Garden Bounty Tortilla Soup

Pin It

This soup is good for you and it's delicious.  Plus, it's a great way to get your kids, spouse or anyone for that matter to eat their veggies.  I am a picky eater and really don't like a lot of veggies, but I love this soup!  The only downside is that it requires a lot of chopping, but it makes a TON.  I actually freeze half of the recipe.

Ingredients
8 cups chicken broth (you can use chicken bouillon cubes - 1 cube to 2 cups of water)
1 red onion, diced
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 large carrots, pealed and diced
2-4 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup tomato paste (more if desired, to taste)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole pepper of the canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce (I use the La Costena brand)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 small to medium zucchini, diced
1 yellow summer squash, diced
1 Red bell pepper, chopped
1 Green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
Fresh, frozen or canned corn - optional

In large stockpot over high heat, combine chicken broth, chicken, onion, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, garlic, chipotle pepper, jalapeno, oregano and cumin.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  When the chicken is cooked, remove from pot and shred it.  Add salt and white pepper.  Add zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers and corn if desired.  Bring to a boil again.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.  Add cilantro, lime and orange juice.  Stir well and remove from heat. (When I reheat the extras the next day, sometimes their isn't as much juice so I just add a bit more chicken broth)

Garnish: Tortilla chips, shredded cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, sliced avocados, jalepeno rings, lime wedges.  (I usually just do chips, cheese, cilantro and a bit of lime juice).

**When I freeze it, I leave out the potatoes (since they really don't freeze well) and the chicken.  Then I just add them when I cook the soup.  When you're ready to eat your frozen soup, thaw it and then you can either cook it in a crockpot on low for 4-6 hours or you can cook in on the stove and boil it for about 30-40 minutes.

Makes approx. 3 quarts

Chocolate Chip Pancakes With Buttermilk Syrup

Pin It

Okay, this is seriously so yummy!  It's basically the epitome of dessert for breakfast because the pancakes taste like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  Mmm!

I don't have a special pancake recipe.....I just use Bisquick mix, but trust me, they are divine!  In order to make your chocolate chip pancakes simply whip up some Bisquick pancake batter and the pour it onto your greased griddle or pan to start making pancakes like normal.  Then grab some milk chocolate chips and sprinkle them on top of your batter (shown below).  You can flip the pancakes just like normal too....easy peasy!

The buttermilk syrup is so good.  I honestly don't know if I can go back to normal maple syrup.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla

Directions
Put the butter, sugar and buttermilk in a large sauce pan (you want it to be large because this syrup foams and you don't want it to overflow).  Bring those ingredients to a boil.  Continue stirrings and let it boil for several minutes (around 4 or so).  Remove from heat and add the baking soda and vanilla.  This is where it's going to foam up.  Keep stirring.  The foaminess will go away as the syrup cools down and as you keep stirring it.  Then pour it over your pancakes, french toast, waffles or just drink it up haha.

If you have left overs, you can just refrigerate it and then heat it back up in the microwave.  I'm not entirely sure how long it lasts....ours is always finished off within a week - so I know it at least lasts a week :)

Ooey Gooey Mexican Chicken

Pin It

This recipe is SO so so yummy and super easy to make too!  My husband and I both love it.  My daughter also likes it - except for the beans.  The best thing about this recipe is it's basically all from cans that you probably have in your pantry - so you just dump it all in the crockpot and you have a fabulous dinner without much effort at all!

Ingredients

3-4 frozen chicken breasts

1 Can cream of chicken soup

1 Can cream of mushroom soup

1 Cup salsa

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 Tbs. cumin

1 4 oz. can diced chiles, undrained

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2  Cups monterey jack cheese

Directions

Add all of the ingredients, except for the cheese to your crockpot.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.  Shred chicken and return it to the crockpot.  Add cheese and stir.  Cook long enough for the cheese to get all melted and then serve.  

You can eat it like a soup with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips as your topping, or you could eat it like a burrito.  I've never had as a burrito simply because I love it as a soup too much.  This recipe makes quite a bit.  It would be enough for a family of 6 at least.  I've thought that adding a can of corn would be yummy too.  Unfortunately my husband doesn't like corn in stuff, so if you try it out, let me know what you think!  Enjoy!