Stuffed Pepper Casserole

My family is huge on stuffed peppers, and it was always such a treat to have stuffed peppers for dinner.  I never realized why we never had stuffed peppers a lot, but when I started to  cook I realized why... because they are a huge pain to make.  A month ago my mom and I had one of our freezer cooking sessions, and we made stuffed pepper soup.  It was so delicious and tasted just like a stuffed pepper (but without all the hard work.)  I got to thinking... there had to be a recipe out there for stuffed pepper casserole.  I searched Pinterest and sure enough I found a recipe from A Kitchen Addiction.  I adapted the recipe just a little, and I made it last night for dinner, and everyone agreed it was definitely a keeper.  It tasted exactly like a stuffed pepper, but with half the work and half the mess!

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 medium green peppers (chopped)
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• 2 teaspoons of sugar (I like my sauce on the sweeter side, you don't have to add sugar though)
• 2 cups of brown rice (cooked)
• 1 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (I used Francisco Rinaldi Garlic and Basil flavoring)
• 1.5 cups of mozzarella cheese 

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook your ground beef in a large pan until browned, drain your meat
3. Place your ground beef back in pan and add your green peppers, onion powder, and garlic.
4. Cook on medium-low heat until your peppers are tender.

1. In an 8x8 casserole dish, stir together your rice, spaghetti sauce, and 3/4 cup of cheese.
2. Add your beef mixture  to the sauce and stir until everything is well combined.
3. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

1. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
2. Enjoy!

Final Product