Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

I could eat a million of these.  I ate these growing up without the rice, just meat and cheese.  The rice is a very nice addition.  When I was a child I wouldn't eat the bell pepper, just the filling, but I loved the flavor the pepper gave the filling.  I remember my parents eating my siblings' and my peppers.  So yummy!  The only disappointing thing is that Bell peppers don't seem to be as flavorful as they used to be, just like everything else.  Half of my family doesn't care for the whole pepper so I make 6 stuffed peppers and 1 casserole that has just 1 pepper in it (recipe below).

Recipe:

12 Green Bell peppers
1 recipe Mexican rice
2 1b ground beef
4 cloves garlic, pressed
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
2 lbs Cheddar cheese, small cubed

Cut tops off of green peppers and pull out some of insides, but leave some, including seeds, for flavor. Stir together the ground beef and rice. Fill the inside of peppers alternately with cheese cubes and rice mixture. Stuff tight. Put tops back on. Put peppers in deep baking dish and add about a ½ inch of water to bottom of pan. Cover and bake at 350°F about 1 hour or until peppers are tender.

Green Bell Pepper Casserole: Thin slice 1 green bell pepper and use it to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle a little water around on top. Mix cheese with rice and ground beef (or use grated cheese and layer it) and spread it over the peppers. Top with grated cheese, cover and bake on 350°F for 30-40 minutes, until pepper is tender.