taco soup

1-2 lbs of ground beef
1 onion (diced)
1 can of ro-tel
1-4oz jar of taco sauce or packet of taco seasoning
a small can tomato sauce
1/2 pkg hidden valley reanch dressing
1 can pinto beans
1 can ranch style beans
water - as needed (i tend to add about 4 cups)

brown meat and onions, drain and put in crockpot. add remaining ingredients. simmer for an hour or more. garnish with cheddar cheese, tortilla chips (crushed a little) and/or sour cream.

carey cottage chocolate pudding

this makes an enormous batch!

2/3 c cocoa
2 c sugar
1/2 c cornstarch

whisk these three ingredients together and add

5 c milk
3 egg yolks & 3 eggs

microwave until it thickens.

take it out and add 2 T butter and a teaspoon of vanilla.

tomato basil soup

1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 c tomato juice
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 -14 1/2 oz can of tomatoes
1/2 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
dash cayenne pepper
3/4 cup milk or half and half (i use milk)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil
sour cream

in a large covered saucepan cook celery, carrot, onion and garlic in hot oil over medium-low heat 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. add tomato juice, broth tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme and cayenne. bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. cool slightly.
place half of soup at a time in food processor and process until smooth. repeat with the other half. stire about 1 cup of tomato mixture into the milk, to prevent curdling. return all of soup to pan, add sugar. heat through. stir in basil. top each serving with sour cream and fresh basil garnish. i also set homemade croutons out to use as a topping, and they were a pretty good addition :)

this only has 106 calories per bowl, if you use milk rather than cream.