Hey hey friends! I'm honestly so excited about this. So, I mentioned in my first post that I wanted to use this blog to document my life, and part of that is trying new things! I was feeling a lot better last night, so I decided to cook something different. I have always enjoyed cooking, but I get stuck in the same routine with the same recipes. So much so that grocery shopping and planning has become a chore. So, I want to be better about planning ahead and getting excited about new, healthy recipes. I got this particular recipe from popculture.com and modified it a bit. I used turkey instead of ground beef, Italian seasoning instead of the individual seasonings, a frozen mix of onion and peppers (mainly because I had it in the fridge and forgot to get fresh onions and peppers), and low-sodium sauce instead of the light sauce. It was absolutely delicious! I love casseroles because they are quick, easy, and typically last us a few days. This will definitely become a staple in my home. Super simple, delicious, and pretty affordable!
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 bag frozen pepper & onion blend (or 1 onion, 2 red peppers, & 2 green peppers all diced)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 (8.8-ounce) pouches Uncle Ben's Ready Rice brown rice
1 (23.25-ounce) jar lower sodium traditional pasta sauce
2-3 tablespoons Italian seasoning (honestly just put however much you like)
1 cup finely shredded Italian Style Cheese (we are a cheese lovin' house so I put 1 1/2 cups)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Spray a 13x9-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. (Idk what size my casserole dish is but everything fit nicely. The original recipe gave dimensions for the casserole dish)
Cook ground turkey, garlic, onions, and peppers in a large skillet set on medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes. Drain any excess fat and return to skillet and set to low heat.
Microwave rice using the directions on the packages.
Mix in rice, seasoning, and pasta sauce to the meat and vegetables in the skillet. Transfer everything into the baking dish.
Sprinkle the Italian cheese on top of the casserole in the dish.
Place in oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Enjoy! Have a bowl... or two. ;)
The prep was so easy and didn't take much time at all. I think the microwave ready rice is my new favorite! I'm also a fan of the frozen vegetable blend when we are pressed for time and need something quick. I think in the future I'd like to serve salad on the side to get in some more veggies and stretch the casserole a bit farther.
We were so excited that we dove right in before I was able to get a picture. This stuff is so good, y'all.
Do you have a favorite casserole?? If so, send me the recipe! I am always looking for new recipes to try.
Here's the original recipe:
https://popculture.com/lifestyle/2016/02/18/recipe-stuffed-pepper-casserole/