Stuffed Peppers in the crockpot (with a surprise)

I am not a trained culinary chef, but I am 100% Italian and have been cooking Italian food my whole adult life. It is not until recently that I have discovered almost every Italian dish (that I make) contains the same basic ingredients:

Garlic
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Bread crumbs
Romano cheese

And they all go well with Carlo Rossi Paisano wine, which I keep a big jug of handy for all occasions. This dish is no exception to the Italian rules of ingredients.

In the wintertime I crave hearty, satisfying meals that are warm and comforting.

Today, since I'm painting all morning and working all afternoon, I will be putting one of my favorites, stuffed peppers, in the crock pot. I've been making this for years. It's great because it takes literally 10 minutes to put together and cooks while you're doing your thing all day long.

Today's surprise is that instead of using ground beef, I am using ground turkey. This is a surprise for Ron because he hates when I use ground turkey in anything. I make killer enchiladas with turkey and usually he doesn't know it's not beef. I have found when substituting turkey for beef it may need extra salt. Since the meat goes right into the peppers uncooked, this can get greasy. So we will see the difference in the grease level and if Ron can detect my surprise.

Stuffed Green Peppers in the crockpot:

3-4 green peppers with tops cut off and seeded

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 egg

1/4 c romano cheese

S & P

1/2 - 1 c cooked rice

1/2 t oregano

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 t parsley

Mix all together and stuff in green peppers.

Layer some sauce in the bottom of the crock.

I make meatballs with the leftover meat and place them in the crock.

Sauce

Top with 2 cans tomato sauce, sprinkled with basil, garlic powder, S & P

(You can also top with your favorite jarred sauce--but I've never done that since that would be an Italian sin)

Turn crock pot on for 8 hours and, voila, when you come home, your home will smell delicious and you can eat whenever you want.