Recipe: Taco Soup

 Taco Soup

Ingredients:

2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans pinto beans (1 cup dry beans soaked overnight)

2 cans corn, un-drained

3 cans diced tomatoes with chilies, undrained

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet ranch seasoning

1 pound ground beef or turkey, browned and drained

shredded cheese, green onions & sour cream for garnish

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in crockpot, cover and cook on low 8-10 hours, or high for 4-5. The longer the better!

The Verdict:

I didn't put enough water over my beans when they were soaking, so they took longer to cook the next day than they should have, but 9 hours in, they were perfect! Because my cans of tomatoes had really hot chilies in them, I only put in half of the taco seasoning, and it was perfectly spicy for my taste. This made a HUGE batch of soup, probably could feed 6-8 people with large portions. I ended up freezing 2/3 of it for another day. It was so yummy, and a great way for us to add some beans into our diets. The beef gave it a good flavor, but I could see using a can of chicken instead for a completely shelf-stable meal. I've made this several times before with just using canned beans and it's one of our favorite meals, especially on Sundays in the crock, ready for when guests come to eat after church! (PS it's hard to wait the whole time because it makes the house smell so delicious! but it really is like chili, the longer it cooks in the crock, the better it tastes!) Even people who don't like beans that much, have said they enjoyed this soup.

Food Storage Spotlight: Dry Pinto Beans

I was trying to find a good recipe that I knew we already liked that used canned beans, to try to use dry beans. I've had a #10 can of pinto beans in my pantry for over a year that I used once on a test-batch that failed miserably. I just don't know how to cook beans. After a lot of research online, I decided to give it another go, only using a little bit of dry beans, just in case it didn't turn out again, the meal would still be salvageable. Luckily, this one turned out great! 

It is recommended that you eat beans 3 times a week, and I have found it to be a great source of protein, especially combined with some rice or whole-wheat rolls. It makes sense to keep these on hand, especially when we can't always afford to have meat on the table, because it is SO inexpensive! It does take a little prep-work (which is why I use a dinner calendar as a rough outline each month of what we're going to eat-it helps with remembering what to thaw in the fridge and what to pull out the night before) but in my opinion it is totally worth it! Dry beans aren't so scary anymore, and with more practice I think we'll be eating them a lot more often now instead of canned beans. (Not that there's anything wrong with canned beans, I still keep them in my pantry!)