River Run Park Post Flood Report

I just finished a short You Tube piece (River Run Park Post Flood) on a local park that had been flooded for most of last year. It’s called River Run, I think and is run by the Core of Engineers here in southwest Missouri. The heavy rains we had last spring and summer contributed to the rise in what is a flood basin, so I shouldn’t be too surprised. I have lived in the Forsyth area since 1992 and have seen numerous times when the Bull Shoals River has risen out of its banks. This was the first time, however, that the flooding was so persistent. In years past the water generally receded after a month or so. That was not the case this time and I fear that the damage will be much more pronounced. For one thing, many of the trees that line the water way now have big red X’s on them. To me that means they must be removed. If true, there will not be many trees left come summertime when campers will be looking for some shade from the heat. As if that was not bad enough, the ground has an even quarter to half inch of much that was deposited evenly over every surface. This stuff has dried into a hard adobe like substance that looks to be impervious to growing blades of grass. River Run has always been a great place to camp and it is my hope it will be again.

Low Sodium Stuffed Bell Peppers

While waiting for spring gardening activities to begin, I came up with this recipe. I needed something that would be relatively low in calories, low in cholesterol and low in sodium. Instead of salt, I used so-called fake salt (potassium chloride) for the seasoning. I then only eat one half of each pepper at meal time. The result was much better than I expected.

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers, seeded & tops removed
1/3 lb ground beef, browned & drained
3 tbsp onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1/3 cup rice
1 slice of American cheese

Directions:

Make up the rice according to package directions. Blanch peppers in hot boiling water for about 5 minutes. Combine the hamburger and onion, brown in a pan over medium heat and drain off any excess fat. Add the rice and garlic. Mix a little then add about half the can of tomato sauce and mix well. Add this mixture to the bell peppers. Overfill the cavity slightly. Place these in the crock pot that has been set to low. Add the rest of the tomato sauce.

Cover and cook on low for about 3 hours. Cut the American cheese into four strips and make X’s over each bell pepper. Re-cover and cook for another 15 minutes or nuke briefly in the microwave.