Stuffed Peppers

Another one from my hairdresser, but modified to suit my taste. This makes a lot of stuffing, so I fill a couple of ramekins with the stuffing for lunches on another day. I love to use a mixture of red, yellow, orange and green peppers for color and flavor!

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1  lb ground beef
• 1  stalk celery, diced
• 1  onion, diced
• 1  small green pepper, diced
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• 2 (4 ounce) cans mushrooms, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2  cups water
• 1 (3/4ounce) envelope  good seasons garlic & herb  salad dressing mix
• 1  cup  instant rice
• 1  cup  shredded mozzarella cheese
• 6  large bell peppers

Directions

1. In a large lidded skillet, brown the beef, onion, pepper, celery and garlic until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are clear.
2. While the meat mixture is browning, cut off the tops of the large bell peppers, scoop out and discard the seeds and membranes. Rinse inside and out, then turn upside down to drain.
3. Drain the meat mixture and return to pan.
4. Add the mushrooms, dressing mix, larger can of tomato sauce and 1 1/2 cups of the water; stir lightly, then add rice.
5. Mix in well, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. While that simmers, combine the remaining water and small can of tomato sauce, and pour into a casserole dish to coat the bottom.
7. Arrange the peppers on top of the sauce in the dish. Place about 1 T of shredded cheese in the bottom of each pepper.
8. Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers. Spoon additional stuffing around the peppers, if you like.
9. Cover and bake 40 minutes at 400 degrees.
10. Remove foil and top each pepper with cheese.
11. Return to oven for five minutes, then serve.