Crock Pot Stuffed Green Peppers

My daughter Sara gave me this recipe several years ago and it is my favorite for stuffed peppers. I have varied the ingredients from time to time depending on what I have on hand (i.e. ground beef instead of sausage, green olives for black, etc) and it always comes out great. The original recipe also called for the peppers to be mixed colors: red, yellow and green. Green seem to work best for me, they don't seem to cook apart in the crockpot like the red and yellow tend to do.

Crock Pot Stuffed Green Peppers

5 Small to Medium Size Green Peppers
1 Jar (14 oz.) Prepared Spaghetti Sauce (I Used Garlic & Herb)
3/4 Lb. Uncooked Bulk Sweet or Hot Italian Sausage
3/4 Lb. Uncooked Instant Rice (I used Minute Brown Rice)
1/2 Cup Crumbled Feta or Bleu Cheese (I used Feta)
1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
3/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Tomato
1/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
2 Tbs. Sliced Black Olives
1/4 Tsp. Garlic Powder
½ Tsp. Salt
½ Tsp. Italian Seasoning
½ Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (or to taste - I used 1 Tsp.)
2 Cloves Minced Fresh Garlic

Wash peppers thoroughly. Cut tops off of peppers, chop tops only and set aside. Discard stems and seeds and set pepper cups aside. Measure out 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce from the jar and set aside. Pour remaining sauce from the jar into the bottom of a crock pot (I sprayed mine with ‘Pam’ first). Combine all remaining ingredients (except reserved spaghetti sauce) and mix well. Stuff into peppers and place peppers into crock pot on top of the spaghetti sauce. Pour reserved spaghetti sauce on top of peppers. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours, or on low for 8 hours. About 5 Servings depending on your appetite. Yum!