Recipe Adventure - No. 1

I borrowed a recipe and a 6-quart crock pot yesterday and made the most delicious soup I've ever made. It has earned a place in my recipe box - written on a recipe card. Trust me, that's a big deal. I wish I could remember where I found it - besides on a blog. When I do figure that detail out, I'll post the link to give credit where credit is due. In the meantime, anonymous blogosphere friend, thank you for sharing your recipe for...

Crock Pot Taco Soup!

You'll need:
4 chicken breasts
2 cans each corn, pinto beans, black beans
1 can Ro-Tel
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 package dry ranch dressing mix
1 package dry taco seasoning mix
1 cup chicken broth

Toppings:
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream

You need at least a 6 quart crock pot for this recipe. You can use frozen chicken breasts, too - run them under hot water for a minute and put then in the crock pot frozen. Then dump the other ingredients (except toppings) on top of the chicken. This really means dump - don't drain anything. Cook all day long on low or 4-6 hours on high. Before serving, remove chicken, shred with forks, and return to crock pot. Top each bowl with cheese, sour cream, and chips.

Additional notes from my experience....
Don't try to make it in a 4 quart pot. It won't fit. Hence, the borrowed crock pot.
I used fresh chicken, but you better believe I'll try it with frozen sometime (as if it wasn't already easy!).
I was hesitant to just dump the black beans since most recipes call for you to rinse and drain them. I wondered if I could drain/rinse/add a little extra chicken broth. However, I have my own personal rule about not changing a recipe until after trying once as written, so I dumped them in.
I used low sodium taco seasoning, and have decided I'm going to look for recipes to make my own taco seasoning and dry ranch mix (to see if I can make them preservative-free).
The only ingredient I questioned at all was the dry ranch mix - but don't leave it out!

After letting it cook for about 5 1/2 hours on high, I was starving! So, I filled a bowl - and this soup was good even before I added the toppings! But who can argue with adding cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream? Not me! Mister J gave it a taste, and actually dipped a few chips in before declaring himself "full." Big J tasted it when he got home (late, so he'd already eaten dinner) - he's excited about having it for lunch tomorrow. Did I mention that this makes a LOT of soup? By the way - if you want to make this vegetarian, I bet it would turn out just fine. I can take or leave the actual chicken, but I'd probably still use chicken broth for the flavor.