Stuffed Bells

This recipe was adapted from Suzanne Somers' Cookbook, "Fast & Easy".  A while back, my mom followed her "Somersize" program and lost a lot of weight.  The basis for her program is that you separate your carbs from your proteins, and your body processes the food more efficiently.  I love many of her recipes because they are healthy and easy.  This one provides a lot of options--on cooking method, meat, ingredients, and cheese.  I just use whatever I have on hand.  And it's always delicious!

Stuffed Bells


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground turkey, chicken or beef
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Pinch (I use more!) of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1-8oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 6 oz. mushrooms, sliced (or 1 can)
• 1- 4oz. can, diced green chilis
• 1 pkg. Onion Soup Mix or 1 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning---optional
• 4 bell peppers (red, orange or yellow are best but green work too.), tops sliced off, membranes and seeds removed
• 1 cup shredded jack, mozzarella or cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Optional:  Saute onions and mushrooms in olive oil until caramelized 
• In a medium bowl combine ground meat, and all other ingredients above, except cheese
• Stuff bell peppers with meat mixture
• Cook in slow cooker for 7 hours on low or 3 1/2 hours on high; Or bake in a glass dish for 1 hour at 350
• Thirty minutes before serving, sprinkle each one with cheese
• They come out juicy so are best served in a bowl :)