Warm soup for a cold day

View from outside my office window today. Central Iowa has had it's first snow of the season, just in time for Christmas. The wind has picked up though and we now have a blizzard out there. I'm snug in my house and happily, I have power and heat. So I'm okay.

But on a day like today, I want something warm and comforting to eat. I made a taco soup. Here's the recipe I used, if you're interested.




TACO Soup

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 onion
• 1 15 oz  can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of whole corn, drained
• 2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
• 2 8 oz cans of beef broth
• 1 pkg dry ranch seasoning mix (like Hidden Valley)
• 1 pkg taco seasoning (I used Ortega)
• Salt, pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef and onions, drain. Combine the cooked beef with all the other ingredients and simmer approximately 30 minutes.  Serve with tortilla chips, shredded Mexican cheese, and sour cream, if desired.  Variations: You can add chili, black or kidney beans if you like beans. You could also use salsa and/or chipotle if you like a spicy taco. I go mild all the way, but you can make this as hot or mild as you prefer! This is really great on a cold day...or any day really.

And here it is - ready to eat and yummy as can be! 

Warm. Soothing. Tasty. 

Yes, the ultimate in comfort food on a cold winter's day!

More Snow???? In April?

It is April 3. It snowed. Oh my Gahd! I can NOT believe it. Big fat fluffy white flakes. Will this torture NEVER end? Here's a picture from an area newspaper. Click on the photo and follow the link for the story.

photo credit: John Jennings/Newton Daily News

Can we say... I spoke too soon? Hmmmm?

Oh my God... I just had to ask what else could happen? The good news.... I survived the ice storm. Yaaay. The bad news is my power went out at 2:30 pm on Saturday and didn't come back on until Monday morning some time (I'm not sure exactly when because I was at work at the library). But thankfully, I'm not one of those people who are STILL without power, and there are a few.

I stayed in a motel Sunday night because the cold started to get to me, and I had to go to work on Monday. If I had to work, I wanted to get a good night sleep someplace warm. Now, granted, it was only in the 50s inside the house Sunday afternoon, but BRRRRRR that's cold.

Not only that, but it was torture to be without power. No TV. No computer...talk about withdrawal. The lack of information sucked!!! I'm a librarian, but my only way to get info was calling friends in town to find out if they had power. "Have you been watching TV? Do they say when power might come back?" No one knew. I tried to get batteries to put in a boombox I had - I got the batteries but the boombox wouldn't work. Damn! Never again. With the predictions for a blizzard in Iowa later this week (AFTER the ice last week) I've gone out to buy a small radio and AA batteries to use with it. I just hope I don't need the radio.

Some friends brought me food Sunday afternoon, and I finally caved and made room reservations at a local motel. Fortunately, there were rooms available. After a toasty warm Sunday evening during which I ignored the Oscars, I debated making reservations on Monday. I took an early lunch break at 11am and checked the house again - Power...blessed power! I went to the motel, got my stuff, got my cat, and came home. I love electricity.

I'll let you know how the upcoming blizzard weekend goes.... Keep your fingers crossed the power stays on. I sure will!