This is what we had for dinner tonight at the Peters household.  It is one of Brady's favorite meals.  I love it because it is super cheap, super delicious, super easy, and it freezes really well.  We usually get three meals out of it!  I found the original recipe on allrecipies.com...which is pretty awesome, and if you never have checked it out, you should do so now...well not right now, after you finish reading this post of course =)

STUFFED PEPPER SOUP

Ingredients
1.5 pounds of ground beef (give or take depending on how much you like meat)
2 green peppers chopped
1 29 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 29 oz can of tomato sauce
2 beef bouillon cubes (you could substitute a can or 2 of beef broth)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 t salt
1 t pepper
1 T soy sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 cups cooked white rice

Directions
1.  Brown ground beef in large stock pot.  Drain grease and add green peppers.  Sautee on medium for about 3 minutes.
2.  Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with juice, bouillon cubes, brown sugar, salt, pepper, soy sauce, and Worcestershire. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
3.  White soup is simmering, cook rice according to directions.  Add cooked rice after soup has simmered for 30 minutes.  Cover again and simmer on low for 5 minutes to soak flavors into the rice.
4.  Serve and enjoy immediately.  

Three random things...most of the time when a recipe calls for ground beef I substitute ground pork.  I have never tried ground pork in this recipe, it just doesn't seem like it would taste too good.  If you substitute ground pork or even ground turkey in this recipe and it tastes good, please let me know!  Second, my favorite part about this recipe is that it freezes so well, I usually get three meals out of making it one time.  I just put leftovers in gallon freezer bags and freeze until we want to have it again.  Third, this recipe is most like a stew than a soup, if you want it to be more liquid and less stewy then substitute beef broth for the beef bouillon cubes. 

Hope you enjoy!

Everyone saw the Ram commercial during the Superbowl on Sunday.  The one with Paul Harvey telling viewers how farmers care for their animals, work hard from dawn until past dusk, have family as a top priority, pass their career on from generation to generation, and our stewards of the land.  The Lord needed a special kind of person who was strong in the back yet gentle in the spirit to do all these things, so on the 8th day "God made a farmer." 

With such a strong message. of course this commercial has also caused some controversy.  Just find the video on YouTube and read the comments below.  You are sure to find comments all over the board, things such as...

"And on the ninth day God saw that the "caretakers" he had created were
destroying the natural resources He had made for their own profit. They were
poisoning the ground and water with chemicals, fertilizers and animal waste,
promoting soil erosion and loss of topsoil by over-tilling the land, destroying
wetlands, cutting down trees and generally just screwing up everything they
touched. And always complaining while the largest welfare program in this
country (The Farm Program) supports them."

"I'm an Atheist and I loved this commercial."

"And on the ninth day, when the farmer became lazy, God made Mexicans to pick
the fields."

"SOME of us understand where our groceries come from.
And please thank all the farmers you meet today; you are an invaluable
asset."

"Beautifully made commercial. It's blatantly exploitative and misleading -
relying on an ignorant and easily led audience."

"No Farmers, No Food"

"We don't need farmers. All we got to do is go to the store and buy our food.
Pretty easy, huh?"

"And on the first day, man invented God"

"Farmers are stupid, its a stupid job."

"The whole point of this commircal was to sell the truth.  How our food is
made and where it comes from.  And most of all, how hard farmers work and struggle to
get the job done.  Farmers don't get enough credit and respect for their work."

"On the ninth day, The Devil created GMO's and MONSANTO!!!"

"Most food comes from large corporate farms."

"Being a farmer is one of the most demanding and stressful jobs you can possibly
imagine and when it comes down to it yes it does have one of the worst financial
returns of any other professions for the amount of investment and commitment. If
the government didn't give farmers financial aid, nobody would be a damn farmer.
The government gives those incentives to keep jobs in America and prices down so
when you go to the market you save an extra $.10 cents a potato."

Wow...lots of people, farmers and non...have stong opinions!  Here is where I throw in my two cents.  I loved the commercial, Ioved hearing Paul Harvey's voice speak once again and read his famous essay that was first given as a speech in 1978 at a Future Farmers of America Convention.  The tribute to farmers has since been passed around by farm families as an anthem to the work in their lives, and it was so wonderful that the whole nation got to hear all those wonderful words and see all those gorgeous pictures.  Putting the spotlight on agriculture and God during the nations biggest televised event was a bold thing to do...and it was awesome!  

Things have changed in farming since 1978, just as most things in our day to day lives have changed since 1978.  But the core values are still there and many negative comments that people are posting in response to the commercial are simply untrue.  Farmers care for the land, we take many steps to preserve the land that is our life blood for many generations to come.  Farmers are the last people who want to see our fertile soils get eroded and they do many things to prevent that.  On our farm we do extensive no-till and cover crop practices to ensure land preservation. 

Most food does not come from large corporate farms...the vast majority of farms in America (90%) are owned and operated by individuals or families.  The next largest category of ownership is partnerships (6%).  The “corporate” farms account for only 3% of U.S. farms and 90% of those corporations are in fact family owned.  Many farm families have formed modest-sized corporations to take advantage of legal and accounting benefits of that type of business enterprise.  We do not currently operate as a corporation, but we may change that in the future.  Corporation or not, our farm is a true family operation, Brady is the 6th generation who will take it over as head farm manager one day.    

Contrary to popular belief, Satan did not create Monsanto and GMO's...as the world's population continues to increase, so does the demand food.  Farmers and agricultural workers have taken this challange head on.  This increased demand has been met (and exceeded) with the aid of large-scale equipment and machinery, improved crop varieties (including GMOs), commercial fertilizers, and pesticides. 

Farmers really are amazing people.  To be a successful farmer you have to wear so many hats.  You have to be an agronomist, grain marketer, mechanic, livestock caretaker, tax man, heavy equipment operator, manual laborer, and more.

Please watch and share this video of the commercial.  Every time someone watches and shares the video, Ram makes a donation to FFA and to assist in local hunger relief and educational programs!  

If you know a farmer, shake his or her hand today.  And if you are married to a farmer like I am...you can do even more than that ;)