My Family's Prize Taco Soup Recipe

Grab your soup spoon and get ready for your taste buds to shout "hurray!" This taco soup is both delicious and most satisfying meal. You can add or delete ingredients to suit your taste. I've been making this recipe for years and folks and family are always ready for more.

Although this particular recipe calls for meat, if you're a vegetarian (like me), simply leave out the meat and use soy products instead. Or just make the soup without any meat or soy. It will still be a mouth-watering meal that will leave your family begging for seconds.

There are endless variations for this taco soup recipe. It's fun to experiment and get creative with this filling and tasty treat. Once you have all your ingredients together, it takes no time at all to prepare. So get your cutting board ready and let's begin.

Tennessee Taco Soup - Serves 16

• 2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 2 packages mild or original taco seasoning mix
• 2 cans Rotel Tomatoes (keep mild for this)
• 2 16 oz. cans tomato sauce
• 8 cups water (I use filtered)
• 2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained
• 2 cans black beans
• 2 7 oz. chopped green chilies (mild or hot - but I'd go mild if I were you)
• 1 sliced avocado (optional)
• Low-fat sour cream (optional)

1. Brown the meat along with onions and garlic in about 2 tablespoons of oil. (I use olive oil, but any will do)
2. Drain well.
3. Add other ingredients in order given above.
4. Simmer on low for 30 minutes or longer.
5. Serve with shredded cheese, tortillas, tortilla chips or corn chips.

This is one of my favorite dishes for parties and family gatherings. Guests can dish up the soup into a festive bowl and add the cheese and chips as desired. It's always a big hit!

Soup has been around for thousands of years. Its hard to imagine that our very early ancestors were robbed of the pleasure of eating certain plants just because boiling water was unheard of. They also were unable to eat the bones of animals or benefit from the nutritional value of these bones.

A good healthy soup can be whipped up using just about anything found in your refrigerator or pantry. Here are a few suggestions:

• Leftovers. Don't toss small amounts of left-over food down the drain. These "extras" make a great addition to soup.
• Spices. Need more flavor in your soup? Experiment with those bottles of spices that have been sitting on the kitchen shelf for so long.
• Canned or frozen vegetables. If you have a can of green beans, corn, or any type of beans, add them to your soup. This can be a good way to get the kids to eat more vegetables and fiber.
• If your celery is in the limp stage, just soak the stalks in ice water for a few minutes. It will be as good as new. Cut into bit size pieces and add to the soup for a terrific flavor.

Soup can be comforting and soul warming. There's just nothing like a nice hot cup of soup on a cold winters day. And if we catch a bug of some kind, home-made chicken soup tastes good when nothing else does.

Soup just can't be served without the following rules:

• Must be served hot or to individuals preference.
• A napkin is a must or in my case, a bib.
• Salt and pepper available but don't think you need it with taco soup. Be careful not to over-salt. Some folks must watch their sodium intake. Better to use less salt and let each person add to their liking. If you do find that you've over-salted, a potato will draw out some of the salt.
• Ice water, upon request.
• Serve with crackers or hot buttered rolls.
• Serve with a big smile

• Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor .

Marge Kennedy

• What does good in bed mean to me? When I'm sick and I stay home from school propped up with lots of pillows watching TV and my mom brings me soup - that's good in bed .

Brooke Shields

• What's a soup kitchen ? - Paris Hilton
• When I was having that alphabet soup, I never thought it would pay off . - Vanna White
• “Cold soup is a very tricky thing and it is the rare hostess who can carry it off. More often than not the dinner guest is left with the impression that had he only come a little earlier he could have gotten it while it was still hot.”

Fran Lebowitz, journalist

• “Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living. For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish.”

Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949)

• “Soup is the song of the hearth... and the home.”

Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949)

And here's a commercial that will forever remain with me:

(Set to music)

Mmmmm good

Mmmmm good

That's what campbell soup is

Mmmmmmm...good.

http://Source essentialhospitals.org