Stuffed Pepper Casserole

I haven't made anything for myself in quite some time. Tonight, I was able to make something and not worry about if Dan would eat it or not, which, while I love cooking for him, it's nice to eat a wider variety of veggies :)

One of my all-time favorite foods is stuffed peppers. I've made them traditional style, soup style, and healthier versions with quinoa and veggies. Tonight's version is casserole style. It tastes just like a stuffed pepper, but without the work of digging the filling out of the pepper and having to cut it all up.

This is a great dish for colder weather and it makes a massive amount, so making it for one like I did, is not the best idea. I will be eating this for lunch for a week. At least it's delicious and I'm going to want to eat a lot of it. I was even lucky enough that the dogs entertained themselves outside the whole time I was in the kitchen. Lana has taken an interest in oven mitts and will run at them when I try to take something out of the oven. Trying to battle a puppy away from a hot oven wearing oven mitts is not an easy task, nor one I want to engage in at all. You can make this healthier by using low-sodium products and healthier cheese. The Velveeta Shreds happened to be on sale, so I had some of those. They are by far not the healthiest shredded cheese out there, but they taste just like Velveeta, so they are super delicious. It's not the prettiest dish when served, just looks like stuffed pepper slop, but it's pretty good, so that makes up for the appearance.

Stuffed Pepper Casserole
from Mostly Homemade Mom

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 green peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cans corn, drained
2 and 1/2 (15oz) cans tomato sauce
1 (29oz) can diced tomatoes (I omitted)
1 tsp. garlic powder
sprinkle of kosher salt
sprinkle of black pepper
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Brown the ground beef in a stock pot or deep skillet. Drain and set aside.
3. Add the oil and saute the peppers and onion over medium-high heat 5-10 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.
4.  Add tomatoes, sauce, corn, beef, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the rice. Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish and cover with cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.