Monthly Archives: February 2010

recipe: taco soup.

A dear work friend introduced me to this recipe late last week and I immediately knew it would work for my husband and I. After some minor adaptations, I’d say it’s just about perfect!

.:| taco soup |:.

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What you’ll need …

2 lbs. ground beef (would also be great with ground turkey)
1 large onion, chopped
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can diced tomatoes – zesty chili style
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning mix (I also added an additional 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp.)
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (dry packet)
approximately 2 cups water (use whatever you like for the amount of broth you prefer)

What you’ll do …

Brown ground beef and onions in large pan; drain off fat. Add all ingredients to crock pot (Note: I have a 6.5 qt. crock pot and it was 3/4 full.) and cook on low for at least 2 hours (I let ours cook for 8 hours.). Serve garnished with sour cream and Fritos.

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january in review.

I must admit – January was a good month. And let me tell you, February will be even better! Over the past 31 days …

  • … I wrote 29 new posts! Happy to be keeping up with my promise to blog more!
  • … I set out on a mission to make 2010 my year – and so far so good!
  • … a very dear friend got married – yay!
  • … little miss mastered inch-worming and sitting, mixed inch-worming with real crawling (We didn’t think she’d actually crawl.), added “ba ba ba” and “da da da” to her vocabulary, started pulling up on her knees, caught us by surprise when she was standing up in her crib, and transitioned into a big girl car seat (Ehem, this weekend. The daggone things showed up early!)! She also started holding her own bottle … eh, sometimes. Yippee!
  • … I got my ant back! (More on this later – I keep forgetting to take a picture of it to accompany my already written post on what the heck that means!)
  • … we celebrated my non-bleeding brain, but I was again unsuccessful in fighting a sinus infection. Nice.
  • … girl’s day was totally spontaneous and tons of fun! When are we going again, ladies?!
  • … dive travel plans were set in stone for March!
  • … I practiced something I haven’t done in forever, but that practice didn’t really make it anywhere as I followed my gut instinct. I’ll practice my patience in February (and probably beyond) on this one.
  • … my husband started a new amazing job and is loving every second of it!
  • jealousy overtook me – and it was admittedly not flattering. It’s something I’ll focus on in February – and probably the rest of the year, for that matter.
  • … the course of 2010 was defined in one word: explore.
  • … I stayed fairly true to my promise of better communication. Improvement in February would be awesome!
  • … we did not manage to take our Christmas tree down. Yep, it’s true, and I most certainly do turn on the lights every night!

I’m looking forward to what this month will bring, and am so excited about the progress made in January. So far, 2010 is living up to expectations!