The mountains are snow capped, we've fired up the wood stove, hands need gloves and thermoses of hot chocolate are almost mandatory to make it through a crisp evening football game. Which means...'tis the season for soups! We have four children, so finding recipes everyone likes, can warm their tummies, and can serve dual purposes, I scoop up as fast as I can. It's so simple, you'll feel like you're on rewind as you prepare it. I wanted to share one of our family's favorite soup, and how it can triple as a couple freezer meals all in the same. Here goes...drum roll...Taco Soup! Ha...I know you're probably laughing, but in all seriousness, this little soup has saved my bacon on several occasions. First, it's just hearty, more vegetables can be added if you wanted something like bell peppers, and it can be served with strips of tortilla chips or Spanish rice. My kids always wash it down with a big glass of cold milk, too. It's also a great way to either prep several pounds of burger for this meal as well as for tacos, or vice-versa, if you have taco leftovers...throw this all together to make a few more servings carry their weight. It's also a great recipe to share with someone who could use the blessing, take to sports parties or fall holiday events-like Halloween parties (Get something in those kiddos bellies before the sugar hits) and you can make it now, so it's super easy for the times you really could use it. This soup
freezes well, and all that needs to happen is thawing and heating to safe and edible temperatures. I'll add my notes with the recipe.
Taco Soup-Doubled
4 lbs burger (domestic or wild burger)
4-6 cups chicken stock
2-15 oz. cans of Rotel (or like) tomatoes
1-15 oz. can of black beans
1-15 oz. can of pinto beans
2-15 oz. can of whole corn
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 packages of taco seasoning
2 cups of shredded cheese (your preference)
1 bunch of cilantro*
Sour cream*
Tortilla chips*
Salsa (optional)*
Directions: I'm a classic dump everything in a crock pot and let it simmer all day until everything is fully cooked. Then I'll save half of it for dinner, and the other half I'll let cool then place in a gallon freezer bag, except for the starred (*) items. I do place 1 cup of shredded cheese in a quart sized Ziplock bag, tape it to the batch of soup's Ziplock bag so they are all attached. I'll label and date it, and place both bags in the freezer. You can also, brown all the burger-drain then place it and all the remaining ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 or so minutes. Let it cool then split the soup into two equal batches, find your container of preference add the cheese in a container or Ziplock bag. I like Ziplock bags because I can lay it flat and stack other meals easily on top and it doesn't take up too much freezer space. For the meat...if you wanted to double your burger, and brown a couple extra pounds and add the taco seasoning, you could split it off when you're making up the soup, and freeze that portion of meat for another meal like tacos, taco salads, burritos, etc. So you just added almost two more additional meals to your freezer meals. And...please don't forget to share it with someone! Enjoy!