Feliz Cinco de Mayo

I'm getting talented at preparing holiday-themed meals.

Tonight's Cinco de Mayo meals consisted of tacos with beans, lettuce, seasoned ground beef, black olives, cheese, sour cream, taco sauce, and hard and soft shells.

Oh, and margaritas for the adults!

Spicy Taco Soup Recipe

I don't normally hand out recipes because I'm not a cook. Well, not usually. There are about a handful of dishes that I can cook, which is why I like to use my crockpot. Crockpotting is not cooking. It is throwing a bunch of non-cooked items into a big pot and keeping your fingers crossed that it comes out cooked and tasting good.

Last week I went to a little cafe near where I dropped my mother off at her doctor's appointment. I had not had lunch and hadn't really eaten much of a breakfast, and I knew if I was going to continue to function then I needed something to fill my belly. The cafe is mostly a deli with sandwiches of all types of different varieties. They have a soup of the day and that day the soup was "Spicy Taco Soup". The lady explained that it was a weight watchers recipe and quite delicious. I had some and agreed it was scrumptious.

Later that night I looked the recipe up online. I copied it and the suggestions made by others on how to improve it. Last night I made a big pot of it and served it to my family and in-laws. No one died and everyone loved it. So I thought I would share.

Spicy Taco Soup

1. Brown a pound of ground turkey in a skillet and dump it into a crockpot. (May use beef or chicken as well. I used turkey and found it quite tasty, not to mention healthy.)
2. Add a can of Rotel diced tomatoes including the liquid. (This comes in many varieties and degrees of hotness. Because my daughter doesn't like spicy I used mild.)
3. Add a can of diced tomatoes including the liquid. (I put them in my hand and squeezed, creating a juice. I don't care for large chunks of tomatoes so this took care of the problem and it made more of a soup texture.)
4. Add a can of black beans, a can of pinto beans, and a can of chili beans.
5. Add a can of green beans and a can of corn.
6. Add a packet of taco seasoning (I used a pack and a half)Add a packet of Hidden Valley dressing.
7. Stir, cover and cook on high or low depending on how fast you need it.

Serve in a bowl with any or all of the following, depending on your tastes: sour cream, shredded cheese, taco sauce, crushed taco shells or Tostada chips, cilantro, black olives, chopped lettuce. I put all of these into individual bowls and let each person top his soup the way he preferred.
A delightful meal, but be aware that the beans can cause a little gas the next day. Enjoy!