Christmas Vacation Cooking...Taco Soup

I love Christmas vacation.  I love cold weather, and we haven't had any properly cold weather until today, my second day of vacation.

Yesterday, on my first day of vacation, I helped my mom babysit my little niece.  She needed to sew my niece's Christmas dress, and watching an 8-month-old baby is not conducive to sewing.  So I went over and watched my niece while she sewed.  For lunch, I ate leftover taco soup that my sister made, and it was quite yummy.  I asked her how she made it and she told me her "recipe"...originally she used a recipe but now she does it by memory, and innovation each time she cooks it.

Last night, we got our first real snowfall of the season AND it was appropriately cold and windy.  (It's about time, because earlier this week we had temperatures in the 50s!)  I had an appointment and did a little shopping and so I was out and about in this blustery, cold weather.  It put me into the mood for soup.  On my way home I thought about the contents of my pantry and realized that I had all of the ingredients to make a version of the taco soup as she explained it to me.  

I took my first Christmas vacation nap and then decided to cook the soup when I woke up.  I didn't take pictures as I went, but I did take a picture of the final product in a bowl.

So here's the recipe; realize that I made this up as I went along, from my sister's explanation of what she did.  Also realize that I cook for myself, so this will yield about 4-5 servings.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground turkey (you could probably use ground beef)

Taco seasoning to taste (I used this homemade version that I found on Pinterest.)

1 can of Campbell's Fiesta Cheese soup

1 tsp of beef boullion dissolved into 1 cup of water (I imagine you could use 1 cup of beef broth)

1 can of diced tomatoes, seasoned for Chili (I used Aldi's brand)

1/2 can of black beans

about 1 cup of frozen corn

about 1/2 cup of frozen bell pepper and onion mix (Kroger has a nice sliced red and green pepper with onion)

1. Brown the ground turkey with the taco seasoning.
2. Combine the bouillon and water and bring to a boil, adding the cheese soup and mix it so the cheese soup is combined with the bouillon.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the cooked turkey, and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.

Serve with your favorite taco accompaniments: cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, guacamole!