Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I have always thought of stuffed peppers as a fall dish. My mother used to cook them for my father every fall, especially during October when he would go pheasant hunting. He used to go for a day trip to hunt and come home to the smell of stuffed peppers. I started off making stuffed peppers the way my mother taught me and now I alter the recipe depending on how I want to change it up that day. For example, my mother always put her peppers over boiled potatoes. This time I put them over mashed potatoes. She used rice, salt and pepper, and I jazzed them up this time by dicing the top of the bell pepper and adding it to the meat mixture along with diced tomatoes and other spices.

As you may know by now, I created this blogsite for my daughter Christianna. She moved out on her own recently for the first time and she wanted me to make her a cookbook. I didn't have the book done at the time so decided the next best thing, maybe even better, is to have an online cookbook where she can go to view recipes, ideas, and nutritional information.

Farmers Market

Oh and I have to tell you that I got these peppers at the local farmer's market for 6 peppers for $2.00! A great bargain! Here is a photo of the items I got at farmers market today! I always cook what is on sale that week. I hope my children pick up that habit. The money you save is amazing! Plus it forces you to think outside the box!

 Recipe

8-Bell Peppers (Any color, Green, red, yellow, or orange. Or all of them! I love to make these using many colors.) I prefer to use what's on sale. I used 8 peppers.Also, Dice the tops of the bell peppers and put into meat mixture.

Ground round (For 8 peppers I used 3lbs of meat)

3-cups Rice (White or brown. I know Christianna will choose the healthier choice, brown rice, but I used white since I had bought a large 5lb bag of it on sale and had white rice in the cupboard. Cook the rice as directed. I like to put in 1 to 1 1/2 cup of cooked rice per pound of meat. I like a little more, but that is a good guide.)

1 -large Onion 

4-Green onions (4 green onions only because I had them left over in the fridge.)

4-Tomatoes (I diced 4 Roma tomatoes that needed to be used before they went bad. So instead of letting them go bad in the next day or two I diced them up and added them to the meat mixture.)

3-Cloves of garlic

1-Can Tomato paste

1-Jar of marinara sauce (Or 1 can of crushed tomatoes. I used marina today because that is what I had.).

Thyme

Oregano

Basil

Parsley

Salt/Pepper

Garlic powder

Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Wash peppers. Cut tops off of peppers. Put ground round into bowl. Dice tomatoes, onions, tops of the bell peppers and put into bowl. Mince garlic and add to mixture. Add cooked rice, herbs, spices, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix together. Stuff the pepper with the meat mixture. Pour the jar of marina sauce over the bell peppers. Since this there are 8 peppers you will need a bit more sauce, so you will need one small can of tomato paste and two cans of water, mix together and pour over peppers. Put lid on roasting pan and cook at 375 degrees for about 90 minutes.