Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

Low carb is the theme in this house lately.  I found a great blog that has a bunch of low carb recipes and I'm loving it.  Great ideas!  It's hard for me to eat the same things over and over so variety is exactly what I need. I'm not doing the low carb thing as hard as my husband is but I'm trying to be better about my carb intake.  

The fact that I don't consider cake and brownies a carb might be a problem. Just kidding, sort of. 

Anyway, I can't do ALL carb free in this house since my little girl will pretty much ONLY eat pasta of some kind.  We're working on her too. 

Saute some mushrooms and onions.

Cut the tops of the bell peppers and take out the seeds and membranes.  Chop the steak into bite sized pieces.

When the mushrooms and onions have caramelized add the meat and cook until warmed through.

Line the bell peppers with a piece of provolone cheese.

Fill each pepper with the meat mixture.

Top each pepper with another piece of provolone cheese.

Bake until the cheese is nicely melted and golden brown.

My husband and I really enjoyed these stuffed peppers.  Next time I might add some cheese to the meat mixture as well so it's gooier.  I'm all about gooey.  I'll be adding these peppers to my dinner rotation.

Wait, I don't have a dinner rotation.

Whatever.

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Recipe modified only in serving size peaceloveandlowcarb

2 orange bell peppers
1/2 small onion
1 medium to small clove of garlic, minced
4 porcine mushrooms, sliced (you could use button mushrooms too).
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil.

Begin by melting the butter and olive oil together in a large frying pan.  Add the onion and mushrooms and cook on low until caramelized.

Add the chopped meat and cook until warm.  While that is warming, cut the bell peppers.  I cut the tops off mine but the original recipe says to cut in half length wise.  I'm sure it doesn't matter how you cut it. Remove the seeds and membranes.

Put a slice of Provolone cheese in each pepper.  Fill the pepper with the meat mixture and then top the peppers with another slice of provolone.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

This isn't really a recipe, as much as it's a dinner suggestion.  It's quick and easy and has ton's of flavor.  Use whatever kind of sausage you like and there are a lot of low fat variations on the market now too.  This is one of my hubby's favorite meals.

What you'll need:

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Pkg sausage of your choice.  I used Sweet Sausage above. 
1 Bell Pepper - cut into pieces that are on the larger size.
1 Onion - cut into pieces about the same size as the bell pepper.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Par boil the sausage in a pan where the water comes about half way up the sausage for about 10 minutes on each side.  The sausage will start to look sort of gray in color.
Cut the par boiled sausage into bite sized pieces.  Now put some Olive Oil in a large skillet or dutch oven and add all the sausage and veggies at once.  Cook over medium heat for about 20-30 minutes or until the sausage is nicely browned and the veggies are slightly tender.  You still want the veggies to have bite to them.
Salt and pepper to taste.  My husband and I eat this alone but it would be yummy served with some mashed potatoes.  Just sayin.

Stuffed Peppers

Looking for something new for dinner tonight?  Try these, they're really easy and quick and best of all you can use some of that produce you might have in your garden!  It's a win win.

I don't happen to have three different colors of peppers growing in my back yard, but I wish I did. 

Wash them, and cut their little tops off, rip out the seeds and tear out the membranes that are inside. Geez, it sounds like I'm writing a horror film or something. Put them in a large pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes.

 
Remove them from their hot tub and salt and pepper the insides and set aside for a little while.
 

 
Cook the hamburger and onions until the hamburger is no longer pink and the onions are translucent.
 

 
If you're using canned tomatoes, you'll just want to get the whole peeled version and then dice them up.  Keep the juice also please.
If you're using fresh, you'll need to par boil them, stick them in an ice bath, peel off the skins and then dice them.
 

 
Add the tomatoes, rice, water, Worcestershire sauce, and soup.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.
 

 

 
Now add the cheese and mix well. You'll want to place your peppers in a small oven proof dish.  Now you can begin pouring the mixture carefully into each pepper.  Fill them all the way to the top. Cover with tin foil and bake.
 

 
I added more cheese to the top when they came out of the oven.....what, I can do it if I want to!
 
This recipe leaves lots of room for you to add your own special touches.  Make them spicy by adding jalapenos, add some chili seasonings to the meat and make them more like chili stuffed peppers, add more veggies, the possibilities are endless.
 
I got this original recipes from here, but changed it slightly: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Green-Peppers-I/Detail.aspx
 
6 sweet peppers (you pick the colors)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 of a medium onion - chopped
1 - 14.5 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes or about 4-5 fresh tomatoes.
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup uncooked rice (I used brown rice)
1/2 cup water
1 cup cheddar cheese
2 - 10.75 cans of condensed tomato soup
salt and pepper to taste
 
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the tops off each pepper and remove the seeds and membranes inside. Boil for about 5 minutes.  Remove and season with salt and pepper then set aside.
Brown the hamburger and onion until the burger is no longer pink, drain off any excess juice from the pan.
Add the tomato's, Worcestershire sauce, rice, water and soup and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese and mix well.  Fill the peppers to the top and bake; covered for about 30 - 35 minutes.