Taco Soup

This past weekend I had a bridal shower for my cousin, who's wedding I am in, in December! It was very nice! The food was wonderful. They had a Taco Bar! It was so fun, seemed like everyone enjoyed it! They also had Taco Soup! I have never had Taco Soup before, but I LOVED it! It was so good! I almost love it more then Chili...uh oh! I dumped in the lettuce, sour cream and cheese on top of my soup and it was delish! David isn't a big soup guy, but I just knew he would LOVE this soup! or at least I hope so! It is the easiest recipe too! If you can open up a can, you can make it :) I am making it for dinner tonight! Actually it is already made and sitting in the crock pot!

Taco Soup
2-3 pounds ground beef

1 large diced onion
1(15 1/2-ounce) can black beans

1 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans

1 (15 1/2-ounce) can kidney beans

1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomatoes with chiles

1-2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chiles (optional)

1 (4.6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced

1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix

1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
1 (4 ½ ounze) can diced Jalapenos - Optional

Serve with (on top):
Sour cream

Shredded cheese

Chopped green onions
Lettuce
Serve with (on the side):
Tortilla Chips
Instructions:
Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove.
This will make a lot, but it does freeze well if you put it in Tupperware for eating at a later date.
Also, the green chilis and jalepenos are optional…the green chilis give it flavor, the jalepenos will spice it up a little.

Enjoy.

Winter Coat

This past weekend we were on a hunt to find Gavin a new winter coat. I saw an OshKosh B'Gosh winter coat at Sam's Club about a month ago, but never picked it up, we went there to see if it was still there and it was! We bought it, but I'm afriad we are going to have to take it back! Poor Gavin can't even move in it! It is SOOO puffy! He reminds me of the kid in A Christmas Story! I took this picture of Gavin on the way home from Sam's Club, he was out cold!! So we are on the hunt again for a winter coat, preferably with matching snowpants!!

I am going to do some more painting today, I can't seem to make up my mind on colors! Who would have though it would be this hard! Oh how I can't wait until all of the painting in our house and in every room in finished! Too bad that won't be for awhile :(

Sneak Peak!

We took our 2009 Christmas Pictures on Saturday afternoon! I know it sounds too early for Christmas Pictures already, but I really wanted them outside and before it snowed out! You never know when the first snowfall will be in Wisconsin! I'm just glad we got these pictures in before the first major snowfall! Here is a sneak peak of where we took them;My wonderful Father-In-Law took our pictures! We love them and love that we have him to take our pictures! Thanks, Dad VV!

Garbage Can!

Every wife has a 'Honey-to-do/make list' for their husbands at some point, right? Well my list just got shorter!!! David finished my Tilt Out Garbage last night! I saw a really neat tilt out garbage can a few months ago with my mom at Country Village Shoppe in Appleton and I fell in love with it! The only problem was that it was $250!! So I came home and googled tilt out garbage cans and showed David so he could make me one! I love it so much! It goes really nice in our kitchen too! It is massive though, he added a drawer at the top for garbage bags so it is pretty big, but fits perfect! I love that my husband is so talented and can do anything and everything, but stinks for him because my honey-to-'make' list keeps getting bigger every time I see something I want! I always ask myself before I buy something "Can he just make that" He always can! Which means me not having to spend money, which means happy husband, and happy wife! Here it is;

The Weekend!

This weekend we traveled to Neenah! We had an Anniversary party for some friends on Saturday. So we decided to go a day early and reunite with some High School friends on Friday! Most of which I have not seen since our Wedding! It was so so good to see them and catch up. We went out to a local restaurant/bar. I have not 'been out' like that in so long! Let just say I had a little too much fun. At one point David told the bartender, who I went to high school with, to cut me off, haha. It was only after two drinks too! My goodness, I am a lightweight! I was hurting on Saturday morning, but I'm allowed to do have a good time every once in awhile, right? Saturday afternoon we had a Surprise Anniversary party for some family friends. I love surprises! It was nice to see old family friends that I have not seen in a very long time! What a great weekend for reunions!Today we have been getting things done around the house. I did my weekly 'major' cleaning this morning, while Dave and Gavin did stuff outside! They got the lawn mowed, they raked leaves, then of course played in them, and raked again! We pulled all of the plants out of the garden today too! Now all we have to do is plant seed there because we did not have luck with it in the spot it was this year!All in all this weekend was wonderful! I am looking forward to putting my 'comfy' clothes on and watching Sunday Night Shows!