Un-Stuffed Pepper Skillet

The weekend is nearly upon us, I'm looking forward to the long awaited return of Alayna from a great week of camping and cousins, but it has been a bit quiet around here and not nearly enough girl power around to balance out these two, no, three, no wait, four boys (including our dog, Cody).

Before she returns, I just wanted to share with you a family-friendlier rendition of an old favorite.

I love me some some Stuffed Peppers…love the roasted peppers housing the perfect combination of seasoned rice, meat, tomato and cheese…but for some reason, my kids seem to balk at the whole pepper-thing.

So, I've found if I take the exact same ingredients and prepare them slightly differently, everything is devoured, no balking to deal with and it's faster!

We all win!  

Just start with browning about 2# of ground beef seasoned with salt and pepper.

Once browned, set aside.  

To the same pan, 1 onion and 3 peppers, all chopped up, were added to start the cooking process.  

As far as the sauce, I used one can of diced tomatoes, accompanied by some leftover pizza sauce and salsa in place of a second can of tomato.  

Using up some open jars always makes me happy.  

It ensures the leftovers don't go to waste and clears up some space in the fridge.

Two birds, one stone…my favorite! 

After the tomatoes were added, in came the rice, which started as 2 cups of uncooked minute rice.  

Add back the ground beef. 

Stir it all together and allow to simmer a bit for the extra liquids to cook off and the flavors to get better acquainted.  

Top with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

As well as a layer of shredded cheddar, for good measure.  

Serve it up for all to enjoy!  

RECIPE:

Ingredients: 

2# of ground beef - seasoned

1 onion  - chopped

3 green peppers - chopped

2 cans of diced tomatoes (or any combination of leftover sauces in your fridge)

2 cups of uncooked minute rice - cooked

Parmesan cheese

Shredded cheddar

Directions:

Start by browning the ground beef and cooking the minute rice, then set aside. 

Add the chopped onions and peppers to the pan that the beef was cooked in to begin cooking. 

Next, add the tomato sauce. 

Add the rice to the skillet. 

Then the ground beef, allow to simmer to cook off some of the extra liquids. 

When nearly finished, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and then add a layer of shredded cheddar as the finishing touch.