Letters From the Loony Bin

Snow Day and Taco Soup

Driving clear across the state for a gymnastics meet, we narrowly avoided a blizzard that blew through most of Minnesota on Sunday night. The winds continued to howl most of yesterday, and as a result schools, including the university, highways and interstates were closed. Which meant no work and no school.

I was grateful for the extended weekend. My house was cleaned, clothes were washed, and I threw together a soup for dinner. Because we've been on the road two weekends in a row, my pantry was a bit bare. I had to get creative with my ingredients for this soup and I must say, it turned out super (pardon the pun!). I have agreed to share the recipe as long as no one pokes fun at my use of ingredients!

1 lb ground beef (I used ground venison)

1 medium onion

1 15 oz can Hormel No Bean Chili

1 15 oz can black beans

1 14.75 oz can cream style corn

1 C frozen corn

1 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes and green chilis

1 6 oz can tomato sauce

2 14.5 oz cans of tomatoes (whole, crushed, or diced)

1 9 oz package of taco seasoning mix

1 teas. ground cumin

1/2 teas. crushed red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef with onion, salt and pepper to taste. Drain beef mixture. Add Hormel Chili, taco seasoning mix, cumin, and red pepper flakes, mix well. Transfer meat and seasoning mixture to crock pot (I used my 5 qt pot). Add remaining ingredients along with additional salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with choice of condiments; cheese, sour cream, corn chips, etc.

Cream style corn and Hormel Chili???? Really??? I know it sounds strange, but I found that the cream style corn and hormel chili helped to provide some body to the soup and kept it from becoming too running as it cooked. In addition any type of bean could be substituted for the black beans. I just happen to be partial to black beans. Try it! I promise you'll like it!