Taco Soup & "lighter" Mexican Cornbread

This taco soup and mexican cornbread is one of favorite meals right now! The hubby loves it too, which means we hardly ever have leftovers. 

I combined a few recipes to get the taco soup recipe. Here it is:

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can chili beans

1 can rotel

1 can whole kernel corn {drained}

1 can tomato sauce

1 can water

1 packet taco seasoning

squirt of ranch dressing {you could use a ranch packet but I didn't have one on hand. The squirt worked the same for me}

1 1/2 lbs LEAN hamburger meat {hubby likes a lot of meat--- you could also use ground turkey or chicken!}

chopped onion {however much you like}

-Cook hamburger meat and onions together until done. Drain.

-Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Stir. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-5 hours. 

It is SOOOO yummy :)

And now for my favorite part- mexican cornbread. I found the original recipe here. 

We are trying to eat healthier so I make some changes to it to save some calories. This recipe makes 8 servings at 355 calories for each serving {I did the math}!!! Ouch..... So I cut out the butter completely, no cheese and used egg whites instead of eggs and saved 174 calories per slice!!! Which brought us down to 180 calories each. That's what I'm talking about :) Those calories add up so it makes a big difference when you cut some things out. 

What made me cut out the butter completely??? Well, I had a recipe for corn pudding that I made for a Christmas dinner we went to. It was the kind where you use Jiffy. Well, it called for a whole stick of butter that I completely forgot to put in there until AFTER I made it....And guess what? It was still SO good without the butter! Everyone at the Christmas party loved it. I know there are a lot of recipes where you need the butter and other things...but hey, if you can cut it out and it is still good, then great :)

Here is the recipe:

1 cup egg whites {I buy the egg whites in the carton at the grocery store}

3/4 small curd cottage cheese, low fat

1 box jiffy corn muffin mix

1/4 milk {I use 1%}

1 7 oz. can diced chiles

1 can whole kernel corn {drained}

{the original recipe also calls for 1 medium chopped onion but since I put onion in the soup I didn't put it in the cornbread also.}

-Stir all ingredients by hand in large bowl until just combined. Spray 9x9 inch square casserole dish {I used my cast iron skillet} with cooking spray and spread the batter in evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until cornbread is done and golden.

Enjoy!

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