uncooked rice, and had loooooads too much.)

- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped

- 1 large carrot, peeled and grated

- 1 cup butternut squash, peeled and diced

- 3 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press

- 2 cups fresh Roma tomatoes, diced and set over a fine-mesh sieve to drain

- 1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

- 1 cup fresh corn kernels

- 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

- juice of one fresh lime

- freshly ground black pepper

- cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350. Placed cooked brown rice in a bowl and let cool. Set aside. 

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Place the peppers in the boiling water and cook briefly. The peppers need to be just a little soft. Remove the peppers from the water and put them on a plate lined with paper towels, upside down so the water can drain out. 

3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute onion, carrot, and butternut squash. Cook for 10 minutes, covered. Add garlic and cook a few minutes more. Now add tomatoes, beans and corn. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. 

4. Add vegetable mixture to cooled, cooked brown rice. Season with cilantro, lime juice, sea salt, and black pepper. Mix with clean, bare hands until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Set aside. 

5. Prepare a small baking pan with a light coating of cooking spray. Place each of the peppers right side up in the pan. Stuff each pepper with brown rice filling. Don't pack the rice mixture too tightly. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately. 

Note: I was cooking for myself only, so I put the leftovers in the fridge to heat up the next day. It was okay, but definitely not as good as straight-from-the-oven. 

Enjoy!