Sneak In The Veggies Taco Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, pork, venison)
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (16 ounce) can black beans
1 (16 ounce) can pinto beans
2 cups cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped (about a cup)
1 (16 ounce) can corn, drained (frozen is good too)
1 cup salsa (i use mild pace)
2 -3 teaspoons beef base (see note) or 2 -3 teaspoons bouillon (see note)
2 (1 1/4 ounce) packages taco seasoning mix (to taste)
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
1 teaspoon chopped garlic, can use garlic powder
1 cup tomato juice (optional) or 1 cup vegetable juice (optional)
1 (4 ounce) can green chilies, diced (optional)
salt and pepper

Preparation

cook the ground meat in a skillet seasoning w/ salt and pepper to taste and drain. (you can also used left over diced meat, just throw that in the crock pot. whatever you have on hand works great here).
put all ingredients in the crock pot. add water until everything is just covered. be careful, my crock pot is pretty full by now!
give it a stir, put on the lid, and cook on low.
cooking time depends on your crock pot. some cook at a higher temp than others and will take less time. i have an old rival and i put my soup on in the morning and it's perfect by dinner time.
you can also make this on the stove in about an hour.
right before serving adjust seasonings and salt and pepper to taste.
note- if you use bullion cubes this can get a little salty so be careful! and we like lots of seasoning in this so we use 2 full packs of taco mix.