Stuffed Peppers

Happy Spring!!!

I have quite a few recipes to blog about but I stupidly erased the pictures that I had taken with a real camera (since I usually use my cell phone) thinking that I had already uploaded them onto my laptop.

I decided to share my recipe for Stuffed Peppers anyway. My oldest, Alexandra, turned 12 on the 10th and she requested stuffed peppers for dinner. I thought it was an odd choice since she gets to choose whatever she wants for dinner. I remember the first time I made them. I wasn't sure if she would eat it so I decided to let her help me make them and maybe that would encourage her to give it a try. It worked.

I originally found this recipe on allrecipes.com but I had saved it on a document on my computer and no longer have the link to the original recipe. Below is the original recipe along with the changes that I made.

STUFFED PEPPERS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 1 cup water
• 6 green bell peppers
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

I added the following ingredients:

• minced garlic (2 -3 cloves)
• diced onion (1/2 cup)
• diced bell pepper (I used the tops of 2)
• shredded cheese (I used mozzarella but you can use whatever you like)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, saute the onions, garlic and peppers for a few minutes and then add the beef and cook until until evenly browned.
4. Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)
5. In a bowl, mix the browned beef, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
6. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper.
7. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.
8. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

* *I boiled my peppers for about 4 minutes to cut down on the baking time. I topped the peppers with lots of shredded mozzarella cheese. Because I boiled the peppers first, I only had to bake my stuffed peppers for 30 - 35 minutes.