Unstuffed Skillet Peppers

This smelled and tasted soo good, but needs some work!

I had some bell peppers from my trip to Bates County Produce several weeks ago that needed to be used.  I was wanting to make stuffed bell peppers, but its been too hot to turn the oven on.  This last Saturday we got up to 103 degrees actual temperature, but with the high dew points the heat index was 120!  Too Hot! I opted for unstuffed skillet peppers instead.  Actually the blogger calls it One Pot Wonder Stuffed Pepper Skillet and you find the recipe HERE

Its very easy to make and I'd make it again with a few changes.  First you brown and drain ground beef.  Add some dry rice and brown for 2-3 minutes. 

Then you add tomato soup, diced canned tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped peppers, Italian seasoning, minced garlic and brown sugar.  Bring to a rolling boil, cover, reduce to simmer and cook approximately 40 minutes if using brown rice, less if using white.

I used brown rice and simmered that baby for well over an hour and the liquid wasn't getting absorbed. It was bubbling on the simmer level, so slightly boiling and I had used a lid. I sent panicked texts to my friend Jenna who without knowing many details said a tablespoon of oats will help soak up the moisture without altering the taste. 

In they go and I cooked it another 4-5 minutes.

Still really soupy.  I tried a spoonful and the rice was crunchy!  So I added some more beef broth, brought it up to a rolling boil, lowered to simmer (it still bubbled), covered and cooked it some more. 

I called it quits at 2 hours.  Its good, but the rice probably still could have cooked for a while longer.  I will definitely make this again, but use white rice or plan to start dinner at 3 in the afternoon!