Halloween Dinner Idea – Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Peppers

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Every year the weekend before Halloween we spend our Saturday night carving pumpkins and we watch our favorite Halloween specials like It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. To keep with the pumpkin theme, this yearI made these yummy Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Peppers for dinner. Not only are they a fun dinner (trust me the kids will love them) but they are a pretty simple dinner and you can even make them ahead of time and freeze them so they are ready to serve on Halloween night or on your designated pumpkin carving night.

• 6 Orange peppers 
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 1/2 cups rice
• 1 jar of tomato sauce (1/4 reserved for baking)
• 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

Step 1: Clean peppers and remove seeds. Keep the tops for presentation. Carve jack-o-lantern designs into the front of the pepper.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Step 2: Boil peppers on stove for about 15 minutes. While they are boiling.  cook rice according to package directions.

Step: 3: Brown ground beef. Once browned drain and return to pan and add jar of sauce. Simmer on low until rice and peppers are done. 

Step 4: Once rice is cooked, drain and add to meat/sauce mixture. Mix well. Remove peppers from water and let cool for a few minutes. 

Step 5: Take 1/4 cup of sauce and pour into bottom oven safe pan. Stuff peppers with meat mixture. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until peppers are soft. Remove and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Serve with hot garlic bread. 

Dawn