Taco Soup

Per Sandi's request, I've acquired the slightly more organized Taco Soup recipe. Ironically, Jen lost her copy right before Christmas, but between the two of us I think we've got it:

Taco Soup

1-1.5 lb (approx) Ground Beef
1 medium onion, chopped (more or less, depending on your onion tolerance!)
1-2 pkgs Taco Seasoning (depending on your spicy tolerance)
1pkg Ranch Dressing Mix
2 to 4 cans of stewed tomato (or diced, or any tomato product. I used V8 and a can of tomato sauce)
2 cans red or kidney beans
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can pinto beans
2 cans shoepeg corn
1 can rotel

Brown ground beef with chopped onion. Drain grease and dump in crockpot. Dump in all other ingredients (do not drain any of the cans, except the black beans) and stir. Cook for several hours. Serve with cheese and tortilla chips.

Since I now make smaller batches, I trim the list down to a couple of cans of beans (whatever kind I have), 1 can of corn, less tomato, and simmer it in a soup pot on the stove for half an hour or more. This really is one of those recipes that can be altered to suit your tastes, i.e. Sandi doesn't like corn, so leave out the corn. I don't care for large tomato pieces, so I will often use diced or pureed. If you don't have all the necessary beans, use what you got and double up on some of them if you want to.

I also made orange slice cookies last night for Greg, which turned out better than I'd expected for my first try. I'd say it was a good day in the kitchen.