Chicken Tortilla Soup

So far, my week has been different. I started walking again this morning. I met Janell and Julia at the track and I believe we walked a mile. It was freezing and I had to get up before 7:30 am. Since no one else was up when I got back home, I just went back to bed. Going to bed at 2:00 am is a hard habit to break and it makes getting up early way too hard. I'm not a morning person, I work better at night just in general, but late night hours do have a way of tying you to the bed in the morning. At least for me they do.

  So anyway, we went over to Pete and Holly's for supper, and she fixed this really yummy glazed chicken over fresh spinach and sweet potatoes on the side. It tasted delicious. She is always coming up with the most creative meals,... I tend to get stuck in a rut. 

 On that note, I've been trying to incorporate some new recipes into my menu and the newest one I tried was a huge success. It was chicken tortilla soup. Even the kids kept saying how yummy it was. I have to say I was very pleased and it is going to be a permanent part of our menu from now on. It's economical too,... that's always another factor for me in trying new recipes. I'll include it at the bottom of the post if anyone wants to try it out.

  Ed was working Dominoes tonight so Mom brought us home, and the kids went straight to bed. I did some cleaning and straightening and then grabbed my laptop and went to bed myself. See... Ok, so I'm sitting up still working on stuff but, hey, at least I'm in bed,right?

 Wow, it has really turned off cold. Supposed to get down to 32 tonight. I gotta go for now and go make sure the kids all have enough covers. Ed can't sleep with the heater very high even in winter so we just pile on the covers. Me, the heat doesn't bother me at all;).

   So here is the recipe:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2 TBS olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium jalapeno pepper,chopped 

1/2 medium green pepper, chopped

4 boneless chicken breast

2 cups frozen corn

1/2 cup water

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

4 (14 oz) cans chicken broth

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes

2(8 oz) cans tomato sauce

Directions:

  OK ,This is what I did and it worked really well. Saute' the onion, garlic, and green pepper in oil,(btw, with peppers being so expensive right now I just picked up a bag of frozen chopped ones); then add all of the other ingredients including the whole chicken breasts. I actually substituted one can of Rotel for the jalapeno pepper and 1 one of the diced tomatoes. Chicken broth is also pricey, but I found 2 boxes (with no MSG) at our salvage store for a fraction of the cost. Then I used 1 lb of frozen corn and one can of black beans. Bring it all to a boil and simmer until the chicken is done 20 min or so. Pull out the chicken and shred it with 2 forks and return to pot. Simmer for another 20-30 min (until the flavors start to blend well) then add 1 small can of nacho cheese sauce and some chopped fresh cilantro. Stir and taste and adjust seasonings as desired. (The cilantro really tops it off.) Simmer another few minutes and then serve with tortilla chips or strips. Enjoy!