Dinner Tonight

I would give this a more extravagant title, but I will tell you what I tell my husband when he asks me what is for dinner, "Call it whatever you want.  I call it dinner!"  I make a lot of variations of this and it is sort of Taco Soup, but I can tell you that whatever I am making depends greatly on what I have on hand.  If I don't have a necessary ingredient I might just replace it with something I can get away with.  Tonight I really wanted to add some corn, but I forgot to buy frozen corn... and I don't buy that watered down in a can stuff anymore.  My tastes buds like the full flavor of frozen corn or fresh corn.  I took this opportunity to add something healthy to the mix and I must say I liked it.  I added yellow squash and recently I have discovered that I can sneak finely chopped squash into a lot of meals and my family never even knows it until afterwards when I tell them.  And yes, you must wait until afterwards to tell them... not to deceive them, but after they have eaten it and like it, then telling them just makes them more open to strange things in their food.  So, this is what I did (and I will list the ingredients afterwards):

In a large pot I place a pound of frozen hamburger meat, a large can of diced tomatoes, and a package of Great Value Taco Seasoning (cost about 33 cents and does not have high fructose corn solids) and cooked this on high.  As it was cooking I broke the meat apart slowly.  After all the meat was fully cooked I added a can of Ranch Style Beans (GV brand works well, also), can of Wolf Brand Chili, approximately two cups of finely diced yellow squash, and 1-2 cups of water (depending on how soupy you want it).  I added a teaspoon of salt (or so...).  I served this on a small amount of plain white rice (a 1:4 ratio.... 1/4 cup of rice is enough per large bowl of soup because you want this to be more of a soup dish than a rice dish).  I topped mine with mixed cheeses, but it would also be great with a dallop of sour cream and chopped green onions. 

Ingredient list for shopping purposes:
1 lb hamburger meat
15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 pkg Great Value Taco Seasoning (or other brand*)
1 can of Great Value Southern Ranch Beans (or Ranch Style Beans*)
1 can of Wolf Brand Chili
2-3 yellow squash
salt
rice
Optional extras: Cheese, sour cream, green onions/chives, etc..
*I choose items that do not have high fructose corn syrup and I have found to my surprise that the Great Value products are usually healthier than many name brands.  The bonus is I save money, as well! 

Sorry there is not pic... It just looks like a bowl of chili type soup.  Make it and you will see what it looks like.  Ha!  More importantly it tastes yummy!