Cook Food for More than 1 Meal

Even though I like to cook, I don't necessarily want to cook every day. Plus, sometimes, you just don't have time to cook dinner before you fall off the hunger cliff and opt for ordering pizza. One of the ways I help myself out in this area is to cook more than one meal at once. My husband and I don't mind eating something 2-4 times within as many days, and it sure is nice to know that lunch or dinner is already made.

One of my go-to meals this summer has been stuffed peppers. I'm apalled at the price of produce right now, so I don't buy peppers often. But I had been to Lancaster for work and got 6 huge green peppers for 50 cents apiece. Score! Mind you, we are a household of 2 humans and 1 dog, who eats her own food. So 6 peppers is, according to some, probably 4 too many. I reject such accounting.

I made a pig pan of stuffed peppers:

-2lbs ground beef

-1lb ground pork

-1.5 cups rice, cooked

-diced peppers (see below)

-spices to taste: I used salt, pepper, red pepper flake, and a tiny bit of Cayenne.

I arranged the cooperative pepper bottoms in my 9x13 pan, and diced the misshapen tops and leftovers. After browning the ground beef and pork, I sautéed the diced peppers in the leftover fat, and dumped the meat, rice, and peppers into a big bowl.

Add spices. Mix well. Spoon into and around and over all the peppers in your pan.

Cover with foil. Bake at 350 until peppers are just soft.

Steam another veggie, like broccoli.

Eat.

This dish tastes better on day 2, 3, or 4, so smooth out/rearrange your peppers and stuffing, pop that pan of leftovers in the fridge, and Wednesday's dinner is mostly ready. Good work!