Crock Pot Mondays

Well dear readers, I haven't fallen off the meal planning bandwagon, but I had a bit of a scare on Friday when I was attempting to come up with this week's meal plan as I was struggling to find suitable recipes. Luckily, I came up with seven meals that I can live with.

To ensure I don't encounter the same issue this coming Friday, I went to the library and picked up three cook books, including the Biggest Loser Family Cook Book. (Disclaimer: I don't watch the Biggest Loser. The only reason I chose this book was because it was staring me in the face in the express reads section. I usually get all my library books in the express reads as I'm too lazy to look for actual books).

This book, surprisingly, is wonderful. I've found a lot of easy, healthy recipes in this book that I hope to use next week. I'd recommend getting your hands on one if you are stuck for meal ideas.

I used the Crock Pot almost every day last week. One of the recipes that stands is taco soup, a recipe I found on Stephanie O'Dea's crock pot blog.

Slow cooker taco soup

Ingredients:

2 cans of kidney beans
2 cans of pinto beans (I couldn't find them so I used lentils)
2 cans of corn
1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 can tomatoes and chilies
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing mix

1 pound browned ground turkey or hamburger (optional.)
shredded cheese and sour cream for embellishment (optional)

The Method:
Brown meat

Drain fat and place meat into the Crock Pot.

Sprinkle both seasoning on top of the meat.

Drain and rinse beans and add to Crock Pot.

Add the entire contents of corn and tomato cans. Then stir.

Cover and cook for low for eight to 10 hours or on high for four to five hours. Stir well and serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream, if you like.

This is a wonderful recipe if you want to stretch your grocery dollars as it makes leftovers galore. We had this for dinner last Wednesday and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday we were still eating leftovers for lunch.

I'd suggest using a large crock pot because I had to downsize this recipe a bit as I couldn't fit the second can of lentils or corn into my five quart Crock Pot. This would also be a great meatless option to serve the family. The next time I make this recipe, I'm going to use half a pound of ground beef, just to stretch my grocery dollar just a bit more.