Beef and Potato Soup

From: Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 (16-oz) bag frozen, Southern style hash browns
1 cup frozen chopped onion or 1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 (4-oz) cans mushroom stems and pieces, not drained
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 16-oz jar chunky salsa

Spray a slow cooker with nonfat cooking spray. Put into the slow cooker the water, hash browns, onion, beef, mushrooms, onion soup mix and salsa and stir until well mixed. Cover and cook in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or on low for 8-9 hours.

What I did differently from the recipe:
The mushrooms I used were some I had frozen a month or so ago, so there was no juice to them and I chopped them into small pieces. Other than that, nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Meh. Neutral. It wasn't my favorite, I'll say that. I didn't have high hopes for this soup, but it was actually better than I expected. And I think we all know the picture leaves a lot to be desired. I actually forgot to take that picture until today and had to get the soup out of the freezer to snap it, which is why it looks slightly terrifying. It didn't look near as bad when it was fresh on the stove... promise. I definitely liked the kick from the salsa!

Printable version:

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 (16-oz) bag frozen, Southern style hash browns
1 cup frozen chopped onion or 1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 (4-oz) cans mushroom stems and pieces, not drained
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 16-oz jar chunky salsa

Spray a slow cooker with nonfat cooking spray. Put into the slow cooker the water, hash browns, onion, beef, mushrooms, onion soup mix and salsa and stir until well mixed. Cover and cook in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or on low for 8-9 hours.