Easy veggie soup with brown rice. Take desired vegetables (I like yellow squash, zucchini, celery, potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic), chop roughly, add to instant pot, cover with water, pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. When done, spice it to taste now that you can actually tell the flavor. Use slotted spoon/spider to remove veggies, set to side. Extract 4 cups of the broth, add it to rice maker with 2 cups of brown rice. While your rice cooks, put half of the veggies in a blender, blend until smooth. Add remaining veggies back to the pot with the blended veggies. Stir in some sour cream to make it creamy. Serve it over the rice.

Can also skip the rice, use corn starch to thicken a bit, and serve it with pimento cheese and crackers. Sub brown rice for wild rice. Throw in some chicken. Use different veggies. Triple the potatoes instead of other thickening methods. Possibilities are virtually endless. It’s a different soup each time, which helps with variety. Excellent recipe if you grow squash, because them suckers are prolific.

Easy tacos:

Half a pound ground beef, large can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies. Cook and drain the beef, add tomatoes and heat. Place corn tortillas (real ones, not those yellow “taco shells”) in a lightly greased skillet and cook on one side for 30 seconds. Flip tortilla, add cheese of choice (sharp cheddar, various supermarket “queso,” I prefer Oaxaca), cook another 30 seconds. Add to plate, spoonful of the meat/tomato mix. On the side, spoonful of sour cream with smoky hot sauce mixed in. Putting it on the sides prevents it from cooking off your taco too much. Dip and enjoy.