Soup, Soup, Soup!

I have always loved soup. There is nothing better than a yummy bowl of soup in the Fall! From Split Pea Soup, to Chicken Noodle Soup, to Lentil Soup, to Taco Soup, well, i have all of recipes that were given to me from my Mom. My mother use to make me soup often and although i use her recipes, well, they still don't taste the same. I'm not sure why, as i use the EXACT same recipes. I would often beg her when i would come home to visit to please, please, PLEASE make me some soup to take home with me. Of course, either to make me shut up or to make me happy, she would.

She loved me.

I miss her.

I miss her a lot.

The last recipe i got from her was for a soup called Taco Soup. Most of the other recipes, she tweaked, but this one, she didn't have time to. We only had this soup once together before she became ill, so after she passed away, i decided to tweak this recipe on my own. This was a big thing, you see, because i didn't mess with her recipes. I make her recipes exactly as she made for me, no changes. But, it seemed almost fitting that it was time for me to do the 'tweaking'.

Taco Soup is a popular soup with so many different recipes. In fact, Taco Soup is also known as a Weight Watcher Recipe. This soup is an easy, peeasy soup to put together and it's one of those soups that you often have all you need in your pantry. Not to mention, you can change it up quickly for different events: add tortilla chips and make the soup thicker for a football game dinner, or make it spicier for a friend who likes their soup with a bit of heat. Or to entice a child to eat it, add goldfish and cheese to the finished soup, but remember that you need to adjust the seasonings for a little one.

Here is my version of this recipe that i got from my Mama....which i am sure is much like the other versions out there!

BUSY-ISSY'S TACO SOUP

1 to 2 pounds of ground turkey or beef
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of ranch dressing
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can of corn (drained)
1 or two can of black beans (can rinse if you like)
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of tomato sauce
2 can of diced tomatoes(or 1 can of Rotel) with jalapenos or chilies
1 can of Mexican-Style Stewed tomatoes, crushed
5/6 cups of water
1/2 small can of cans diced green chilies (optional)

Directions:
~Brown ground turkey or ground beef, adding the onions first and then the green peppers as the meat starts to break apart and brown. Drain fat from pan (okay, so i don't do a great job of draining, but it's okay as i think the fat makes it taste better!) and add the 5/6 cups of water, stirring the meat and water together.
~Add the Taco Seasoning and the Ranch Dressing Seasoning. If i am using 6/7 cups of water, i add the entire seasoning packages. If you use less water, use less of the seasoning packs...it's a kinda "see what you like" thing. Stir well and bring to a slight boil.
~Add cans of diced tomatoes (don't drain!!) and stir well.
~Add can of crushed Mexican-Styled tomatoes, stir well
~Add can of tomato sauce and again, stir well.
~Bring to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer. Let simmer for a bit (i let it simmer 15 minutes or so) and then add the corn and all of the beans and cook just to heat. If you add the corn and beans sooner, they might get mushy.
~Cook till nice and hot....done!

You can serve this soup with sour cream, cheese, tortilla chips or eat as is. It is a great soup for a Fall gathering, too...the soup can be paired with yummy cheese quesidillas or corn chips.

I will say that this is one of those recipes where you can make it up as you go along. If you like your soup thicker, then forget the 6 cans of water and use less. I have even heard of folks using two of the Taco Seasoning packages and two of the Ranch Dressing Seasoning packages; but for me, that's a bit too much.

Lentil Soup will more than likely be on the menu for next week...so glad that fall is finally here!