My Sis is Hungry: Mexican Stuffed Peppers

It's been 2 weeks since I made dinner for my sis to review and she's making it sound like it's been months 🙄 such a drama queen LOL. This week I made her these stuffed peppers (I also gave her some of yesterday's North Carolina Tarheel Cookies which she deemed "money" but wished there were no raisins in them, after she finds out they're rum soaked she might change her tune hahahah) - here's what she has to say about the peppers:

Hello!! I’m still here!! My sister tried to kill me by starving me to death but I refused!

Today’s meal could have really been anything and gotten a good review because we were so hungry! (haha . just kidding). Ok so lets get to it. 

Stuffed peppers of some sort.  She called them “Mexican” something or other, probably just to get my husband to accept he was eating vegetables.

First her instructions to bake said “until heated thru and cheese is bubbly, at least 30 minutes”.  How would I know if heated through unless I bit into one?  The cheese was melted so I took them out and served them.  Yep, you guessed it, cold inside. So don’t listen to her 'at least 30 minutes'.  Lets say at least 45 minutes.

These look fantastic.  So pretty.  Plain green peppers wouldn’t have been as pretty at all so loved the peppers. I loved this meal.  Really loved it.  Have to be honest I have never had stuffed peppers before so can’t compare it to others.  But this one I liked. I am also a fan of the burrito bowl so this reminded me of that.  I hope they were healthy- which would make my rating of this go even higher.  If it wasn’t healthy I don’t see a reason it couldn’t be.  Whatever sauce was in the filling wasn’t strong or overpowering so I’m assuming its healthy (haven’t actually read the recipe yet.)

Now lets discuss the husband.  He doesn’t like rice, black beans or peppers so his review of “Not Bad” was actually a compliment. And he did eat it all so “Not Bad” must have been kinda ok.

All in all, I didn’t get a rating from him (forgot to do that) but I give it a 7.  If I hear its healthy I will go up to an 8.  I plan to actually make this one- I love the idea of putting all my burrito bowl ingredients into a pepper and baking. Hmmmm maybe I’ll swap her rice for cauliflower rice?  Yum.  Now I gotta look it up- unless I can get her to make it for me again. 😊

Mexican Stuffed Peppers ~

• 6 large bell peppers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 (sweet or hot) Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 (15 oz) can no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, don't drain
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Mexican spice blend
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (8 oz) package shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided

Preheat oven to 350'. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

While waiting for the water to boil, cut off tops of peppers. Scoop out seeds and discard. Cook peppers in boiling water until slightly softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and sausage, stirring and breaking up the meat into small crumbles, until the onions are softened and the sausage is cooked thru. 

Stir together sausage, onion, rice, beans, and tomatoes in a large bowl. Stir in spices, then fold in

1 1/2 cups cheese. Divide rice mixture evenly among the peppers, stand them in a baking dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 30 minutes.

*Jill here - my sis didn't tell me that her husband doesn't like rice, black beans, or peppers! Good grief, the poor guy hahahaha. This is healthy up until the Italian sausage, if you omit the meat and use low-fat cheese they are definitely good for you and I think they'll still taste great without the sausage. LeDonna and I split one of these for lunch, we didn't bake them but microwaved for a couple minutes and they were plenty hot and we both loved them - she said she likes them maybe even more than regular stuffed peppers. I will absolutely be making this filling again - Dave doesn't like peppers so I will stuff large hollowed out tomatoes or zucchini next time. Oh, and I think cauliflower rice would definitely work Sissy!

7.18.18: Cathy's strawberry pie (so good!!)
7.18.17: tip to keep off the shoulder tops off the shoulder!
7.18.16: Jen's tip for washing baseball hats