Superhero the Chef!

I mentioned a few days ago that Superhero and I were making Crockpot Taco Soup. And I also told you I'd post the recipe along with some pics of the main chef for this project.

The first requirement for this soup is, of course, a crockpot. Let me also tell you that I'm not cheap, but I'm easy. If you haven't heard of or used these liners, you don't know what you are missing. I always hated cleaning up the crockpot, but with these babies, clean up is a snap. Just gather that liner up and pitch it into the trash. Your mess is pretty much cleaned up at this point. Believe me it's worth the cost of the liners. And they aren't really that expensive.

Next is the ingredients. Since I started attempting to copy the way a certain blogger shows all the necessaries, I have found that I like doing this whether I'm working on a photo op for my blog or not. By gathering everything you will need(right down to the can opener), you know up front if you have all the ingredients(no surprises).

As you can see, there's lots of cans to this recipe. That's one of the secrets to the speed with which you can make it, that is unless you have Superhero helping. Then it takes a while no matter what. Complete recipe to follow.

The first thing was to open all the cans. I intended to open all of them and then let him empty them into the crock pot. NOT! As quickly as I could get them open, he was dumping(shaking) them into the pot. This added a bit to the cleanup.

He even got the hang of digging any that were stuck out of the can.

Next came the onions. I chopped them into big chuncks and let him use the mini food chopper to dice them up. He really likes working with 'power tools'.

Being the brave memaw that I am, I even allowed him to dump the onions into the skillet so we could saute them. Isn't he doing a great job?

He stirred them a while, but notice how far back and how long the handle is on that spoon. Didn't want the fire department knocking on the back door. You may also notice the Spiderman pj's he has on.

Next came the ground beef. I got it going really well, and then let him stir. He wanted to be involved in every aspect of this project.

But the final thing he did best was to sample. By this time he was pretty hungry even though I'd fed him a snack when we got home. He saved room for a bowl, then as soon as he was finished, off to bed he went.

Next morning, I made a pan of cornbread and took the pot, some fritos, cheese and all the other things they would need to eat in the middle of a move to the new house. The pot was full, and they had enough to eat two meals and feed a stray dog.

I promised you the recipe. Here it is. Hope you make it on a cold day and get all warm and toasty inside. And remember, this is a very versatile soup. Leave out anything you don't like and throw in some things you do. Personalize it.

Taco Soup in the Crockpot

2 pounds ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pink kidney beans
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomatoes with chiles
2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chiles
1 (4.6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional
1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
Corn chips, for serving
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheese, for garnish
Chopped green onions, for garnish
Pickled jalapenos, for garnish
Directions
Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.