Dear readers, my mission to help people to save money continues. You may wonder when this journey started. The country had an economic downturn in 2008. At that time I was very active in my work life. My private practice was in an affluent area, still, many lost their jobs and were suffering. Since their compromised finances were impacting their mental health it became an important topic for psychotherapy. I was surprised how many didn’t know the most basic ways to live frugally. They were used to going out to restaurants, having a cleaning service, and paying others to care for their children. That is when I started my now dormant YouTube channel “Saving Savvy With Dr Mike,” with its first three installments on how to save money by packing a lunch.

I was raised in a family of seven with one income, and my parents were the product of the Great Depression. Frugal living was a normal part of life; it just made sense. However, what was easy for me seemed foreign to the former affluent. I have said many times that my jam is to learn, teach, and create. What better goal then to help someone feel a bit more economically secure while also teaching them a new skill.

With current governmental policies that promote inflation we are once again in difficult economic times, hence all of my emphasis on simple ways to save money.

My son moved out to his own apartment in the city a week ago. He proudly told me that he took the bus to go to Aldi, and even sent me a photo of his $33 haul. My one daughter sent me a photo of her batch cooking of breakfast burritos. She will freeze them and have quick and easy breakfasts for the next week. My other daughter visited yesterday. Recently, she picked up an Instant Pot on sale. She was staying for dinner, and I wanted to use my electric pressure cooker (an Instant Pot clone) to continue her familiarization with that device. My kids saw me using a pressure cooker a thousand times when they were living at home. However, it still can be intimidating when you have to use it on your own. I think that is the way with most cooking. I made the following dinner with her to continue her familiarization with this awesome appliance.

By the way, if it isn’t obvious, I really love my kids and I’m incredibly proud of them. They have turned out to be amazing and accomplished adults.

My son sent me this photo of his Aldi haul. He shops just like I do! Simple ingredients that can be transformed into many different meals.

Many of the things that an individual likes resonate from their early years. Music and foods come to mind. Since my mom was a great cook I love the dishes that were popular in the 1950s-1970s, including the iconic Stuffed Peppers.

Making Stuffed Peppers isn’t too difficult, but it does involve a bit of work. This soup is inspired by the classic dish, it is incredibly easy to make, and it only requires 10 minutes of pressure time (plus the pressure building and rest times). With an electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) you press a button and the machine does the rest. This recipe is from the “Salty Marshmallow” website. There are many other recipes for Stuffed Pepper Soup; I’m choosing this one as it tastes good and it is simple to make. If you don’t have an Instant Pot like device, you could make it on the stovetop, but you would need to adjust cooking times. Let’s get started!

It is always a good idea to gather the items that you need before you start cooking. It makes the process faster and reduces errors. In this case I’m using some hot sauce instead of red pepper flakes. I’m also adding 1/2 of a small chopped onion to the recipe. The half-onion was lonely in my fridge, so I thought I would introduce it to the other ingredients. The hamburger was frozen in my freezer. It had been their for over a year, but it was perfectly good as I had vacuum sealed it. Beef is now very expensive; a vacuum sealer saves money two ways. It allows me to buy meat in bulk, and it prevents me from throwing it out due to freezer burn.

Here are the spices that I’m using. Nothing special, but they add interest and flavor. If I didn’t have Italian Seasoning I could have used some oregano. To be honest, I started to pre-measure spices mostly to have a photo for these posts. However, I have discovered that it is a good idea for cooking in general.

I washed, de-seeded, and chopped up my sweet peppers. You can use any color peppers that you like. Green peppers will be the least expensive, but somewhat stronger in flavor. I think it looks nice to have several colors of peppers, but that is mostly for aesthetic reasons.

I’m starting by placing my electric pressure cooker in saute mode and adding cooking oil. In goes my little onion to soften, and after a bit I’ll added the spices to bloom them. If I was following the recipe exactly I would just be using onion powder, so I would eliminate this step. If that was the case I would add the spices at the next step.

Now its time to add the hamburger and brown it. You can dump the excess fat or keep it. It is up to you.

In goes the beef broth. I’m using Better Than Bouillon, but you can use bouillon cubes, boxed broth, or homemade.

Instead of red pepper flakes I’m adding a few shots of hot sauce. It is OK to substitute ingredients as long they are not too far afield. I can’t tolerate super spicy foods, but a little heat adds interest. You can eliminate this ingredient if you choose.

Now I dump in a can of tomato sauce. I like to stockpile a few cans of tomato products as they are used in so many recipes.

Next goes in the sweet peppers.

Finally, the rice. I used whatever rice I had on hand.

Stir it all up. Cancel the saute function and put on the lid. Make sure that the lid is set to “sealing.”

Set your electric pressure cooker (AKA Instant Pot) for 10 minutes on high. It will take a bit to reach pressure. Once the cooking cycle is done wait an additional 5 minutes and then release the pressure. Make sure that the pressure indicator is down before attempting to open the pot. You don’t need to have the Instant Pot brand. There are many electric pressure cookers on the market and they all cook the same. Mine is a Mealthy brand that is now 8 years old.

Here is my Stuffed Pepper Soup plated up with some shredded cheese as a garnish. I’m serving it with some of my homemade bread. I have posted a lot about the benefits of making your own bread. It is very easy and automatic with a bread maker, and you can pick up a bread maker for pennies on the dollar at thrift stores. Homemade bread tastes better than the store stuff, it is very economical to make, and it is free of any additives.

There you have it, another simple recipe. This recipe said it feeds four, but that must be for bigger eaters. Three adults ate it, and there is plenty leftovers for possibly three more lunches. It was delicious and definitely has the vibe of stuffed peppers, but it was even easier to make than that classic dish. Cooking from scratch becomes almost effortless once you do it regularly.

Peace

Mike

Images are my own.