Tortilla Soup - Tasty Tuesday!

So yes, I've posted a tortilla soup recipe before.  And it's good.  But I gotta say, this one is way easier. And just as yummy.  And the wee ones liked it better, possibly because I put fewer "spicy" ingredients in it.

This is one of those "recipes" that I made in desperation.  I knew I was going to be running around all yesterday afternoon and was going to walk in the door long enough to drop the wee ones off for dinner before heading out again.  Welcome to my life.  If I didn't want them eating fast food (and I didn't), I'd have to have dinner ready for my husband.  That meant something in the crock pot, and that's where I drew a blank.

I literally tossed four frozen chicken breasts into the crock pot while I debated what to make.  I had tomatoes, so I added two cans of that.  And some chicken broth.  Before I knew it, I'd made tortilla soup with less than five minutes' prep time.  No joke.

Of course, neither of the wee ones would want to try it if they knew what was in there.  My secret?  I had them close their eyes and then smell the deliciousness wafting from the crock pot.  Both agreed it smelled awesome.  And voila, they tried, ate, and loved the soup.  Yay!

Yes, I have a photo of the soup in a bowl.  I don't have any photos of me making it because, honestly, they aren't pretty.  And this is so easy that it doesn't even need photos.  Seriously.

Crock Pot Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
4 chicken good size chicken breasts - yes, I used frozen because it's what I had; use fresh or frozen
2 cans diced tomatoes, the 14.5 ounce size
3 c chicken broth
1 can enchilada sauce - I used mild because it was for the wee ones, but use your favorite
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 c frozen corn
2 t salt
1 1/2 t cumin
2 tortillas
oil
Optional: chilis, 1 t chili powder, juice of a lemon

Directions:
Seriously.  This is the easiest ever.  Put your chicken in the crock pot.  Add the tomatoes.  Add the chicken broth.  Chop your onion and add it.  Dice  your garlic and add it.  Add the enchilada sauce.  Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or me version: on high for four hours (because I had the frozen chicken, remember?) then on low for 2 hours after that.

Pull the chicken from the soup, and gently shred it.  The meat will literally fall apart, it's so tender and yummy.  I just used the back of a spatula to shred it.  Add the chicken to the crock pot again, and add the cumin, then stir.  Add your corn and salt, and stir again and you're done.

If you're using the optional ingredients, go ahead and add the chilis and/or chili powder at the beginning.  The lime juice gets added just before serving.  What else would you include?

To add the tortilla strips to make it truly a tortilla soup, brush them lightly with oil.  Place one atop the other and cut into thin strips, then cut the strips into the length you like.  Place them on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or a sil pat.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes until they're browning and crispy.  Place them atop your soup as you serve it (if you like sour cream, I've heard that's good, too, but it's never in my house because I don't like it personally).  You can store the extras on the counter in a sealed container for 3 days or so.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.

Sweet Tomato Chicken - Tasty Tuesday!

So it's back to school.  That means that I now have to be even better about having meals planned out and started while the wee ones are at school - not because we're so much more busy now, after all, the wee ones' activities didn't stop during the summer, but because I need something to put in lunches the next day.

This summer I somehow discovered that Mister Man really loves plain baked chicken (he'll even eat it with some pepper,  yay!) with marinara sauce over it.  Go figure - this from my sauce hating child who thinks tomatoes were put on this earth as a form of cruel torture for him.  And no, I'm not joking.  This is called progress, people.

So last week?  I pushed my luck a little with a chicken crock pot dish on the first day of school because I was going to have to leave the house by one and not get home until after tae kwon do with not one but two starving children.  Whee.

Fortunately?  It turned out awesome.  And yes, it went in the lunchbox the next day, devoured by both the wee ones.  Phew!  And yes, I know the ingredients are a little unusual.  I accept that.  Just trust me that they turn out awesome.

Sweet Tomato Chicken

Ingredients:
4-5 decent size pieces of chicken, bone in or not is your choice
1/2 c soy sauce
1/3 c brown sugar
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1/2 t pepper
1 T tomato paste

Directions:
Place the diced tomatoes in a crock pot.  Mince the garlic and add it, along with the pepper, soy sauce, brown sugar, and tomato paste.  If you're Mister Man and do truly believe that tomatoes are a cruel trick Mother Nature is playing on you, go ahead and puree them at this point.  If not, leave them in chunks to add some more texture to the sauce later and instead just stir the mixture until fully combined.

Add the chicken and cook on low 4-6 hours.  Go ahead and cook up some rice so it's ready to serve with your chicken.  After it's fully cooked, it will be falling apart, which is just what you want.  Use tongs to break it up, then use a slotted spoon to scoop it out to serve over that rice.  Add as much or as little sauce atop this as you like.

Serve it with a green salad, and this is a perfect weeknight meal.  Yum.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Tasty Tuesday - Tortilla Soup

Yesterday was one of those days.  I didn't have much of a craving for anything I usually cook, but I also didn't have a ton of time to make dinner.  I took a spin through recipes I hadn't made in awhile, hoping I would be inspired by something in there - especially knowing that one of my errands involved stop at multiple grocery stores (because yes, I do shop at different stores for different things, yay me).  Eventually, my perusals paid off.  I finally had inspiration.

