Corn and Black Bean Soup

It was freakishly cold here in Georgia this past week. I know, I know, to those of you north of the Mason-Dixon line 20 in the morning isn't that cold but to us down here, that's COLD! Especially in November! Pretty much unheard of in these parts. Anyway, cold weather means soup or chili and this time I made soup. This soup is AH-mazing!! It does have a little kick to it but it is not overpowering or anything that will make your eyes water. :) Heads up, it does require Tastefully Simple products, but this seriously some of the best soup I've ever had AND I think its good for those veggie only folks out there (enjoy it...this is probably the only time you'll see something like this on my blog lol!).

This makes A LOT of soup so you could easily freeze some of it to enjoy later!

Ingredients

1 jar Corn and Black Bean Salsa
2 Tbsp Onion Onion
1 tsp Fiesta Party Dip Mix
16 oz can crushed tomatoes with juice
3 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (14.5) oz cans vegetable broth (low sodium if possible)
3/4 tsp cumin
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions

1. Combine the first 10 ingredients in a large pot; bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Serve! Can garnish with some cilantro if you want.

*Makes about 10 CUPS of soup!
*If its thicker than you'd like, add a little water until you get the consistency you like.
*This is a slight variation of the recipe found on the TS site; that one has chicken added.

Monster Pudding Cups

I probably should have posted this BEFORE Halloween but...The "faces" on these could probably be changed to suit Christmas parties. I made these for my 2 year old's Halloween lunch at preschool. Aren't they ADORABLE?! :) I'd seen these floating around on Pinterest and thought they looked easy. They WERE! This will make 12 cups of cuteness.

Ingredients

2 large boxes instant vanilla pudding
6 cups of cold milk
green food coloring
Oreo cookies (crushed)
clear cups
Sharpie marker

Directions

1. Draw your faces on your cups. Make sure they're fairly low down so they'll actually be on the pudding.
2. Make the pudding according to the packages.
3. Add green food coloring until you get the tint you want.
4. Scoop about a 1/2 cup of pudding into each cup.
5. Using a food processor (if you have one), crush the Oreo cookie until its in little pieces. Don't use the whole package of cookies; start out with about 12 cookies (you can always crush up more if needed).
6. Sprinkle the crushed cookies on top of the pudding until you have a thin layer.

Enjoy! :)