Stuffed Peppers and Caramel Apple Salad

Mom shared a BUNCH of green peppers Dad grew in their garden.  THANK YOU Mom and Dad!  Our peppers were pecked to death by the chickens early on and we only got a few survivors. (peppers, not chickens lol )  I've been freezing the peppers from my parents a few at a time.  I've got 3 quarts of diced peppers in the freezer.  Tonight I chose to fill a few and use them for dinner.  Mom used to make these once in a while when I lived at home. YUM!   The little girls don't like peppers, so rather than waste a good pepper on them, I put some filling in muffin cups and let them have theirs that way.  I've found an easy way to keep the peppers upright while baking, is to set them in a large muffin tin. (the kind that makes large muffins)  If you don't have one of those, a casserole dish is fine, or check and see if your peppers are thin enough, they might fit in a regular muffin tin.

As a side dish, and trying to use up more of our abundant crop of apples, we made Caramel Apple Salad.  We diced a few yellow delicious and a few gala apples, added a handful of marshmallows and drizzled caramel sauce over the whole thing.  I had some home made caramel sauce in the fridge so I used that.  Any thick caramel sauce would work.  The kids REALLY liked this salad.  We'll do it again soon.

Stuffed Pepper Cups

6 medium green peppers

1 lb ground beef

1/2 C. chopped onion

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C. uncooked rice

1/2 C. water

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes

1 tsp. worchestershire sauce

dash of pepper

1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Slice off top of peppers and clean out the seeds.  I don't bake them with the tops on, so if you'd like, use the pepper on the tops to dice and add to the meat mixture.  Precook peppers 5 minutes in boiling water and drain.  Salt insides of peppers.  Brown meat and onion. Add salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, rice, water, and worchestershire.  Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes.  Stir in cheese.  Fill peppers and place in greased baking dish or muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until peppers start to look wilty.

We served this with buttered carrots, baked potatoes and caramel apple salad. That potato by the way folks, is fresh out the the field.  Hardly took time to brush the dirt off before baking it. :)  Nothing beats good Idaho bakers!