Judy’s Taco Soup.

Tuesdays, Hannah comes over for the day, and I plan dinner for both our families.  We cook it together (or one of us watches kids while the other cooks) and then we divide it up and she takes it home to have dinner with T.O.M. and their kids.  Since our family just ordered a quarter-beef to be slaughtered next month, and I’ve still got many pounds of ground beef in the freezer from last spring, I’m trying to use it all up.  Tonight:  Taco Soup.  (We doubled it.)

This recipe is shamelessly copied from my mother-in-law.  She must have come across the recipe within the last few years or so, because I think I have a memory of it being a "new" recipe at some time.  Anyway, it goes in the same category with my emergency chili:  since most of the ingredients can come from a can or your freezer, it can be produced on about half an hour’s notice, or can be the first thing you make upon coming home from a week of vacation.  Don’t substitute for the seasoning packets.

Judy’s Taco Soup

• 2 lbs ground beef, browned in a skillet and (if it’s not very lean) drained.
• 1 – 15 oz can light red kidney beans
• 1- 15 oz can pinto beans
• 1- 15 oz can white hominy
• 1 -15 oz can corn (not cream style)
• 1 – small can (12 oz maybe?) RO*TEL brand tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 – 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 envelope taco seasoning mix
• 1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch dressing/dip mix
• About 2-3 cups of beef stock or water

DO NOT DRAIN ANY OF THE CANS.  Put everything, including the liquid from the cans, in a soup pot, bring to a boil, reduce, and let simmer until you’re ready to eat it.  (The slow cooker also works for this just fine and dandy.) 

Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.  Maybe sour cream too.

It needs nothing more than a salad.  Tonight I served it with sauteed okra according to Hannah’s instructions (preheat cast iron skillet, add lots of olive oil, dump bag of frozen cut okra in, stir and cook until browned, salt and pepper).  I thought it went together nicely, although Milo proclaimed the okra really really gross.