Channeling my Inner PD!

That's Paula Deen, for those of you who don't know.

My personality is one that hates hates reading directions. I'd prefer to dump everything out and just go for it. Unfortunately, that has led to several IKEA mishaps (can I get an AMEN?!).

That bad personality trait filters over to cooking as well. I will look over a recipe and then decide I can make it better (I can't), and then I'm disappointed when it turns out poorly. I cannot count the times that I have "modified" a recipe and then wondered why Andrew didn't want to eat it.

So, Saturday night it was rainy & chilly here. I decided it was definitely a soup night. For me, a bowl of soup is a meal. For my husband, it's an appetizer. Soooo, if I was going to make soup, and not have to worry about having to cook an additional meal to go with it, I needed to make it substantial. Enter Paula Deen's Taco Soup.

Ya'll, it was SO good. My husband said when he saw the "we are having taco soup" text come through, he was not thrilled. But he loved it! Raved the entire time he was eating it about how good it was. 

Now, I am going to list all the ingredients, but I need to let you know....I did change some things. Old habits die HARD around here. Some of the changes were purely based on our specific dislikes (chunky tomatoes) and money (soup shouldn't cost $30 to make).

I am no photographer. This is what it looked like, just believe me.

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 cans pinto beans (I only did one can since Andrew isn't a bean fan)
1 can pink kidney beans (I did light red instead)
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes (I did tomato puree b/c we don't like chunky tomatoes)
1 can diced tomatoes (left this out entirely)
1 can tomatoes with chiles (I just purchased Rotel)
1 can diced green chiles
1 can black olives, drained & sliced - optional (I did these as a garnish b/c I don't like black olives)
1/2 cup green olives, sliced - optional (left out entirely)
1 packet of Taco seasoning mix (we like spicy, so I used a mild mix)
1 packet ranch salad dressing mix
Tortilla chips, for dipping
Sour cream, cheese, pickled jalapenos - for garnish

Directions
1. Brown your meat with the onions. I personally made my meat on the chunky side. 
2. Mix everything else in your crockpot (pintos, kidneys, corn, all tomatoes, chiles, black olives, green olives).
3. Rinse meat & add to crockpot (I did not rinse my meat, rebel).
4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
5. Serve with garnishes.

EASY! This recipe is for 14-16 servings, so be ready to share with friends! :)

Happy Tuesday & much love!