The final verdict of my homemade tortilla soup?  My husband had two giant bowls and proclaimed it a keeper.  Little Miss, who had eaten dinner at a friend's house, ate half my bowl and asked if she could have it for lunch today.  And Mister Man announced that it was too spicy - but he really liked the idea behind it.  (So yes, next time I'll adjust it in hopes of making it less spicy so that he can eat it but still flavorful enough that the rest of us will enjoy it.)

Homemade Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes (the San Marzano tomatoes are my favorites)
1 4 oz can sliced green chile peppers
1 10 oz can enchilada sauce (I use the medium green sauce, but feel free to go hot or mild, depending on your preferences)
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 bay leaf
32 oz chicken stock
10 oz frozen corn
1 lb chicken, shredded*
2 limes
1 T cilantro, chopped
8 corn tortilla
vegetable oil

*Choice A: poach your chicken the way you normally would, then shred it and add it to the soup.  Choice B: Have plenty of time to cook your soup and add the raw chicken to the soup, letting it poach as the soup cooks, then pulling it out at the end and shredding it.

Directions:
Add all ingredients up to the chicken to a crock pot.  Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours (don't do the raw chicken if you're cooking it on high).

When the soup is near done, use a spoon or spatula to squish the tomatoes against the sides of the crock pot so that they fall apart.  This is easier to do at the end of cooking than right away when you're starting the soup.

Also near the end, prepare your tortilla strips.  Brush the tortillas lightly with oil, then cut them into strips.  Bake them in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until lightly crispy.

Just before you're ready to serve, add the juice from your limes to the soup and stir briefly.  Serve the soup with chopped cilantro as garnish, along with the awesome tortilla strips you just made.  You can also add avocado or cheese or sour cream or whatever else strikes your fancy.  According to my husband, this is as good as any tortilla soup you'd find in a restaurant anywhere.

On a side note, I had less time to make this than I thought I would due to an unexpected appointment.  With the exception of the chicken, I had this entire thing in the crock pot in under 15 minutes.  When I got home, I poached the chicken and shredded it, adding it to the soup a half hour before I served it.  That worked well, and the chicken still absorbed good flavor from the soup.  I love recipes that give me flexibility like this!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.

Tasty Tuesday - Perfect Pot Roast

It's cold. Have I mentioned this lately? And it's cloudy and damp and ... I so live in the wrong climate. Unfortunately, I live here, which means that I need to cook with the seasons, and right now... it's comfort food season. I'm doing a lot of soups and stews and other hearty dishes. The best ones come in the crock pot where I can put everything in first thing in the morning and come home to a comforting and warm meal.

This week? We did pot roast. It's one of my favorites because I can quite easily grab what I have on hand and toss it in without measuring too much. If I'm a little short on something, that's fine. If I want some more of another flavor, that works, too. So the measurements here? Totally an estimate. Do what works for you.

Pot Roast

Ingredients:
2-3 lb roast
4 carrots
2 ribs of celery
5-6 medium red potatoes
1 parsnip
1 onion
1/2 c chicken or beef stock
2 T parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
2 T oil

Directions:
Heat up a heavy pan. I use my cast iron skillet because I know it will heat evenly and retain its heat. Once the pan is hot - medium high heat - add the oil. You want to wait until this point to add the oil. When the metal gets hot, it opens its pores, so the oil goes into them and helps to make essentially a nonstick surface. Trust me.

Salt and pepper all sides of the roast, then add it to the pan. You want to sear it on each side. Don't move it until it has a nice crust on it or it will stick to the pan. And yes, I do actually sear all six sides.

While the roast is searing, cut up your veggies (except your potatoes, which are a starch and not a veggie - those come later!). You want everything to be bite size - nothing so big that you have to cut it once it's cooked and nothing so small that it won't stay on your fork with the rest of your meal. I'll also wash my organic carrots really well and not peel those - but that's me. I slice my onions and leave them that big. They are then easy to fish out for the wee one who won't eat them but manageable for me to put on my fork. I don't want it diced. Layer all your veggies into the bottom of your crock post.

Once your pot roast is seared, add it to the crock pot atop the veggies. Sprinkle the parsley atop this mixture, and add the stock for a cooking liquid. You truly need just a little bit because the meat and veggies will release a lot of juices.

Cook on low for 2-3 hours. At that point, cut up your red potatoes. I leave the skin on my red potatoes because I like it - and there's lots of good vitamins and minerals there. Add those around the meat at this point. If you add them earlier, I find they get too cooked and mushy for my taste, so I hold off on adding them until this point. If you'll be gone all day, go ahead and add them at the beginning.

