It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

If you can’t tell, I’m in the Christmas spirit. I always get this way after we start decorating the house for Christmas which is what we did yesterday. It’s a tradition every year that we go out to a local tree farm, pick out our tree, and come home and decorate it. We went with some friends yesterday and had them over for lunch afterwards. When deciding what I wanted to make for lunch, I knew I wanted it to be something warm that I could do in the crock pot so we could eat as soon as we got back. I’ve already made a few pots of chili this year and beef stew so I started looking around for other soup ideas and came across this recipe. It sounded simple enough so I thought I’d give it a shot. I think it turned out pretty good. I sure didn’t get any complaints from anyone!

Chicken Tortilla Soup-with my alterations
(I doubled the following amounts-original recipe serves 4)

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used lime juice)
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 8 ounces corn tortilla chips
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)

1. In a large pot over medium heat, saute the chicken in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and mix well. Then add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lemon juice and salsa. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. (I pre-cooked and shredded the chicken and then cooked this in the crockpot on low for 6 hours)
2. Break up some tortilla chips into individual bowls and pour soup over chips. Top with the Monterey Jack cheese and a little sour cream.

Source: Allrecipes

And here’s a picture of our tree. Isn’t it beautiful?!