Cowboy Stew

Here's a recipe that I first posted over at My Vintage Kitchen.  Life with a toddler doesn't really leave me with enough time to devote to two blogs, so from now on, I'll just be posting Under the Big Oak Tree.  I'll try to bring a "new" recipe over from My Vintage Kitchen each week, in addition to posting new recipes we try along the way! 

I first read about this soup on the Crock Pot Lady's blog. I adjusted it a bit to fit our tastes and according to what I had in the pantry.

Alison's Cowboy Stew ~ A Crock-Pot Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of pre-cooked ground beef with peppers and onions from my freezer
• 2 cans of chili beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 can (19oz) of ready-to-serve tomato soup (not condensed)
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1-2 cans whole potatoes
• 1 taco seasoning packet
• 3 tsp. Tabasco brand, Chipotle Pepper Sauce
• 2 tsp. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp. garlic, minced
• 1 cup water
• sliced jalapenos, sour cream, shredded cheese ~ for garnish (optional)

Directions:

• Put all ingredients in crock-pot, stir.
• Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
• Serve in soup bowls. If desired, top with jalapenos, sour cream and/or shredded cheese.

Notes:

We really liked the way this turned out. Kind of like chili, but more like a soup. I wasn't sure how the canned potatoes would be in this. I thought those potatoes were only good sliced and fried in oil with some onions. But surprisingly, they were really good.

We usually forgot to top our soup with the sliced jalapenos and cheese.  Mainly, because I forget to put the toppings on the table when I'm setting it for dinner.  The soup/stew/chili (whatever it is) was really good on it's own.

This batch of stew makes A LOT, so it's perfect for those of you with big families or if you need something to feed a crowd!  Joe and I don't skimp on our servings at all and we still manage to get several meals from this recipe! 

One of these days, I plan on using dry beans that I prepare ahead of time and keep stored in the freezer.  It's too time consuming to open all those cans!  :)

If you want to see how we used some of the leftovers, check out this post! 


You can find this recipe linked to:

•  Ultimate Recipe Swap
•  Homemaker Mondays
•  Mouthwatering Mondays
• Utimate Recipe Swap (Slow Cooker Recipes)