Taco Soup

1 lb lean ground beef (or turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasonings
1 pkg dry Ranch seasonings
2 large cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
2 cans of beans or the equivalent of pre-cooked dried beans.  See link below about beans. 
1 can whole kernel corn

Brown meat and onion. Drain. Add seasonings. Drain beans and corn. Add to meat along with tomatoes. Simmer until well blended and hot. Eat and enjoy.

I don't used canned beans.  Here is my blog post about using dried beans:  Beans

Creamy Italian or Ranch Chicken

Ingredients
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1/4 cup water
1 8oz pkg low fat cream cheese
1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup


Directions
1. Place chicken in crock pot
2. Mix together Italian dressing mix and water. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours OR low for 8 hours.
4. Mix together cream cheese and soup in separate bowl.
5. Carefully remove chicken from crock pot to plate.
6. Pour cream cheese/soup mixture into crock pot and mix together with dressing in bottom.
7. Return chicken to crock pot and mix gently to shred the chicken.
8. Cook on LOW until heated through.

Serve with rice or noodles. 

For creamy ranch chicken:

Substitute ranch dressing mix and sour cream instead of cream cheese.  

Ham Bone Soup

I've made this soup a few times.  The first time I made it, I did have a ham bone.  This time I just had a big hunk of ham.  It worked very well, both times.  The picture in the recipe on allrecipes.com looks pretty nasty.  Fortunately, mine hasn't looked like that, either time. 


Changes that I made:
I never, ever use buillion cubes,  (YUCK!)  I either use  stock that I've made and frozen, or one box of stock in a box, is the equivalent of the buillion cube/water for this recipe.

Instead of canned tomatoes, I use fresh or some that I've frozen myself. 

Instead of canned beans, I use dried beans.  See my post about how to cook dried beans.  Beans

I also skip the grean pepper.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ham-bone-soup/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=ham%20bone%20soup&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

3/8/12