Stuffed Peppers

**This is a twist to this recipe**

Ingredients

• 1 - 1.3 pound ground turkey (I use a full standard pack of lean ground turkey)
• 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix (I like to use HOT taco seasoning because we like a punch of flavor)
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/3 cup chopped squash or zucchini
• 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped onions
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce, divided
• I make my own sauce and it goes something like this...
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves
• 10+ basil leaves
• 2 large or 3 medium tomatoes
• salt & pepper to taste
• Blend together
• 3 large red bell peppers
• 6 Tbsp of cheese (colby/pepper jack, mozz, anything you like/have on hand)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

2.Place the ground beef into a skillet over medium heat, and brown the meat, breaking it apart into crumbles as it cooks, about 8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Stir in the taco seasoning, water, chili powder, veggies, salt, garlic salt, black pepper, and 1 cup of tomato sauce; mix until thoroughly combined. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes.

3.Meanwhile, cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise, and remove stems, membranes, cores, and seeds. Place a steamer insert into a large saucepan, and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Place the peppers into the steamer insert, cover the pan, and steam until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. (This can also be done in a microwave for 3-5 minutes.  You want your peppers to still be firmish, but moist looking.

4.Place the steamed peppers into the prepared baking dish, and fill lightly with the meat filling. Press 1 tsp of cheese into the center of the filling in each pepper, and spoon the remaining can of tomato sauce over the peppers. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

5.Bake in the preheated oven until the peppers are tender and the filling is hot, 25 to 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Much love.