Vegetarian Mexican Soup

First of all- check out this beautiful piece of kitchenware! My dear friend Kirsten gifted this to Ron and I when we had our house warming party. You may have seen a picture of it cameo in one of my Facebook profile pictures. The picture with Jasmine (one of our cats) IN it and me with giant green chopsticks and a green hat. Don't worry- it's been washed since then!! lol

So tonight I had to plan a meal that I could make in advance and have ready when we came home from our apts (me: acupuncture, Ron: piano lessons). After starting the blog this morning I decided to go through my cookbook for recipes to write about.
Several years back I started writing a cookbook! It's funny because there's recipes I used to cook often and I haven't even looked at them now for a long time! It made me nostalgic looking back at my old recipes!
Even though it is MY recipe- I still couldn't bring myself to follow the recipe totally!!
But check it out: this recipe may not be anything to look at (I mean come on, it's a soup that wants to be chili...) but it is SO easy to make, it's quick, it cane be made in the crokpot if you want, it's cheap to make and it's practically fat free and even though I said vegetarian I think it's actually not technically as it has chicken broth but you could use vegetable broth if you like.

This is what you will need (and again- make adjustments to your own taste and be creative!!)
1 bell pepper, chopped (I chose green for this recipe to add some color contrast)
1 sweet onion, chopped
2+ cloves of garlic minced
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 can of black beans
1 can of fat free spicy refried beans
1 can of corn (drained)
1 can of creamed corn (tonight was the 1st time I tried that addition)
8-12 oz of chicken stock or broth (add it gradually and stop when you like the consistency)
Several dashes of your favorite hot sauce(s) (we like a chipolte and garlic sauce)
salt to taste
Saute the onions and peppers and then transfer to crockpot if that's how you are cooking it. Then gradually add the other ingredients. Mash the refried beans up to thicken the broth!
When it's hot- it's done! So easy!!
And for toppings- I use a sprinkle of fat free cheddar cheese and low fat sour cream (just a dollop) and another splash of hot sauce

Oh yeah! Almost forgot! I serve this soup on top of a small scoop of cooked barley! You could also use rice or nothing if that's what you wish!
** I used to add a jalapeno with the onions and pepper but today I opted for just the spicy beans and hot sauce since I was short on time... and my past few jalapeno experiences have had unpleasant side effects (think pepper oil soaked into your skin when you say...oh I don't know... take your contacts out later...yeah. No good.)
Usually I wear gloves (like the ones I use at work when I apply color) to avoid such catastrophes but that just takes extra time and when you're rushing- thats' just too much sometimes!
So moral of the story- invest in some gloves (but please don't steal from The Color Studio) and save jalapeno shopping for a leisurely sunday!