Holiday Pin It/Do It: Pin #10 - Taco Soup

Soup is a tradition for Christmas at our house.  My mother always serves soup when our extended family gets together, and soup is our usual Christmas Eve supper before we open gifts with our kids.  This year, I'm hosting Dave's family on Christmas day.  Since our little house has no dining room and the kitchen table will only seat six, we have no place to have a formal, sit-down-and-pass-the-food-around meal.  I briefly considered borrowing another table and setting it up in the living room, but that would be crowded - not to mention block the TV - and you can't easily pass dishes between two tables.  Instead, I chose to have a less formal Christmas dinner of soup and and "finger foods", served buffet-style from the kitchen counter.  Folks will have to eat wherever they can find a spot - kitchen table, couch, piano bench...  I even purchased TV trays for those people who don't get the spots by the coffee table.  

Chili is mandatory.  Dave and Mitch love chili and the want it hot!  My favorite is potato soup, so of course we'll be having that.  But I thought we needed a third choice for those who don't care for potato soup and don't care to have their digestive tract set on fire.  I found this recipe among the pins on my Recipe Board and it seemed like the perfect compromise.

Weight Watchers Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef or ground turkey breast
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (any flavor)
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (Mexican flavor)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package hidden valley ranch dressing mix
 (15 ounce) can hot chili beans
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

Preparation
1. Brown the the meat and onions and drain.
2. Mix the taco seasoning mix and ranch dressing mix into the meat.
3. Add all the other ingredients, without draining.
4. Simmer for about 1 hour.
5. Serve hot, topped with sour cream, cheese, avocado, raw onions, or nacho chips (optional).

Never one to leave well enough alone when it comes to recipes, I made a few "tweeks".  I used chopped white-meat chicken in place of the ground turkey, and cannellini beans in place of pintos.  I have this prepared and in the freezer so the only review I can give you is from the sample I tasted while cooking - and it was delicious.  One recipe serves 10 (the web site does not specify a serving size) at 239 calories per serving, so this will be a great option for me if I haven't gotten rid of those last, stubborn five pounds by Christmas day.