Cook on low for another 2-3 hours or longer. When it's ready, the meat will literally fall apart as you pick it up with a fork. That's perfection in my eyes. You can also pull out the juice after you remove your veggies and meat and potatoes and make a thicker gravy, but my family doesn't like that. To do this, put the juices into a small pan and heat it until it's boiling. Slowly add gravy flour, a tablespoon at a time (it will vary depending on how much juice you have, but usually it's about a quarter cup for me) and reduce it for about five minutes. Check to see if it needs and more salt and pepper, then serve it atop your pot roast. Or be like us and skip this step and just serve it as is with the juice as more of a soup/stew kind of thing.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.

Tasty Tuesday - Crockpot Applesauce

I mentioned last week about our oh so fun trip to the apple orchard last week. We came home with a ton of apples. Somehow, we've gone through most of them - that whole apple a day thing means we probably won't see a doctor for years - but I'm working on doing some fun things with them, too. Mister Man has asked for an apple cake for his birthday, so I'll be doing that shortly. Yesterday, however, I made the easiest and yummiest ever applesauce in my crock pot. Less than 10 minutes of prep and eight hours later was bliss. Bliss. It's possible that I've ate just the applesauce for lunch today.

Crockpot Applesauce

Ingredients:
8ish apples
1/2 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 T lemon juice
1/2 c water

Directions:
This is extremely forgiving, so play with it and don't worry about being exact. I also put in a few sprinkles of allspice with the nutmeg and cinnamon, which was a great addition. See? Forgiving. The best kind of cooking!

I like my applesauce chunky, and I like it with the skins on, which is why I don't often buy applesauce in the store. I don't peel my apples before making this, but if you don't like the skins (which get very soft here and are more just a little texture), feel free to peel them first. But hey - this also save a ton of time!

Chop your apples into pieces, and place them into your crockpot. Make sure that you choose a crockpot that is an appropriate size for the apples you're cooking. You always want your crockpot to be more than half full, and this particular crock pot wants it at least two-thirds full.

Place the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and any potential allspice on top of the apples. Add the lemon juice and water, then close the lid and turn your crockpot on low.

See, I told you - way under 10 minutes prep, right?

Let it sit for eight hours on that low setting, and your applesauce will be ready. You don't need to stir the sugar and cinnamon into the apples, so don't open that lid once you've placed it on. By the end of eight hours, the apples will be cooked through. Open up the crock pot and stir gently to keep it nice and chunky. That's it.

We enjoyed it warm right away, but it's also great once it's been chilled in the fridge. The apples start out huge, but it's amazing how much this cooks down. We have applesauce only for the next day or two before it's gone. I need to buy some more apples. Trust me on this one!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.

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Tasty Tuesday - Potato Corn Chowder

It's getting cold in Chicago. While I've somehow resisted actually turning on the heat in my house, it's time for the comfort foods. Last week, I made my chicken stew with biscuits for the first time since the thermometer went over fifty degrees last spring. And then I made another comfort food dish. I love soup. I love my crock pot. And so I got creative. I created an oh so yummy soup that I altered to make dairy free for Little Miss but that can absolutely be full of dairy if you choose.

Served with a slice of fresh bread from the oven - I'm back to baking almost a small loaf a day, another recipe I need to share soon since it's so low maintenance - and the wee ones were in heaven. Mister Man ate three bowls of it. This was definitely a winner, and I have all the ingredients except potatoes in my house now to make another batch. Yum!

Potato Corn Chowder

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1/3 c flour
3 c potatoes, diced
4 c chicken stock
1/2 t Worchestershire
1 c milk (or rice milk for us)
3 c frozen sweet corn

Directions:
Cook up your bacon in a pan. I suggest cutting the bacon before you cook it, as it's easier to get an even browning that way - at least for me. Start your bacon in a cold pan, and cook until it's starting to crisp up, then remove the bacon - but leave the grease - and set it aside until you're ready to serve.

Add the diced carrot and celery to the hot pan with the bacon grease (note: I use lean center cut bacon, so I don't end up with tons and tons of grease, but if you use "standard" bacon, you may need to scoop out some of the grease). Cook for five minutes or so. Add the onion and continue to cook another ten minutes or so until the carrots and celery start to carmelize a bit, stirring periodically. Add the flour, and stir until it's coated everything. Cook with the flour for two to three minutes to cook out the raw taste of the flour.

Add the four cups of chicken stock to your crock pot. Add the diced potatoes - note that I used red and purple potatoes because I had them on hand, but usually I would use red or fingerling potatoes because I like them best, but russets work just fine, too. Add the veggies from the pan and stir to combine. Add the Worchestershire sauce, and cover the crock pot. Cook on low for six hours or high for three to four hours.

Then add the milk, and stir. Cover the crock pot again and cook for another half hour to hour. Because I like to have some potato texture, I pull out some of the potatoes at this time, but it isn't necessary. Puree some or all of the soup to help it thicken further. I use my immersion blender in the crock pot. If you don't have one, you can use your standard blender, but be careful to not fill it more than one-third full with a hot liquid and use a kitchen towel to hold the top on. Heat expands and can blow the top off if you don't!

Once it's pureed, add the corn. Let the soup come to temperature again (I put frozen corn in, so it needs to reheat another ten or so minutes) and serve with the bacon strewn atop the chowder in bowls.

Great. I'm hungry. Again.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.

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