Pages

Friday, January 26, 2024

One Pot Taco Soup

In the middle of winter with no signs of warm weather in sight, we put soup recipes into rotation at our house! And trust me when I tell you that nothing will warm you up faster than a comfort food like this vegetarian taco soup. With only one pot needed to make this soup, it's an easy-to-make dinner!

As written, the recipe is a healthy, high protein vegan meal, but I've included instructions for adding ground beef for the meat eaters in your family, so you can serve it either way. (We serve it both ways in our home!)


One Pot Taco Soup

Soup Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 15 oz. can light red kidney beans, undrained

1 15 oz. can dark red kidney beans, undrained

1 15 oz. can canneloni beans, undrained

1 15 oz. can chili beans, undrained,

1 15 oz. can black beans, undrained

1 15 oz. can pinto beans, undrained

1 15 oz. can corn, undrained

1 15 oz. can Rotel, undrained

2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 28 oz. can tomato puree

4 cups water

1 1/2 1 oz. packets Taco Seasoning Mix, or 4 1/2 Tbsp. homemade taco seasoning mix

1 oz. packet Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning, or 3 Tbsp. homemade ranch dressing mix

1 1/2 pound ground beef (optional)

Garnishes

green onions, chopped

fresh cilantro, chopped

jalapenos, sliced for serving

avocados, peeled and chopped

limes, sliced for serving

sour cream

hot sauce

shredded cheese

  1. Heat olive oil in a large 8-quart pot over medium heat. Saute onion until soft and translucent.
  2. Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  3. Add tomatoes and spices, stirring to combine.
  4. Add remaining soup ingredients, and stir to combine.
  5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
  6. Serve topped with garnishes of your choice.


Notes:

If adding ground beef, brown it along with onions in step 1. Drain grease before proceeding with the rest of the recipe as written.

You'll notice that the beans in this recipe are not drained and rinsed, as in many recipes. This ensures that all of the vitamins and minerals in the beans are still there when you add them to the recipe. It also helps to thicken the soup. If you're worried about adding extra sodium to the recipe, make sure to use no salt added or reduced sodium beans.

This recipe makes a big pot of soup to feed a large group of people. Because our family has two vegetarians and two meat eaters, we typically follow all of the directions through step 4, combining all of the ingredients except the meat into an 8-quart pot. Then, we cook the ground beef in a separate 8-quart pot and split half of the combined soup ingredients from the first pot into the pot with the ground beef. This makes two 4-quart soups out of the recipe (one vegetarian soup and one meat-based soup).

Does Taco Soup Freeze Well?

Yes! You can either freeze taco soup before cooking, or you can cook it first and then freeze to reheat later. (This works well with leftovers.) Either way, the flavors in the soup will remain the same. Taco soup can be stored in the freezer for 4-6 months.



Serve Taco Soup With

Other Soup Recipes You'll Love

Monday, January 8, 2024

How to Upcycle Your Photo Christmas Cards into a Valentine's Day Banner

As I started taking down the Christmas decorations and storing them for next year,  I thought maybe I could find a way to upcycle my Christmas cards from this year.  I decided to use them to make a Valentine's Day banner.  This turned out to be such a fun and easy project!  And I think you will like it too!  What better way to enter the season of love than to be surrounded by photos of friends and family!


Here's a list of the materials I used to make this Valentine's banner: 

  • Photo Christmas Cards
  • Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter (or stencil)
  • Marker or Pen
  • Scissors
  • Hole Punch
  • Twine or Ribbon


Step 1:  Sort your Christmas cards.  I had A LOT of photo cards, but a handful of other cards too.  I only used the photo cards for this project.  I sorted all others into a separate pile to be stored for Christmas crafts next year.  


Step 2: Use your heart shaped cookie cutter or stencil to trace a heart around the picture you want to feature on your banner.  Some cards only have one photo and some have lots.  I positioned my cookie cutter a few times before deciding which photos to use for my banner.  Depending on the layout of the card you are using, you may need to rotate your stencil slightly to get the desired image inside your heart. 





Step 3: Once you have all your hearts drawn, carefully cut them out. 







Step 4:  Using your hole punch, punch two holes in the top of each heart shape.  Be careful not to punch too close to the edge of your heart or over anything (or anyone) important!



Step 5:  Finally, use your twine or ribbon to string your hearts together.  Your banner is complete and ready to display!





I love how this little banner turned out!  And I hope you will give it a try too!

Make sure you check out these other Harris Sisters blog posts for ideas on how to decorate for Valentine's Day: