Stuffed Peppers, the perfect summer meal

Hello:
Welcome to your Monday. Can I believe, or do I want to believe it's the last Monday in July? No.  Alas, time marches on.

At our house, we eat so much lighter in the summer. It's not a conscious decision that we make. It comes down to the fact that when its hot and humid out, we want lighter, fresher fare.

For awhile, we were buying pre-stuffed peppers to cook at home from our local Market Basket. I finally looked at the prices and realized we were paying more for them per pound than what the filet mignon costs. That's just nuts. I decided to start making them at home from scratch. They are much less expensive this way, and more flavorful. 
Plus, I can tweak them to fit our diets.
For example, I use Trader Joe's cauliflower rice to keep these from becoming a carb bomb.
While you can use any type of rice you like, if you are interested in getting more veggies in your diet, use the cauliflower rice.
Once all of the other ingredients and flavors come together, you really cannot tell that its cauliflower rice and not the regular stuff. This truly is the only recipe I know of, where I can really say that.

A few notes:
 * This recipe calls for you to cook the peepers for 1 hour. that is to get the pepper its self soft. If you prefer them to be more crisp, pull them out after 45 minutes.
* I use Raos Marinara, again to keep the carbs down. It's expensive though. If you are not eating low carb, save your money and use something less costly.

Okay, let's get cooking!

Ingredients

 4 Large bell peppersSAVE $

1 lb Lean (at least 80%) ground angus beef SAVE $

1/2 C chopped onion SAVE $

2 Cup cooked rice

1 Teaspoon salt

1 Clove garlic, finely chopped

32 Ounces of Marina Sauce

2 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Steps

Heat oven to 350°F.

Cut thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper to remove top of pepper. Remove seeds and membranes; rinse peppers. If necessary, cut thin slice from bottom of each pepper so they stand up straight.

In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Return to heat and stir in onion.

After onion has browned, fold in sauce/ rice (precooked)  and reduce heat. After 5 minutes, remove from heat and put in a large mixing bowl. Add in 1.5 C of cheese, salt & pepper to take and stir well.

Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand peppers upright in un-greased 8-inch square glass baking dish. Pour remaining cheese over peppers.

Cover tightly with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender and cheese is golden and bubbly.

There you have it, enjoy!

XO,

SheShe