Taco Stew

Ingredients

• 2 lbs lean ground beef, cooked and drained (chicken or no meat works too)

• 2 (15 ounce) cans undrained pinto beans

• 1 (15 ounce) can undrained black beans

• 2 (11 ounce) cans undrained corn
• 1 large onion, chopped

• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning

• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

• 3 (14 1/2 ounce) cans Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, pureed in blender

• 1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes & chilies
• 2 cups water (optional)
• shredded cheese (optional)

Directions

1. 1

   Using a large stockpot, brown the ground beef with onions and a dash of garlic powder according to your taste.

2. 2

   Whisk together tomato sauce and taco seasoning.

3. 3

   Add tomato sauce to ground beef and stir.

4. 4

   Add the rest of the ingredients to the stockpot and stir well.

5. 5

   Up to 2 cups water can be added depending on your thickness preference.

6. 6

   Simmer on stovetop for 1 1/2 hours, allowing flavors to blend.

7. 7

   Stir occasionally.

8. 8

   When serving, you can top with shredded cheese.

9. 9

   We love this with Fritos on top or tortilla chips on the side.

10. 10

    Also great with cornbread.

11. 11

    Freezing is easy. My favorite method is to freeze in single serving Gladware containers. When frozen, I pop them out and vacuum seal using my Foodsaver. To reheat, pop the frozen stew back into the Gladware. Cook on high in the microwave for 5 minutes. Stir and then give it up to 2 more minutes. A great trick for keeping the FS bag clean is to put the frozen stew into a cheap baggie and THEN put it into a Foodsaver bag and vacuum seal. All you will have to do is rinse, instead of scrub that FS bag! If you are really short on freezer space, an alternative would be to pour unfrozen stew into a freezer ziplock, let out the air and store flat in the freezer. The downside is that you'll have to either let it defrost overnight in fridge or soak in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes before you can pour into a bowl and reheat in microwave.