Kicking off November with...

November is here and with it comes Thanksgiving. This is by far my favorite holiday. I enjoy Christmas, but there is something extra special about Thanksgiving. Maybe it has something to do with getting together with family, watching football games, counting all of my many blessings, and eating all the yummy food. Since I spend a good portion of the month contemplating on all the tasty things I'll get to eat come Thanksgiving day, we thought it would be fun to have a week full of recipes. mmmmm......  Each day we'll be sharing a different recipe with you in celebration of all things yummy.  That means our recipes will be geared toward tastiness and not just Thanksgiving.  So, to kick off the month of food we start with one of my family's favorites.

"OPEN and DUMP" Taco Soup

This isn't you average taco soup and it's called "open and dump" because that's what you do... you open a can and dump it in.

I always get the craving for some good old chilly the this time of the year.  In my opinion it's the perfect warm ya' up and fill ya' up meal.  One night, as I sat staring into my cupboard trying to figure out what to do for dinner, I realized I was in the mood for just that. The problem was I didn't have any good recipes and I didn't want to use all my ground beef in one meal. So, I got a little creative and threw something together. (I do that every now and then)  This is what I came up with and it's been a big hit with my hubby!

Ingredients:
1 16 oz. package Ditalini pasta (This depends on the size of your family. With our family I usually only use about half the bag. You can also use any type of pasta)
1/2 pound of ground beef (or sausage would be yummy too!)
Taco Seasoning
1 can of corn
1 can black beans (I've used red beans before too. That also depends on you and your family's likes and dislikes)
1 can diced tomatoes
1-2 cans tomato sauce (depending on the size of your family and how much you're making)

Top With:
Cheese
Sour cream
Green Onions
Frito corn chips
Or any other toppings of your choice

Directions:
Cook your pasta until tender, then drain and rinse.  Fill your pot back up with water until your noodles are just barley covered. (Your water line should be just below your pasta level)

While you're cooking your noodles go ahead and brown your beef, drain of any extra fat, season with your taco seasoning and add to your noodles.

Now the fun part, start dumping in your remaining ingredients: corn, beans, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Heat everything together for a few more minutes and then season to taste. (I usually add in more taco seasoning.)

Serve with cheese, sour cream, Frito corn chips, and green onions and left everyone pick their own toppings.

**Since I came up with this recipe on my own and geared it to two people you may need to play around with the quantities. Also, in case any of you are wondering, I got the great little soup bowl from Tai Pan Trading.**