Stuffed Pepper Soup

One of the perks of having a food blog is free schwag. Because of this blog, I've had the opportunity to sample new products...like You Bars (custom-made nutrition bars), chocolate, and chutney all thanks to Blake Makes. I was even invited to a free tasting dinner at a local restaurant (though, unfortunately, I couldn't make it).

Most recently, I was offered two free bottles of Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce. The catch, of course, to all these offers is that I'd blog about the products in return. In this case, that's a good deal for me...because I already buy and use Country Bob's!

I mainly use Country Bob's like a steak sauce. I've never cooked with it. So, I browsed the recipes on their website, looking for something new to try, something "blog worthy." The chicken wings sound good, and I will most likely make them in the near future, but since the weather has finally gotten cold here, I thought soup was in order.

This stuffed pepper soup caught my eye because it reminds me of the cabbage roll soup that I make every year. You see, my Grandma Martin used to make stuffed cabbage rolls, a meal we always looked forward to. I remember her steaming cabbage and stuffing the leaves, then stewing them in tomato sauce. I remember it taking all day. When I crave cabbage rolls now, I make a soup with all the ingredients, and it tastes pretty much the same. Likewise, this soup tastes just like stuffed peppers.

Stuffed Pepper Soup
slightly modified from the original recipe

1 pound ground beef

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 beef bouillon cube
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce
14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
15 ounces tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup (or more) cooked rice
salt & pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese

• Saute the ground beef with the peppers, onion, & garlic until the meat is brown and the veggies are soft. Be sure to season this with salt & pepper.
• Add the bouillon, oregano, vinegar, Country Bob's, tomatoes, tomato sauce, & water. Stir until combined and simmer on low, covered, for about 40 minutes.
• Stir 1 cup of the rice into the pot OR put a few spoonfuls of rice into a bowl and spoon soup on top.
• Top with cheese to serve.