Taco Soup?

It makes me laugh at myself that I'm posting the recipe for taco soup, but I have a suggestion for it, so I'll just put the whole thing up here anyway. I love this soup, because it's one of the few that almost everyone in our family (that includes my weirdo soup-a-phobic children) will eat.

Now that we aren't eating canned beans, all you need is a bag of each of the following: black, pinto and red beans. I combine half of each of the bags of beans and cook them all to package directions. Yes, that's a lot of beans, but when they are cooked, you take half of the batch and freeze them so the next time you make taco soup, half the work is already done!

(I would also like to point out that for around $3, you've enough beans for 4 large batches of soup. Cheap!)

Next I brown a pound of ground turkey in a skillet. (Cast iron. We'll talk about that later.)

You're also going to need a bag of frozen corn. No canned. And I use organic corn, trying hard to stay away from GMO's.

I don't think you want me to get into this, but GMO's are genetically modified organisms. Basically scientists genetically modify food, for you guessed it, financial reasons mostly. I prefer to eat my food non-genetically modified. There is a lot of research that points out several dangers of eating genetically modified food, which probably isn't too hard to imagine the dangers of. A simple Google search will yield plenty of reading material, if you're so inclined. 

So we have our organic (or if you're perfectly normal and don't worry about these sort of strange things like GMO's - non-organic) bag of frozen corn.

I use about half of the bag, for our soup, that we're making, if you've forgotten that we are actually discussing a recipe here, which apparently I have.

Whew. I need a re-cap.

So far:

• Dried black, pinto and red beans, half a bag each, prepared by package directions. (I also reserve some of the bean juice for the soup.)
• 1 pound ground turkey (or if you're a red meat eater, ground... meat.)
• Half a bag of frozen corn. 

Now add some fresh (or canned, if you're normal) tomatoes. How many is up to you. I like to use more of the vegetables and less meat, since meat is more expensive and less healthy than vegetables, for the most part. I throw in maybe two tomatoes. 

Taco seasoning. I had a hard time finding any that didn't have any MSG in it. I won't make you cry by talking about MSG today, but it's not really that good of a thing. It's also in nearly all processed foods, so I avoid it when I can to make up for when I can't. I stumbled upon this recipe for taco seasoning years ago, and I make it up and keep in it a sealed glass container to use for tacos, burritos, taco soup, etc. It's super easy, and, here it comes... cheap!

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You simply mix all the spices together, and there you have it. Taco seasoning. I actually quadruple the recipe so I don't have to make is as often. It stays in my cabinet. (I wanted to say cupboard since that sounds so much more romantic and antiquated, but I didn't. I have cabinets. Sadly.) It keeps nicely in the glass covered container.

How much seasoning you use in the soup is up to you. Make it as wimpy or as spicy as you like. 

So finally, here is the terrifically simple soup I've made terribly difficult with GMO's and homemade taco seasoning:

• Dried bean concoction
• 1 pound of ground turkey
• 1/2 bag of corn
• 4Tish of taco seasonings (or your choice amount)
• 2 fresh (or canned) tomatoes

I usually simmer the soup on the stove for at least 30 minutes. The flavors need to meld. Or what ever word foodies use to say the flavors need to mix up. Cook it in a slow cooker if you're feeling so inclined. That's easy and it makes the whole house smell you, and also makes you hungry long before it's time to eat.

I top with shredded cheddar cheese (and sour cream when I have it and am feeling dangerous) and scoop with corn chips. Yum!