Pat Fish's Blog: Miscellany-Household Hints, A Look Back, Humor and Much More

Pic of Day

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

I love stuffed green peppers.

I love soup, most any kind.

So when I came across this recipe, made in a slow cooker no less, I had to have it.

I made it, I attest that it's delicious, I suggest making this soup and eating it fresh. Do not freeze is what I'm saying here.

Oh it will freeze. It's just that the rice swells up so much upon thawing that it becomes more of a pasty stew than a full-bodied soup that it once was. You can add water after thawing, of course but with ten servings one can probably feed a family of four or so for two nights.

Stuffed pepper soup

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
2 quarts water
1 can (28 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups cooked long grain rice
2 cups chopped green peppers
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1 teaspoon pepper

Directions
In a Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until peppers are tender. Yield: 10 servings (2-1/2 quarts).

Some household hints:

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold! (But you can scrape off any mold and still eat the cheese without changes in flavor!

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

Reheat leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, on med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag, seal, mash, add remainder of ingredients, keep mashing, mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw the bag away!

You can flip a toaster on its side and grill cheese in it

Expanding Frosting: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes for the same price. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants in the ground; work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant: squirrels won't come near it.

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip or slacks to eliminate static cling. It works; you will not have a clingy skirt or dress, or slacks when wearing panty hose; ... Ta DA! ... Static is gone.

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

De-fog your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Re-opening envelopes: If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily. Only for old- fashioned "lick-type “mucilage envelopes!

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth.

Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Drop a small object on the carpet and can't find it. Place panty hose over the end of the vacuum hose and start vacuuming. The panty hose will keep it from getting sucked into the vacuum.
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