Southwest Bean Crockpot Soup

I love my crockpot.

It is seriously my best friend. I got it in April of 2011, from all my maternal aunts at my bridal shower. I couldn't WAIT to use it, and finally got to in October, after Mr Brown Cow and I moved into our first place together :) Here is the first meal I made in my crockpot:

Southwest Bean Soup:

- a can of red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

- a can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

- a can of corn

- a can of stewed tomatoes (although I end up chopping the tomatoes before I add them to the soup, not because it contributes to the recipe, but because I'm a freak and I really dislike the texture.)

- a medium sized onion, chopped

- 3 medium carrots, sliced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 2 bouillon cubes

- 3 cups of water

- Chilli powder (2 tsps)

- Cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp)

Now, the recipe I read calls for making cornmeal dumplings and putting them in the soup. They were OK... but they ended up getting kind of soggy and weird. So instead, I normally make cornmeal muffins to have alongside the soup instead. Muuuch better.

Top with cheese or sour cream and chives. Yum :)