Stuffed Green Peppers

My sister, Sarah, made these stuffed peppers several years back and I immediately fell in love with them! We were all up north visiting my parents together and she so kindly offered to prepare dinner...I knew it would be delicious, as she is a wonderful cook! My kids absolutely love the meat and rice mixture and will often make a meal out of that alone :) My VERY picky husband even loves them! My sister served them with mashed potatoes and corn, which is what I've done ever since--definitely great comfort food!

Stuffed Green Peppers

2 cups water
1 cup uncooked white rice
3 large green bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 1/2 - 2 pounds lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

While rice is cooking, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and begin to brown meat in a large saucepan, over medium heat. While meat is browning, place green peppers in a large pot, with enough water to cover. Boil peppers for approximately 15 minutes. Once meat is browned and drained (and while peppers are boiling), add onion, cooked rice, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the large saucepan with the meat; simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Remove peppers from the water and set aside in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture onto each half of the green peppers. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until mixture begins to turn golden brown.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top of each stuffed pepper. Return to the oven and bake until cheese is lightly browned, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Adapted from Allrecipes