What's Cookin'

Let me tell you, our kitchen got a workout on Sunday!  And, that meant lots of cleaning for me.  It might have made me a little cranky, too.  One of the cooks is messy and uses more dishes than necessary.  However, I think I contained my anger and she won't know that I was frustrated unless she reads this post.  In which case, I can say that I am over it now. 

Jess tried her hand at making cake balls.  She made them by herself without any help.  I was impressed with her effort.  And, even though I was frustrated, she did do a pretty decent job of cleaning up after herself.

She wanted a fun snack for Super Bowl watching, but they were super rich.  So, we all sampled, but no snacking occurred.  She did make queso for the Super Bowl, though.  I think Jess could live on appetizers... never eating real food.

We have church from 1:00 - 4:00, so fixing dinner in the crockpot is a must.  I tried my hand at a Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup.  It was delicious and we will definitely be having it again.  Jonathan said he 'sort of' liked it.  The rest of us meat eaters (Fred and I) thoroughly enjoyed it.

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 15 oz can of sweet whole corn kernels, drained

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained

5 cups chicken stock

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 serrano pepper, deveined, deseeded, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

Monterey jack cheese, shredded

Tortilla strips

1. In the insert of your crockpot add all ingredients except for cheese and tortilla strips.  Stir ingredients to make sure seasonings are well mixed.

2. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.

3. Prior to serving, shred chicken.

4. Serve soup hot, topped with tortilla strips and cheese

Note:  We tried the strips all different ways.  Cut big, little, toasted, not toasted.  I think we will probably buy the tortilla chips that come in little strips and add those.  Actual tortillas didn't seem to work well in the soup.  Although, the soup was delicious.  Fred had seconds and tried it with leftover cornbread instead of the tortilla strips.  He crumbled cornbread in the bottom and poured the soup over the cornbread and said it was delicious.