The Taco Soup Edition

Being on the road for a month helped me overcome my disdain for cooking. The first thing I did upon arriving home was rush to the grocery for barbecue chicken fixin's. After I ate that for two weeks, I decided it was time to branch out. A little dip in the temps outside convinced me it was soup time.

I found this recipe for Taco Soup at Recipezaar. It's easy, relatively
inexpensive, fairly healthy, and DEEE-licious!

Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) can pinto beans
1 (16 ounce) can white beans or kidney beans
1 (11 ounce) can niblet corn
1 (11 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes & chilies
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning mix
1 (1 ounce) envelope hidden valley ranch dressing mix
1 lb shredded chicken, ground beef or any meat

Directions
1 Cook meat and drain.
2 Shred if needed.
3. Add all ingredients to crock pot.
4. DO NOT DRAIN CANS.
5 Stir.
6. Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.
7. Keep on low until serving to keep hot.
8. Garnish with sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, or tortilla chips.

Cammy Tinkers:
I made some substitutions for things I had on hand: black beans and chili beans instead of the beans listed in the recipe. Also, I bought taco seasoning in a bulk jar awhile back, so I used 3 (ish) tablespoons of that instead of the packet called for. Finally, I only used half the packet of Hidden Valley, because I couldn't really figure out its purpose.

I used Laura's 96% Lean Ground Round (no affiliation) for the meat. The recipe called for a pound, but I'd be happy with a half pound, both for taste and for $$$$. :) You can, of course, use ground turkey or chicken. I'm on the outs with ground turkey right now, but I will give the chicken a try next time out.

As for when that might be? Probably next year. This recipe makes 10 generous servings. I've had to resort to freezing about half of it. I'll enjoy it in the weeks ahead.

This is a very thick soup. I'm thinking of adding some veggie broth or tomato sauce/juice next time I prepare it to make it more soup-like. I'll also be using the hot Rotel and/or more green chilis. :)

And that was this week's Adventure in Cooking. I'm going to the grocery this morning to pick up the ingredients for PB2 Chocolate Chip Bread. Wish me luck. :)