Stuffed Bell Peppers

I decided to make stuffed peppers for dinner, even though I knew it probably meant a battle with my 7 year old.  He eats a great variety of food, but he really doesn't like the texture of many cooked vegetables.  He will eat raw onions and bell peppers, spinach even, but cook any of those and he turns up his nose.  Still, I keep trying, because most people don't care for raw stuffed bell peppers and cooked veggies are delicious!  I did several colors to try and catch his interest.  I knew he wouldn't like the green ones.  I cut off the tops and removed the membranes, then set them to cook until tender in boiling water.  I love the steamy look. 

This isn't the greatest picture, but this shows the finished filling.  I start my rice first, because I don't do instant rice anymore. The rice cooker takes a while, so it is first on the list.  Then I browned lean ground beef in the skillet.  I mixed in a large can of plain tomato sauce, some oregano and salt to taste, and several large shakes of Wahoo chili seasoning from tastefully simple.  Then I got out a jar of pasta sauce, I used a garlic tomato sauce, and mixed about a third in with the rice and meat. 

I took the cooked peppers out with tongs, and placed them in the baking dish, on top of another third of  the jar of sauce.  I used a spoon to fill each of the peppers with the stuffing.  I sprinkle each pepper with shredded mozzarella cheese and top with the last of the sauce.  The peppers go into the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.  Cool and serve!

This makes fantastic leftovers if you don't eat them all the first night.  As predicted, my son did not care for the pepper taste.  He did like the filling, and ate most of it.  I convinced him to eat some of the pepper because he wouldn't get his dessert if he didn't.  ;)

Digging through my cheese drawer for the appropriate cheese, I just thought it would be fun to share.  I never had a fridge with a cheese drawer before, and you can see that we do like cheese.  I have not had any problem filling this part of my fridge.