I had every intention of my next post being a review of an eggplant parmesan recipe I used to love to make, and has quite an interesting story about it. Only this time I didn’t love making it, it was good but not as good as I remember, and I got distracted by just not having enough time to write it, babysitting, and just life. Then yesterday our cat had to be put to sleep . I was miserable. She was my husband’s cat long before I meet him, and his baby. She was the runt of a litter from a stray, born under his front porch, and he had to bottle fed her. She hated me when we first started dating, but before long I was her Mommy and she wanted me more than him.

  After all of this I wanted to make something I love for dinner tonight, something warm and comforting. We didn’t really eat yesterday, just some frozen chicken patty sandwiches (well, ok I microwaved them first). So, on to tonight’s dinner, taco soup!

  Until maybe a year ago I don’t think I had even heard of taco soup. Then one of my friend’s mentioned that another friend of hers made a really good taco soup. I love tacos! There are so many different ways you can make them, from regular ground beef, to chicken ( I make a really good crock pot salsa chicken for this, but the recipe is unfortunately not my idea.), to fish, veggie, breakfast….I could go on forever! But, taco soup? This is a brand new world!

  Ok, to be honest it’s not a brand new world, I’ve made it at least 5 times since I discovered it. I haven’t searched for every recipe ever for taco soup, but I have to say the version I make is a bit different from any I’ve seen so far. Of course, I could be wrong. Want the recipe?

3 lbs lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped red onion ( I usually use yellow but we had some red that grew in our garden over the winter after not growing last summer. I don’t know, don’t ask me!)

16 oz jar salsa ( I used Newman’s Own Medium)

2  15.5 oz cans black beans, undrained

32 oz carton beef broth

2  1.25 oz packets taco seasoning

1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro

Brown ground beef with the chopped onion over medium high heat, drain. Mix in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes-1 hour.

Normally after browning the beef I put it in a crock pot, add the remaining ingredients, and cook on high for 4 hours. It comes out great either way!

Garnish with sour cream, cheddar, Mexican or taco shredded cheese, scallions, and diced avocado. Enjoy!

This recipe is now featured on http://www.wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com and http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com.