This taco soup recipe couldn't be more simple.

Just brown the beef, throw it and a few other ingredients into the crockpot.

Let it sit for several hours while you go off and do other things, and like magic, you come back to a delicious soup ready for the family to eat.

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 8 hours

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
16 ounces canned chili beans, drained
15 ounces canned kidney beans with liquid
15 ounces whole kernel corn, drained
8 ounces tomato sauce
2 cups water
28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
4 ounces canned green chili peppers, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning mix or homemade seasoning mix (see below)

Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon oregano (powdered oregano ideally)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional, but rounds out the flavor nicely)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
For the taco seasoning mix: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Store in a tightly covered jar, or for a short while in a plastic baggie. The plastic baggie will just dry out faster.

Brown the ground beef until cooked. Drain well. Place the browned beef plus all the other ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.

• Like it hot? Add as many drops of your favorite hot sauce as you like. I would add it closer to the end of the cooking cycle.

• If you don't have taco seasoning or prefer to make your own, use the easy recipe below. It will make the equivalent of 1 package of commercial taco seasoning, about 3 tablespoons.

Makes 8 servings.