Two soup-er recipes!!

The weather being a bit on the chilly side, I have been cooking up some good ol' comfort food perfect for fending off the cold: soup. One recipe I received from a friend for my bridal shower and the other I could swear was passed on to me from my mom (who declared she had never tasted such a great taco soup before and wanted the recipe... *sigh*).

Lasagna Soup

2 oz. Italian sausage (I used our homegrown pork sausage)
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 sm. onion, diced
1 lg. garlic clove
5-10 mushrooms, sliced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato puree (I think my can was only 10 oz but it worked fine)
1 beef bouillon cube
4 c. water
1 tsp. each basil, oregano
1/2 tsp. each thyme, crushed red pepper (or less if you don't want it quite so spicy)
8 lasagna noodles
2 c. ricotta (I omitted)
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese

Remove sausage from casing, crumble into 4 qt. stock pot and cook until browned. Add onion, celery, garlic and mushrooms. Saute veggies for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, puree, bouillon, water and spices.
Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Break lasagna into pieces and add to soup. Cook over medium 15 minutes or until noodles are tender. Serve topped with cheeses. Serves: 6
*You can also do this in the crock pot! After browning sausage, add everything to the crock pot except all the water (2 c.?- experiment). Add noodles the last 30 minutes. Cook 4-5 hours on high in all.

Taco Soup

1 lb. boned chicken breast
6 c. chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 oz) can tomatoes with green chiles
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can creamed corn
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 pkg. ranch dressing
1/2 tsp. cumin
Tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream and avocado as desired

Cut chicken into pieces. Place chicken in broth, onion and garlic salt. Cook until done, about 10-15 minutes. (I used chicken breast I had baked previously and added it to the broth while the onion simmered). Add rest of ingredients, cook about 20 minutes.
Serve over crushed tortilla chips, place shredded cheese, sour cream, and avocado on top! *Even better the second day!!