Taco Soup Fiesta *~

Gooood Morning all of my healthy loves!!! ;)

How are ya'll doing?? (I know, I live wayyyy up north, but my heart is in the South. Southern Wisco that is, hehehe <3)
Its going to get down to 28 degrees here, oh brrrr! That is why I made homemade soup last night :D We also are starting to cover our garden at night due to Frost Advisory Warnings! OH EM GEE!
On a brighter note; because of the cooler weather my sinuses dont feel like they are going to explode today. Still not 100% better, but we're making progress... baby steps ;)
A friend of mine gave me local honey to try too (I hear that helps!) -- thanks Kristi!! xo

I hope this blog post finds you all well and happy!! ITS THURSDAY! wooot! ...I am looking forward to Saturday -- spending time with my fellow Sorority sisters, and Rich with some fellow Marines. A good friend of mine is gettin' hitched! We are pumped:) Until then, lots of rest, vitamins, and healthy eatin'.

Hubby & I have been discussing what to do for our 2 year anniversary(yeah, 2 years! it went by wayyyy fast.) ~ I want to go to a new local brewery (Im the coolest wife ever, basically?! haha) --- there are two we narrowed it down to....
http://www.redeyebrewing.com/downloads/redeye_menufall2010.pdf  ---seriously check this menu out. NOMSSSS.
ORRRRR ~~~http://www.minocquabrewingcompany.com/    what do you think? :) Minocqua is further, so it would be a little road trip... thats the one we are leaning toward. The other one is less of a drive and we could even go there on a week night.

OK, enough babbling!!...Moving onto the Taco Soup Recipe many of you have requested... I ended up adding stuff in at the last minute because it tasted kinda bland to me :) Its one of those soups you can just keep adding to until its perfecto;)

Ingredients you will need: (I added a few of my own so this isnt the original recipe. It tasted bland so I added the last 3 ingredients at the end.)

• No Salt Added tomato sauce
• Green Chiles
• Black Beans; drained,rinsed
• Pinto Beans; drained
• Kidney Beans; drained,rinsed
• 2 cans No Salt Added tomatoes (I think next time I'll add the ones w/ green chiles in them.)
• 1 Packet Ranch
• 1 Packet Reduced Sodium Taco Seasoning (I think next time I might add 2?!)
• Salsa of Choice (eye it up)
• Little taco sauce
• Chili powder
• 1 lb lean ground beef(I use grass-fed. U could use soy crumbles, chicken, ground turkey,etc!)
• Red Onion
• Banana pepper(optional)
• Seasonings of choice to brown meat with (I used garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder and fresh cracked pepper)

Make it!:

• Brown meat with red onion, banana pepper and seasonings
• Combine meat and rest of ingredients into crock pot (as pictured above;)) Stir well.
• Turn crock pot to low for 8 hrs or high for 4 hours. "Keep Warm" until ready to serve!
• Optional toppings: Light Natural Sour Cream,Red Fat Cheese, and Multigrain or Baked crushed tortilla chips (I used all three;))

Seriously so delish... you must make now;)

Someone also suggested stirring in refried beans... seriously the options are endless with this, make it YOUR own!! or use my recipe;) So easy, and as you see... cheap to make with all my great value brand stuff hahaha!! :D

Up next on the blog: More eats from yesterday/today;)
XOXOXO