Incredibly Easy Taco Soup

There is something about the winter that makes me crave homemade soups. Maybe it is because by this time of the year I am over anything to do with ham or turkey.

So last night I decided to make taco soup. This is my version of the soup that I first learned about at a Weight Watchers meeting years ago.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

TACO SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound Lean Ground Beef
Package Taco Seasoning
Package Ranch Dressing Mix
1 Can Great Northern Beans
1 Can Light Red Kidney Beans
1 Can Black Beans (rinsed)
2 Cans Diced Tomatoes (I like the ones with Basil, Garlic, & Oregano it gives it more flavor)
1 Can Corn – we use Gold and White but you could use any kind
1 Can water

Extras:

Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Tortilla Chips

First step is to brown the ground beef. Put about 1/4 of the packet of ranch and taco seasoning in with the meat when you are browning, it gives the meat a much better taste. I will admit that when I use lean ground beef, I cook it down so that there isn’t anything to drain. (Probably not the best idea for weight watcher followers.)

After the ground beef has cooked, combine all your ingredients into a large pot – REMEBER ONLY DRAIN AND RINSE the black beans. Add all the other cans with the liquid plus a can of water and the remainder of the seasoning packets.

Bring to a boil

Let Simmer for about 30 minutes

Enjoy! Top with Shredded Cheese and Sour Cream if you wish and then enjoy with Tortilla chips!

Ignore my messy bowl…. 🙂

 

Summer Squash, Onion and Tomato Recipe

We have this great traveling type farmer’s market here and you can go and pay the guy $20 and get all the fruits and vegetables your family can eat for a week.

We went for the first time this past Tuesday and it is a great deal. However, I realized today as I was looking through the fridge that I had some things that were going to go bad if I didn’t eat them.

So I came up with this quick and easy Summer Squash, Onion and Tomato Recipe. And it was delicious not a real original name, though!

Ingredients:

3 small summer squashed – sliced
1 large onion – chopped
2 large tomatoes – (I cut them in big chunks, about 12 chunks from each tomato)
1 TBS Olive Oil
2 TBS water

Directions:

Heat olive oil on medium heat and toss in sliced squash
Sautee squash for about 5 minutes and add water & onion
cooking until onions and squash are soft
add chunked tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes until tomatoes are soft

Season to your liking, I added garlic salt

Makes 4 servings – 2 WW points plus per serving.

 

I had it for lunch and it was delicious. It would also be a very good side item with your meal.

A great side for those of us following the Weight Watchers plan.

 

 

Its Soup Time!

It is that time of year again. The weather is getting cold and when we think about dinner we start thinking about comfort foods and soups. No wonder we gain so much weight in the winter months. Along with all the holidays we have a natural drawing towards comfort foods.

I made a great Chicken soup last night and I just have to share it with you. I know this isn’t a food blog but it is about life and we have to eat to live. The challenge for me is that I love comfort foods and I am on Weight Watchers. On Weight Watchers you can eat just about anything you want as long as you count your points, but you want to use those points wisely.

So I took a recipe from Campbells Kitchen, Mom’s Favorite Chicken Soup and tweaked it and bulked it up. Here is the original recipe.   http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipes/recipedetails?recipeid=25806&fm=internal_search
I took away some of the fat but kept all the flavor. This is a very yummy soup and for you Weight Watchers conscience cookers like me, my version is only 6 WW Points Plus for a cup. I promise you though you will feel guilty eating it, it is so good.

So Here it is:
Shelly’s Yummy Chicken Soup

• 4 Cups Water
• 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (uncooked)
• 2 Stalks Celery Chopped
• 1 Medium Onion Coarsely Choppped
• 2 Cups Baby Carrots Sliced into 4 lengthwise strips
• 2 Cups potatoes cut into about 1” pieces
• 1 Cup Frozen Peas
• 1 Cup Frozen Whole Kernel Corn
• 2 10 ¾ Oz Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
• 2 Slices American Cheese Singles
• 2 Slices Low-Fat American Cheese Singles
• Salt
• Pepper
• Franks Red Hot Sauce

Directions:

Place uncooked chicken breast and chopped celery in the 4 Cups of water, season water with salt and pepper to your taste and boil chicken breast until done on medium heat. About 40 minutes.

When chicken breasts are done remove them from water and set aside. You should have about 3 cups of chicken broth left in the pot.

Add Onions and Carrots to broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and add potatoes, peas, and corn, cook for approx 20-30 minutes or until veggies are all tender, stirring as needed.

While the veggies are cooking take your cooled chicken breast and pull apart into chunks or shredded pieces. It should have boiled so tender that you can do this with your hands. Remove any pieces of fat you come across. You will only be using 10oz of the chicken (it is best if you have a food scale to measure out the 10 oz) Shredded this goes a long way.

When the veggies are tender add the shredded chicken, canned soup and 4 cheese slices. Stir until cheese is fully melted.

Serve with hot sauce if desired (we put this in our individual bowls so that our 2 year old could eat and it is not too spicy)

Makes 8 – 1 Cup Servings for 6 WW Points Plus Points.

Ok hope you guys enjoy as much as I did.

Have a great day!