Unstuffed Cabbage Roll and Pepper Soup

Two of my all-time favorite dishes EVER are cabbage rolls and stuffed bell peppers. Both have a yummy seasoned rice and ground beef mixture loaded into a lovely vegetable vessel. However, they are both a tad bit time consuming, and if you have picky eaters around (ahem' anti-veggie Males &or Children lol) it might not seem worth all that effort. I could deep fry, bread, and stuff a pepper full of steak, cheese, bacon, potatoes, peanut butter, chocolate, and all sorts of glorious unhealthy goodness, but my future hubby would just eat the filling and waste the entire pepper! THUS resulting in a mega waste of my time, effort, and money stuffing something he's not even going to eat or that might just go to waste (ain't nobody got time for that lol). However, I could cleverly and easily combine both of these glorious, rather similar concoctions into a simple soup that he will eat and LOVE because all the veggies are bite sized (mwuahaha, bless his overgrown man-child heart lol).

 I have so0oo been craving cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers something fierce lately!!! SO instead of giving up on my foodie dreams/cravings because of his utter disgust of stuffed veggies (or healthier foods in general lol), I ever so sneakily combined all these yummy elements into one delicious, harmonious, hearty soup! Relationships are all about compromise right ;) Even better yet... this soup almost looks like Christmas in a bowl with all the bright red tomatoes, hearty white rice, and pops of green peppers! It's a real dinner winner peeps, no joke. I got my cabbage roll and stuffed pepper fix and he got his meat and rice filling without having to scrap it out of a green vessel (he also got tons of subtle, healthy, and "tolerable" veggies too, hehehe).

Whatcha' need:

• 1.25 cups of white rice uncooked
• 2 medium sized Green Bell Peppers (chopped)
• 1/2 bag prepackaged raw veggie coleslaw mix, which is just carrots and cabbage already finely sliced (it was on sale at my grocery for .99 cents and was Way easier to sneak into the already loaded veggie soup :) I don't even think he knows it's in there yet, he will when he reads this tho LOL) or use one small head of cabbage thinly sliced 
• 2 regular sized cans diced tomatoes (14.5 oz) undrained (with green chilies, opt)
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 large yellow onion (chopped)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 TBSP sugar (helps reduce acidity aka heartburn associated with tomato heavy soups and sauces, a  little neat trick I learned when I cooked for the elderly at a nursing home where heartburn is WAY common)
• 1.5 lbs ground beef 
• 6 cans water ^

Additional seasoning to personal taste: 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp lemon pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp chili powder, and 2 tsp Italian blend seasoning

 In a large stockpot combine ground beef, chopped onion, chopped green peppers, and half of all the suggested seasonings above. Cook on medium\low heat until meat is brown and veggies are tender and translucent. Drain off excess grease.

Next, add to the meat mixture: tomatoes, sauce, ketchup, sugar, water, remaining desired spices, and shredded cabbage in the same large stockpot. Cook on medium/low until slightly boiling or bubbling (not a raging boil). Stir regularly.

 Once the mixture has come to a slight boil, add in the uncooked rice, reduce heat, and cover. Stir every few minutes. It should take about 15-20 minutes for the rice to fluff up and absorb some of the juices. (Test a piece of the rice to see if done, and see if seasoning is to your liking and adjust if need be) Once the rice is fully cooked and soft, turn that gorgeous soup off.
  

Now grab a bowl and go enjoy all those same scrumptious flavors of stuffed peppers and cabbage rolls made hassle free into one glorious, delish dish! Cheers to us for being crafty, thrifty, witty, and willing to compromise (hehehe) ;)