Cheeseburger Soup

Last nights dinner menu: Cheeseburger Soup. I had no idea there was such thing as Cheeseburger Soup. It actually sounds quite disgusting to me. I don't exactly think of cheeseburgers when I'm craving some nice, warm, tasty soup. I bought a magazine from the grocery store the other day that is filled with soup recipes. When I got home I noticed the price for the magazine was  $9.99. That's just a little steep for me to pay for a magazine. Had I known it was that much, I probably wouldn't have bought it. However, now that I have it, I'm enjoying trying out the new recipes. While flipping through the magazine, the cheeseburger soup looked so scrumptious..... and it was! Had it not had a picture with the recipe, I probably wouldn't have ever made it. We ate it up! But, we couldn't have hot soup without some french bread and butter for dipping. It was Yum-O!
Thanks to Ben the dishes were done, and he helped cook the soup! :) 
Tonight's menu: Southwestern Steak and Potato Soup! My little family will be eating different types of soup for the next couple of days. Lucky for me I don't have a picky Husband (but I hear he once was picky with his food), and my kids are picky about pretty much everything they eat. So, it works out great for me!

Cheeseburger Soup
Prep: 25 minutes Cook: 10 to 11 hours (low) or 5 5 1/2 hours (high) Makes 6 servings

(I didn't have time to put mine in the crock pot, so I just made mine on the stove top. I let it simmer until potatoes and carrots were tender. Also, I left out a couple ingredients due to not having them on hand: serrano chile pepper, and mustard.)

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sliced carrots (1 medium)
1/4 ketchup
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 fresh serrano chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 ground black pepper
2 14-ounce cans beef broth
1 10.75-ounce can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
Dill pickle spears (optional)


Directions
1 In a large skillet, cook meat, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is brown and onion is tender, stirring to break up meat as it cooks. Drain off fat.
2 In a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker, combine meat mixture, potatoes, carrot, ketchup, mustard, chile pepper, salt, and black pepper. Stir in broth and soup.
3 Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 11 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to51/2 house. Top each serving with cheese. If desired, serve with pickles.

Nutrition facts per serving: 417 cal., 31 g fat (13 g sat. fat), 81 mg chol., 1,311 mg sodium, 17 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 18g pro.\
11 POINTSPLUS VALUES per serving

Enjoy the bubbly goodness! We sure did!