Skinny Taco Soup

Knowing that I am headed back to work in a matter of a week has me slightly anxious. Where did the last 14 months go? And in all honesty - where did the last 3 years go? This will be the first time that I am headed back without a baby bump and just 6 months to work in a couple years! Eeek.

So on my never-ending to-do list is to create a list of meals that are both easy, quick and yummy for all ages. This is a serious task for me. Especially considering I don't love to cook. I wish that I was good at it, but it's simply not my thing. That is why I put the word 'easy' as the first word in that description. That said, I do love to eat.

One of the things that I want to start making is soups. Winter is around the corner and not only do they make the perfect dinner, I'm thinking they will also be great to take the next day for lunch.

So this was my first attempt! The Skinny Taco Soup. Love the word skinny in there ...gives me that added sense of accomplishment, as though I am just a natural dieter. I am not. Mostly I just don't have the time to think all that much about it, so I do what I can here and there ...but do always aim to make sure my kids lives are packed full of goodness.

This was literally one of the easiest meals that I have ever made - and tasty! The kids didn't really love it, but I think I could put it down in front of them next Tuesday and it could be a whole different experience. You just never know. I'm sure moms get it.

Here's what I did:

• First I cooked ground chicken (it called for turkey, but they didn't have any in the store and ground beef would also be yummy ...just a little higher in calories)
• Then I threw the following into a big pot:
• 1 large can of stewed tomatoes
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 can of tomato soup (add the water if you want the soup to be runnier ...we liked it chunky)
• cooked ground chicken (or turkey or beef ..,whatever you choose)
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of beans (you could add any that you like! We used kidney beans)
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• I also added some chilli sauce because W likes it with a little kick
• Then I just cooked it until it was heated through

I know - that's seriously it. I added some tostitos, but you could also just do toast or crackers, or even pita chips if you are super adventurous.

Total Cook Time: 45 minutes (tops!)

And I had tons of leftovers!

This one is definitely going on my list.

xo-L