Santa Fe Chicken Enchilada Soup

Last week, I decided that I wanted to make something with the can of black beans from my pantry so I went on allrecipes.com and found this recipe.  It was submitted by Philadelphia (the cream cheese company) and called for a container of one of their new "cooking cremes", which I have been meaning to try.  Besides the cooking creme, I already had everything in the recipe...

I also had to run out and get some cilantro, which was totally worth it.  (We love love love cilantro!)  Okay, enough chatter---here's the recipe:

4 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into strips
1 teaspoon oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 (10 ounce) tub of Philadelphia Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme
1 cup milk
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed
1 (11 ounce) can corn with red and green bell peppers, drained (aka "Mexicorn")
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro


Directions:
- Heat oven to 400*
-Toss tortilla strips in oil; spread into a single layer on baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally.
-Meanwhile, cook chicken in large nonstick saucepan sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat until chicken is done (about 8-10 minutes), stirring frequently.  Stir in cooking creme, milk, beans, corn and tomatoes.  Simmer on medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently.
-Serve soup topped with tortilla strips and cilantro.

So...of course I did a few things differently, as I usually do.  :)

First, I already had a bag of white corn tortilla chips that we are trying to eat up, so I did not make the tortilla strips like the recipe calls for.  I have, however, made them in the past and they are super easy and super delicious so I do recommend making them if you don't have tortilla chips on hand.  Secondly, I cooked the chicken in the crock pot for this one and then just transferred it over to a smaller pot on the stove when it was closer to dinner time.  A couple reasons why I did this:

1. In soups like this, I love when the chicken is more pulled/shredded than chunky.  Probably just me, so go ahead and cook it like the instructions tell you to if you want.

2. It's so easy to cook chicken in a crock pot!  I put the whole chicken breast in there with some water and chicken bullion and let it cook for about four hours on low.  By then, all I had to do was break it up a little bit and it was ready to go!  Once the chicken was transferred to the stove, it seriously took about 10 minutes to get the soup ready.  Talk about awesome!! 

Here's a little peek at the end result.  I put cheese on mine, and didn't add any chips. 

By the way, the soup wasn't spicy so even my toddler had two helpings of it.  And don't skimp on the cilantro!  It really does add a delicious flavor so it's well worth making a trip to the store if you don't already have some.  Enjoy!!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Loaded Baked Potato Soup (in the crockpot)

6 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, diced
1 quart chicken broth
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Optional toppings: chives, sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon, etc.

Combine potatoes, onion, broth, garlic, butter, salt and pepper in crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Potatoes should be tender, so before serving, coarsely mash potatoes so soup is slightly thickened. Stir in cream and shredded cheddar. Garnish with toppings.


Tuesdays have been "crockpot days" in our house, due to evening lessons for the kids that get us home almost right before bed. So, I've been checking out a new website called "The Crockin' Girls" to get some new ideas for recipes to try. This is one of their recipes and it gets an A from my husband, myself and my one-year old. (My older two aren't soup eaters.) I did not add any garlic (because I forgot to buy some) and I was too lazy to grate the cheddar block I had, so I used an already-shredded four-cheese blend. I will also say that the optional toppings really add something so go ahead and get some bacon. I always have on hand the frozen kind (that cooks in the microwave) so everything about this recipe was extremely easy. (I even mashed it IN the crockpot!!)

Family Chef's Grade: A

Zesty Hamburger Soup

***This recipe was found in Taste of Home magazine, submitted by Kelly Milan of Lake Jackson, TX***

Prep/Total Time: 30 minutes

1 lb. ground beef
2 cups sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
4 cups hot water
2 medium red potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups frozen corn
1-1/2 cups uncooked small shell pasta
4 jarred jalapeno slices
1 bottle (32-oz) V8 juice
2 cans (10-oz each) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 to 2 T. sugar

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, celery, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the water, potatoes, corn, pasta and jalapeno.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir until heated through.

Yield: 10 servings

I love soup so I'll try almost any soup/stew recipe. I also have a hard time saying that soup isn't good so I had to really leave this opinion up to my husband. He commented that it was good soup but not the best he's ever had. I also made a bit of a blunder while making it: I didn't realize that the four jalapeno slices would really be enough to make the soup "zesty". So....I added about a dozen slices. The soup was quite spicy but luckily my husband likes spicy stuff so it went over alright. I also added extra pasta for the kids' sake, which soaked up more broth than intended. All in all, I'm not too sure I'd make this again.

Family Chef's Grade: C

Slow Cooker Beef & Vegetable Soup

**Recipe found in Taste of Home magazine, submitted by Tammy Landry of Saucier, MS.**

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 8 hours

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
1 bottle (12 oz.) beer or non-alcoholic beer
1 can (10-1/2 oz) condensed beef broth, undiluted
1-1/2 cups sliced fresh carrots
1-1/4 cups water
1 cup chopped peeled turnips
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 can (4 oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp. ground allspice

Family Chef's substitutions: Of course, I was still out of bay leaf, so I did not add that. I added 1/2 cup extra carrots, and 8 oz. of fresh sliced mushrooms instead of the canned mushrooms. For the beer, I used a bottle of Fat Tire beer. I also threw in a couple shakes of dried thyme.

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to 5-quart slow cooker. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until heated through. Discard bay leaf.
Yield: 6 servings

This was the perfect cold weather dinner! Our temperature outside was -10 degrees when I woke up this morning, so I knew it was going to be soup day. It was my first time trying a turnip and I have to admit that like the parsnips the other night, the turnips were delicious! My husband got a little antsy waiting for the yummy-smelling soup to be done, so he had a little taste when it had been cooking for only about 7 hours. As it turns out, the veggies were just perfect then so we had an early dinner. My husband made a great comment, "Even the broth tastes good!" It's true--the soup was VERY flavorful and hearty. We both give this two thumbs up!!

Family Chef's Grade: A