Heathy Simple Italian Stuffed Peppers

There is nothing better than being able to serve your family a dinner that they all love, but what makes it even better is that this recipe is simple, quick and delicious. If you don't have a lot of time to cook dinner you can cook the peppers in the oven the night before & stuff them. When you are ready to eat them the next night just heat the oven up to 400 degrees and cook them for the 15 minutes. A healthy dinner that everyone loves cooked in 15 minutes? Yes, please. One tip I want to share when shopping for the peppers, you will want to grab the peppers that have four bumps on the bottom, these are more flavorful. This tip applies to all colored peppers.

So first you need to know is what ingredients to buy before you get this dinner started:

(makes 5 servings)

* 5 green peppers

* Organic Valley Shredded Mozzarella cheese (6 ounce bag)

* 1/4 cup of fresh parmesan cheese

* 1 pound of lean organic (grass fed) ground beef

* 4 Garlic Cloves

* 1 jar Trader Joe's low sodium tomato sauce

* coconut cooking oil flavored with garlic

Before I tell you what to do with these ingredients I have another tip to share with you. I use a large muffin tin to place my peppers in. It makes it so much easier to keep them upright & to stuff. You do not have to worry about them spilling over ever again. If only I knew about this trick when I was first married, it would have me from serving lopsided stuffed peppers that looked more like mushed vegetables with meat sauce.

Now it's time to prepare your dinner. First thing you want to do is turn the oven on to 400 degrees. After you wash the peppers, slice off the tops and remove the guts from the inside of the peppers. Place each one rightsize up and then into the heated oven for 20 minutes. While those are cooking its time to get everything else ready. Take the 4 garlic cloves and chopped them up finely. Drizzle a skillet with the garlic flavored coconut oil, add the garlic to sauté for two minutes and then add the ground beef cooking until its brown and completely cooked through on medium heat. While that is cooking you can warm up the tomato sauce on medium-low on the stove. After the ground beef is cooked add to a large glass bowl, then add the sauce, followed by the the 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Mix them all together. When the peppers are done, take the pan out of the oven and then fill each pepper to the rim. Use a teaspoon of mozzarella cheese three times to cover the top of each pepper. Place the peppers back into the oven and then cook for an additional 12-15 minutes. You want the cheese to be completely melted prior to pulling them out, which should take place within ten minutes.

Now your peppers are fully cooked. I use a pair of tongs to carefully pull each pepper out of the tin and place into a bowl. As a side we served a side salad of mixed greens. If you have a smaller family or cooking for two or even one, these actually taste great after they have been frozen and you are in luck because now you have a stash of healthy good meals in your freezer.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do and I hope I saved you some time in the kitchen!

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