Stuffed Peppers (with Cauliflower) in the Crockpot wwpp=4

It has been so hot here lately that I have been using my crockpot probably 4-5 days a week. If I am doing collard greens, my crockpot has to be plugged outside on the crockpot. Kids don't like the smell of it cooking. I can't imagine why? A big ole crockpot of collards with a big piece of spicy sausage in it.. YUMMY... starting to crave it now.

I actually went to the store and bought myself some crockpot liners. This I know is an indulgence, but hey it really makes for a quick cleanup. With kids and life the quicker the better.

Today, I went to Aldi's and bought some vegetables. Their green peppers looked so pretty. Bought two packages of three.

I am going to make stuffed peppers. I wanted to see if I could experiment and make them lower in calories and WWpoints. I had already experimented with turning cauliflower into faux mashed potatoes. I have also tried to rice them, and use them. Today I am going to rice the cauliflower.

In my freezer, I already had a freezer bag, pre-measure of ground sirloin, in baggies of 1lb.

Also when I made this I actually split it into two bowls evenly. Took one bowl of the stuffing part and put in a freezer bag, to pull out and just thaw and add to peppers. Another quickie idea. I do this when I am making egg rolls. I always make double and free the mix for another batch. Time, Time..save, save, save.

Prepping for the Stuffed Peppers

Cauliflower

Rice the Cauliflower. That means to just cut and I just use a grater and grate into pieces that look like rice. In alot of recipes they pop it (riced) into the micro for 8 minutes and it makes it tender for the recipe. In this recipe, I didn't do that, because I figured with it being in the crockpot all day, that it would get that way all by itself.

Peppers

I cut the peppers in half like two boats. With this I found I could only fit in 4 halves in the crockpot, but then I layed the other two over in the corners on top and they turned out just fine.
Next time I may just cut the tops off and stuff, that would make it able to hold more in a flat angle.

Meat

I used ground sirloin, because I had a double batch I used two lbs. I am going to give you the recipe for just one batch, you can double from there if you would like.

Stuffed Peppers (with Cauliflower) in the Crockpot     wwpp=4

Ingredients:

3 Green Pepper

1/2 Head of Cauliflower (riced *see above)

1 lb of your favorite meat. I used the ground sirloin

1/2 onion (minced)

1 clove of minced garlic

1/2 can of tomatoes

3 tbs of your favorite bq sauce (this is just to make a little tasty topping)

Spices (anything  you like, I added a bit of worcestershire and mrs dash)

Instructions:

1) Do your pre-work. Rice your cauliflower, cut your peppers.

2) In a bowl put in riced cauliflower, ground sirloin, onions, garlic, seasoning and tomatoes. Mix well together.

3) Generously fill the pepper boats with the mixture.

4) Put liner in crockpot and lay the filled pepper boats into your crockpot. (I see to only fit 4, so I just put the other two in the corner and they turned out just the same.)

5) Put a little few decorative lines on each pepper in bq sauce (or ketchup)

5) Turn crockpot on low and leave for about 5-6 hours.

 Isn't that beautiful. They all turned out like that. The deal is that you can't tell at all that I used a shhhhh!  a vegetable in place of the rice. I fooled them all..

I mean they all ate it and never uttered a word, except wow, that was good.

Well guys, gotta run quick tonight. I am getting ready to fish the last one out of the crockpot to hide for my lunch.

A mom has got to do what a mom has to do. It was good and the points even made it better.

So if you give it a try, remember, make it yours, a spice, a sauce.

Live life like there is no tomorrow.. get out there...