Jen's Taco Soup

This recipe is one of those that you can alter to your liking. The "key" ingredient is the Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packet. If you don't have that...it's not going to work (trust me, I've tried it). Other than that you can use whatever beans, corn, tomatoes that you have on hand. Also, this recipe serves about 4 but you can certainly double it for a larger group.

TACO SOUP
Ingredients:
1 lb. (or more) lean ground turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilis
1 can pinto beans (or black beans)
1 small can sliced black olives
1 cup chicken broth
1 can white shoe peg corn (or whatever corn you have)
1/2 a seasoning packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1/2 a seasoning packet of Taco seasoning
Directions:
Brown the meat with the onions. Drain any excess grease. Add in all other ingredients and heat.
Top with a spoon full of light sour cream, a sprinkle of fat free cheddar cheese and some cilantro if you like.

Serve over a bed of lettuce for a taco salad.
Serve with tortilla chips to eat as a soup.
Delicious served with guacamole (recipe below).

Jen's guacamole
1 ripe avocado
1 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tbsp. light sour cream
1 sprinkle garlic salt
1/3 c. hot salsa
chopped cilantro

To choose an avocado, look for one dark in color. Gently squeeze. If it feels hard as a rock--put it back. If your fingers squish right into it--put it back. You want to feel it squish just a teensy bit. Imagine the firmness of a perfect banana. That is what you're looking for.
To use an avocado, get a serrated knife. Cut avocado from top to bottom and all the way around. If you don't know...there is a huge pit in the center so you won't be able to slice all the way through. Pull the 2 halves apart and remove the pit. Using a large spoon, scoop out the avocado making sure to get it all off the insides of the skin.
Directions:
Dice avocado up into a bowl. Add all the other ingredients and stir briskly, somewhat mashing the avocado while you're mixing.

Healthier tortilla chips
Buy corn tortillas. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 1/4ths (little triangles). Spray a cookie sheet with Pam and place your "chips" on there in a single layer. Spray them again (on top) with Pam and sprinkle with salt. Bake in a 350 degree oven until crisp.