Taco Soup

On my old hunk of junk desktop that's slower than frozen molasses because my bf's  laptop fried, so I can't get access to my vaca photos. So a recipe!

Taco Soup
This soup is insanely easy to make and really really good because it tastes even better as leftovers. It makes a lot though. Even with just a few cans of stuff. If you're making it for less than 4 people, prepare to be eating it for a while. It is great to have on hand for cold rainy days or when you just don't feel like cooking, because it's pretty healthy. Not much fat in it.

Serves: A lot...
Ingredients:

• 1 package Taco seasoning
• 1 pound ground meat (optional)
• 1 large can of diced or crushed tomatoes (crushed makes a thicker consistency)
• 1 can of yellow corn
• 1 can of white corn
• 2-3+ cans of beans (kidney, black, red, chili, etc. What ever kinds you like.)
• Cornbread, box mix or from scratch, or tortilla chips.

Directions:

Optional: Cook the meat in the bottom of a large pot (don't add oil) and add the taco seasoning to it.

1. Open all the cans and dump everything in to a large pot. If you didn't add meat, add the taco seasoning now.
2. Heat through.
3. Done. I said it was easy.

Also optional, but highly recommended: Bake up some corn bread while the soup/stew is heating.

Serving suggestions: Put a piece of cornbread in the bottom of the bowl and pour soup over top. You can add sour cream or cheese if you'd like. I personally prefer it with out.

P.S. You can easily double (or triple) this for a potluck or large gathering. Just add more cans of everything!

Easy Peasy Chicken and Dumplings

It was my day off, my boyfriend gets home in an hour, I'm hungry, and I'm really tired. I was craving something doughy and chewy and it was chicken night. I text my boyfriend "chicken and dough. Come up with something." I got "chicken and dumplings?" Perfect!! Only problem? I'm tired and don't want to do much work. So how to make soup with out having to do more work that opening cans? This is what I came up with.

Super Easy Peasy Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

Soup:
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (so great to keep on hand for quick and easy meals) + 1 can Water
1 can Corn (Added on whim because I like corn)
1 Chicken breast, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Dumplings:
Approx. 2-3 cups flour (I didn't measure, just dumped some flour in the bowl) + enough water to make a stiff dough

Mix the Cream of Mushroom soup and the water. The narrower the pot you use the better. Add in the whole can of corn, including the water. Add salt and pepper as desired. Set aside for now.

For the dumpling, mix the water in to the flour, a little at a time, until it form a stiff dough. If you want to add some salt and pepper, ad it to the flour before adding the water. I say this from experience. Bring the dough together in to a ball or rope, which ever is easier for you to work with, I did a ball because my kitchen lacks counter space. Pull or cut chunks off loosely rolling them in to balls, dropped them in to the soup, leaving space between them. Doesn't matter if they are full covered.

Simmer the soup on low - medium. The dumplings will probably stick a bit, but it would cause trouble. Let the dumplings cooked part way through and then flip them over.

For the chicken, chop it in to bite size chunks and brown them in a pan. When they are cooked, dump the chicken into the soup and let it all cook until the dumplings are cooked through.

Serve and enjoy!

This cook and hour total from start to finish. It's super quick and easy when you don't have the time to make something big.