Taco Soup

Last week I sat down to look at the 10 day forecast and what I'm sure made some cringe gave me a bit of a thrill.  Autumn was peeking around the corner to let us know it's on the way.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Summer but living in the city where it's always 10-15 degrees hotter than other places, this summer was a cooker. Weather definitely affects my appetite and my cravings. Try as I might, I just can't bring myself to eat soup when it's hot outside.  When I saw that today's forecast was highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's with a chance of rain, I knew my favorite season was on the way and it was time to welcome back "soup weather".  In our house I'm not the soup chef. That title rightfully belongs to my better half.  He's a magician at creating his own stocks from the previous night's dinner protein and always seems to know just what vegetables and herbs will make the perfect soup.  I do, however, rival him when it comes to chili.  

This summer I ran across some "Fall Soup" recipes, one of which was a "Taco Soup".  It sounded interesting at first glance but after going over the recipe it kind of sounded like a watered down chili, which didn't sound appetizing at all.  The concept was a good one and with a little tweaking it just might be an addition to our soup menu.  The original recipe was quite simple and I wanted to keep that aspect while bringing it more in line of a soup and not a subpar chili.  The reaction at the dinner table from the master himself was very positive so I bring you my version of a Taco Soup.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs of ground beef

1 large onion chopped

2 10oz cans of Beef Consomme

2 15oz cans of kidney beans

1 15oz can of corn

2 10oz cans of Ro-Tel Orignial Diced Tomatoes w/ Green Chiles

1 1/2 cups of water

1 packet Taco Seasoning

1 packet of Ranch Dressing Mix

In a large skillet brown your beef and onion together until fully cooked. (That's about the only effort required for this soup beyond opening cans). Drain beef mixture and dump into a 6 quart stock pot.  Add in all other ingredients, no need to drain just open them up and dump them in. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.

I served mine with a some tortilla chips and a spoonful of sour cream but go ahead and get creative with your favorite add-ins and ENJOY!!

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken

It's a pretty sure bet when we order bar food that I'm going to order wings to go with my cold beer and the better half is going to opt for a burger. After several years together I noticed he never orders wings, so I asked him why he didn't like wings when I know he loves chicken. His response made sense but it also made me laugh. "They're too messy and it's just too much for work for such a small amount of chicken".  I was in the mood for a very casual dinner this evening and was craving wings but I know his idea of a very casual meal is a sandwich.  Then I remembered I had a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches.  Giving the recipe a once over before running out to grab the 3 necessary ingredients, it really seemed too simple to be true! Yesterday was a very busy day so simple actually sounded just about perfect about right now, so I gave it a go!

Ingredients:

3 – 5 lbs frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
12oz bottle of your favorite buffalo sauce (I used Franks Medium)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix,

Yep, just 3 ingredients. And I love the fact that you can just put your chicken breasts in frozen and not have to panic when you realize you forgot to put them out to thaw!

Directions:

1.  Place frozen chicken breasts into crockpot, pour buffalo sauce over chicken.  Sprinkle ranch mix over top.  Cover with lid and cook on low for about 5 hours.

2.  Remove chicken to a cutting board.  Do not discard sauce!  Shred the chicken with two forks. The chicken should just fall apart.  Place shredded chicken back into sauce still in crockpot.  Stir to coat chicken.

3.  Continue cooking shredded buffalo chicken in crockpot on low for about another hour or until chicken absorbs most of the sauce.  

Simple cooking and SIMPLY AMAZING! He liked them and I liked how easy it was. I'm also putting this in my file for party food!