Recipe: Stuffed Bell Peppers

 I love the recipes that are handed down from generations. I come from a family of women who love to cook and for that I am so thankful. All too often I hear of young ladies who do not know their way around the kitchen. Maybe their mothers just did it all, or many times, their mothers worked full time jobs and didn't have or take time to cook meals, or maybe they just didn't like to cook. I love to cook and while my mom did work, she still took time to make home cooked meals and showed us how to manage in the kitchen. My desire is that my girls, by the time they move out, are VERY self-sufficient in the kitchen. Life is busy and they don't often get in the kitchen right now. Between school, sports, church and friends, there isn't always time, but they do know what they're doing for the most part.

This made me think of a funny conversation a few weeks back. In May I'm going to Florida for a week to visit family. Hubby said "what are we going to do for food while mom is gone?" "I can make smoothies and eggs". Nan said "I can make pancakes." Kaitlynn said "I can drive to nannies". Haha...funny family. They probably will go down to grandmas but I'm sure I'll make a few meals for them because that's just how I roll!

Yesterday I made an old favorite. One my mom used to make often and always one of my favorites. Over the years I've taken many family recipes and tweaked them a bit. Maybe using healthier ingredients or substituting certain ingredients. 

The recipe I made last night was Stuffed Bell Peppers. I really have never been a fan of green peppers, which the original recipe always called for, so I used red peppers and I swap out the beef with turkey and the white rice with brown rice. I also add a few more veggies to the mix. The outcome was a very flavorful dish that we all enjoyed. 

I am apologizing ahead of time that I do not have exact measurements for ingredients. If you need to have a closer idea, you can always google "stuffed peppers" just to get an idea and then continue on with my ingredients and recipe. It's just one of those things. I suppose I could take the time to measure them out. Maybe next time.

Ingredients:

2 Red Peppers, cut in half lengthwise 2 lbs. ground turkey
1/2-3/4 c. cook brown rice
1 garlic clove
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 a zucchini, small diced
1 c. sliced mushrooms
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes 
Italian seasoning
garlic powder
onion powder 
salt
Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

1. In a small skillet, lightly saute garlic and onion till fragrant and slightly tender.

2. In a bowl, combine tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Season with Italian seasoning. I'd say I used about 1/2 a tablespoon. Spread some on the bottom of an oven safe dish.

3. In a separate bowl combine raw turkey, rice, onion/garlic and zucchini. Stuff in to peppers mounding slightly. Place in pan. Top with remaining sauce and mushrooms. I also added some sliced zucchini. You could mix the mushrooms in to the meat but my girls don't like them. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

4. Cook at 375 for 45 minutes or until meat is cooked through. Serve on it's own or over rice. Add more shaved parmesan cheese to top of peppers.

You could also just cut the tops off the pepper and stuff the whole pepper with meat, but I think that's alot of meat for one person so decided to do it lengthwise instead. If you have leftover meat just roll it in to balls and add to the pan. 

With Joy UNquenchable,