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Last week, I had the pleasure of accompanying my 8th grade Girl Scout troop to one of our local Ronald McDonald Houses to prepare and serve a meal. We had made brownies in preparation for our visit back in November, and they have been waiting patiently (the brownies...) in my deep freeze, complete with a note taped on them that said: "Keep Out!! GS Brownies!" After all, I couldn't let the girls' charitable efforts go to waste! And around our house, without the note, it's pretty much free game!

So, at our meeting on Thursday, we made eight batches of soup, including a couple to give to a member of our troop who'd just experienced a death of someone close in her family. The rest were for our visit to the Ronald McDonald House. If you're not familiar with the mission of this organization, just click on the post above, and there you will find additional links to plenty of information. (The very short version is that they provide housing for family members of seriously ill children who must be hospitalized some distance from the family's primary residence.) The girls were wonderful cooks at our meeting. The next day was Friday, and right after school, we left in our vans (yes, both drivers had minivans. Don't get me started! That's another post altogether! I had done all of the grocery shopping that very morning. I was able to get almost everything at one store:

8 lbs. hamburger (actually wound up being closer to 9), 1 medium bag of onions (7 onions), 8 cans of Rotel style tomatoes, 8 canned tomatoes, 8 canned corn, 8 kidney beans, 4 bags tortilla chips, 2 12-oz. pkg's shredded Mexican style cheese, 1 large honey, 8 boxes cornbread mix, 8 yellow cake mixes, 1 jar marshmallow fluff, 2 dozen eggs. 1/2 gallon 2% milk, 1 32-oz. canola oil, 8 taco seasoning mixes, 2 small ripe canteloupes (delicious!), 1 bag navel oranges, 1 3-lb. bag Pink Lady Apples, 4 pack of limes, 2 large bunches of bananas, 1 large pineapple (yum-o!), 1 box of gallon baggies, 1 roll of paper towels

I think that's it. OK, so are you ready for this? Do you have any guesses of the price for all of the above? I bought  the Ranch Dressing seasoning at a different store, and I already had a pound of butter  for our honey butter at home, along with foil pans for baking the cornbread. I brought my own cooking spray.

Any guesses how much the groceries came to (not including the last few I just mentioned)? Are you ready?

Well, I think I'll give you the recipe for the Taco Soup first.

Taco Soup

1 lb. hamburger
1 medium onion
1 can Rotel style tomatoes (with green chiles)
1 can tomatoes
1 can of corn
1 can of kidney beans
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing mix

Brown hamburger and onion in Dutch oven. Drain. Add all other ingredients (including all juices from canned items). Bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes or more. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, etc. Delicious!

You'll have to wait for my next post to get the cost of the groceries. I'll also give you a fabulous recipe for easy cornbread, as well as the yummy honey butter to slather on top of it! Mmmm...it makes me want some right now!