Taco Soup!

I had a hankering for some Taco soup the other day. It was probably the big thunderstorm and the buckets of rain. Or it could be that I'm just super excited for Fall to be here! I love cold weather and I especially love all of the foods that are directly related and linked to the season!

I did something a little different with my soup today that turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself, and I do). I tried it on my husband. He approved. So I took it to my parents' house and made them and my siblings try it. They also liked it. I have a brother that is a pretty picky eater. He didn't even want to try it, but I twisted his arm (not literally). He had one spoonful and admitted that it was good. His excuse for not eating was that he already had the bread out for the PB&J that he was going to make. Weirdo. It was good. So... statistics say 7 out of 7 like it (but only 6 will eat a bowl).

Ingredients:
2 quart bottles of tomatoes (you could also do canned stewed tomatoes)
4 cans of assorted beans (I used red, kidney, black, and pinto)
1 bag of freezer corn (canned would work also), thawed
1 red bell pepper, diced.
1 lb of cooked hamburger
2 cups of water
1 envelope of Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch

1. I started by putting my tomatoes in the crock pot, undrained. Next went the beans. Make sure to drain them into a colander and then rinse them really really well. Then comes the corn, pepper, and your cooked hamburger. When you add your water judge according to your crock pot. I just added the water until I was happy with the height. You don't want it too full. After you get the height you want then add the ranch envelope. Stir everything well to mix it around.

2. Start your crock pot out on high until it gets up to temperature. Once I saw it was bubbling, I went ahead and dropped it down to low. Where everything cooked (or didn't need to be) you are really just needing to warm it and let the flavors simmer around. I did 3 hours on high and then it probably was on low for 2. We did eat a little after the 3 though.

3. Serve with your favorite toppings. We had tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, and olives.

*If you didn't notice I've used this Ranch packet before. It is one of my new favorites. I love the extra kick that it gives to stuff, but in this case I love having that kick with a touch of ranch. It worked out great!