Soup is on! Serving Beef Fajita Soup from the crockpot!

Two weeks ago, a slip on the ice landed me square on my shoulder and gifted me with some sprains and strains that have made cooking tricky. Thank goodness for the freezers and the pantry, but they are starting to look a little bare in the ready made foods department!  I had planned on making beef fajita soup in the crockpot on Monday and then realized that I couldn't reach the meat in the bottom of the chest freezer without using my injured arm, so that was postponed until today. Having asked A to get a packet of venison out of the freezer before he left for work, I was able to easily put together this soup with minimal arm movement. It's a new recipe for us from *The Slow Cooker Bible*, and after having tasted a small bowl of it in anticipation of dinner, I'm going to say it's one we'll do again. In fact, if the leftovers freeze well, I'll definitely be adding this soup to our list of core soup recipes! The flavor was very nice, the textures were good (onion was tender crisp, meat was tender, peppers were tender but held their form, the beans were the same as the peppers, and the diced tomatoes added a nice smoothness. The colors were beautiful, even with me using a large green bell pepper instead of a small red and a small green pepper. Tonight I'll serve this soup with piping hot cornbread muffins and local honey, but next time I will have dishes of shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh pico de gallo, and chopped cilantro to allow diners to add these to the top of their soup. This would be a very interesting soup course to precede enchiladas or to serve with a taco dip or empanadas. The success of this recipe also is a good omen for trying more recipes from this collection of recipes!

Beef Fajita Soup
1 lb beef stew meat (I used 1 lb 7 oz venison roast cut into bite sized pieces)
15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with roasted garlic, undrained (I used a can of petite diced tomatoes and add 1 tsp garlic powder)
14 oz can beef broth (I used 2 tsp better than boullion and 16 oz boiling water)
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced (we love onion, so I used a medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges)
1 1/2 c. water
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp seasoned salt (I used Lawry's)
1 tsp black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. (I used my 4 qt round crockpot.)
2. Cover; cook on low for 8 hours. (Who really does 8 hours? You're at work for at least 9! I started mine at 9 a.m and served it at 6:30 p.m. and it was fine. This one has some flexibility but don't go too long or the peppers will be mush.)
3. Serve with desired toppings.
Recipe from *The Slow Cooker Bible*.