TACO SOUP

Cold weather makes me crave comfort food like soup. I've been making several dinners of the comfort variety lately due to the temperatures in this valley. It seems like I can walk up to the school at 3:30 p.m. and I'm just fine wearing only sweatshirt, but by 4:15 I'm freezing and wishing I had on thermals and a hat. All it takes is for the sun to creep close to the West mountains and I'm ready to hibernate for the day.

I made this soup today in about 15 minutes. It is so fast it should get a speeding ticket (ha-ha lame!) Anyway, everyone loves it and there's plenty left over for lunch tomorrow. Remember those bottled tomatoes we did early this year? They add an extra special taste to this soup. If you don't have home canned tomatoes, diced ones from the store will work just fine.

TACO SOUP

1 lb. hamburger, browned
1 quart tomatoes (2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes)
1 onion, chopped (cook with hamburger or add 1 T. dried, minced onion)
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can corn
1 pkg. taco seasoning
2 c. water

Mix all ingredients and heat through. Serve topped with cheese, green onions, olive slices, and sour cream. Put corn chips (Fritos or tortilla chips) to the side or underneath the soup in the bowl. Note: You can use any beans you like, the three listed above are what I prefer but pinto or white beans would be just fine.