Eating with Liz 2012 - Taco Soup

Dinner with the Evans'. Something quick and easy for feeding hungry people.

Yes, this is another Emeals.com recipe, but what did you expect. I haven't been feeling very food adventurous lately if I have the desire/energy to cook anything at all. But this was rather good. Just as good as getting Taco Soup from anywhere else that uses silly ingredients and tastes just like this canned masterpiece…

Santa Fe Soup

1 lb ground beef, cooked

14 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

14 oz can of pinto beans, undrained

14 oz can of kidney beans, undrained

15 oz can corn, drained

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet ranch dressing mix

In large soup pot, combine cooked beef, tomatoes, beans, corn, taco seasoning and ranch dip mix and heat thoroughly. Simmer 20 min.

Garnish

Sour cream

½ bag of Tortilla chips

What I did differently:

TIME SAVER TIP: Brown your hamburger with a little onion when you bring it home from the store, put it in freezer bags and stuff it in the freezer for later use. That way when it comes time for hamburger helper or something like this for a fast meal you just need to defrost and use, instead of defrost, brown then use. It has been so nice the last few weeks to know that I don't have to do that extra step. Last week I bought 2.57 lbs of ground beef, fried it up with some onion, and divided it into three quart sized zip close freezer bags. 2 cups each bag with a little extra left over to divide between them. Sure it may not be exact measurements for a pound of hamburger for this and a pound of hamburger for that, but with just me and John we don't need all that red meat anyway.

(I also have taken to cooking chicken and cubing the cooked chicken into bags for freezing. One day soon I'll leave whole breasts of chicken for freezing… I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before.)

I tossed the block of frozen ground beef into the pot. No defrosting. It melted during the 20 minute cooking time. Just stir it once in a while to disperse the beef throughout the soup.

I used frozen corn instead of canned corn. I just think it has a better texture. I measured it by dumping it into one of the empty bean cans and then adding enough water to fill the can completely. I probably could have added a little more, but it seemed to turn out alright.

Served with Cheese (for John only L)

Tofutti Sour Cream (Yes, that's sour cream made out of Tofu)

Tortilla Chips

This also would have been tasty with Fritos.

All in all a very quick, simple, and tasty meal all within 30 minutes. Yay!

This will go in the collection of "Use Again" recipes.