Chicken Tortilla Soup

(Recipe from Rival Crock Pot Slow Cooker Recipes for all Occasions cookbook)

This soup is sooooo good! My favorite!! You gotta load it with all the toppings, especially the avocado! I picked up these strip chips from Cafe Rio when I was there, but you can make your own simply by cutting up corn tortillas into strips with a pizza cutter. Then fry in hot oil and sprinkle with salt OR bake in the oven sprayed with oil(watch carefully and stir for even crispiness).

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 1 t. gr. cumin
• S & P to taste

Toppings:

• 1/2 c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 avocado, diced and tossed with lime juice
• 2 T. fresh Cilantro
• lime wedges
• Corn strips or tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dump first 8 ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
   
2. Shred cooked chicken. It should just fall apart in the crock pot easily.
   
3. Add additional seasoning or more broth if needed.
   
4. Serve in bowl topped with cheese, avocado, cilantro, lime juice and chips!

Ah-mazing.

Beef stew - Pot pie

Oh wait... maybe this is my favorite soup! I love soup. This one is my own creation, but you really can't go wrong with stew! M M Mmmm!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs beef stew meat, trimmed and cubed
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 2 c. beef broth
• 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 2-3 potatoes
  
• 3-4 carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• Mushroom (opt.)
  

Seasonings: paprika(1 t.), bay leaves, thyme, parsley, and salt & pepper. Whatever you like. Also, 1 pkt Brown gravy OR beef stew seasoning.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Toss meat, flour and salt & pepper in a gallon zip bag.
2. Brown coated meat and onion in a large pan with HOT oil. Then dump meat into crock pot.
3. Pour beef broth into pan to get all the bits of goodness off the pan.
   
4. Pour broth into crock pot along with all the other ingredient and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

It's delicious on it's own with rolls or even more so delicious in individual pot pies.....

You can find my recipe HERE. It goes perfectly with the stew. I made these for our New Years dinner. Definitely a new tradition! We had fun making them together and we all loved the recipe. The kids liked having their OWN pie to eat out of.

*Remember to push the dough into the sides of the dish good and poke lots of holes or the sides will fall when baked.

Making individual pies can be a little daunting. You may also make fun shapes out of the dough instead. Super easy. Just cut out the shapes and set on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg wash (opt.) and bake until golden and done. I think it takes around 15 minutes to bake, give or take.

Chicken & Dumplings

This is my husband's FAVORITE dinner. We have it once a week at our house! It is so unbelievably easy to make and it tastes SO good!! I love an easy crock pot meal.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Chicken breasts
• 2 T. Butter
• 1 can Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 can Cream of Celery soup
• 4 cups Chicken broth
• 1/2 onion, diced
  
• Celery, diced
  
• Carrots, diced
• Salt & Pepper
  
• 1 (10 oz) biscuits (I like homestyle best)
  

DIRECTIONS: Add all to pot from top of the list to bottom, excluding biscuits. Season with S & P. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred chicken and serve soup over biscuits.

* You can throw the biscuit dough in the crock pot and cook for the last hour of cook time. I've had it both ways and like the biscuits better baked.

Recipe from The Crockin Girls.

Taco Soup (revisited)

This is another great soup recipe. SO easy and very tasty. I revisited this one because I have switched things up just a bit. HERE is my old taco soup recipe if interested.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion
• 1 can pinto beans (or whichever you prefer!)
• 1 can petite diced zesty Tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 (14 oz) can Tomato sauce
• 1/2 (6 oz) can Tomato paste (taste & add more if want)
  
• 1 can Corn with liquid
• 1 c. Chicken broth
  
• 1 pkt Taco Seasoning
• 1 pkt Ranch dressing

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown the ground beef and onions in pan.
2. Pour all ingredients into Crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours.
   
3. Serve with sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips.

*I like to use my crock pot so I don't have to make dinner in the evening and the flavors really incorporate well, but you may also just simmer the soup in a pot until heated through. :)

Mom's Cabbage Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Celery
• Onion
• Can diced tomato
  
• Can tomato sauce
• Chicken stock
  
• Salt, Pepper & Basil

DIRECTIONS:

Chop it all up and throw it in a pot. Bring to boil and then cover with lid and simmer.

*I hope I'm not leaving any ingredients out. I am adding this one from memory. It is simple, but so delicious. This soup reminds me of home. My mom would make a huge pot of it and I would eat it all week. :)

Cheese Broccoli Soup

yummy.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 c. Water
• 4 Chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 medium Onion
  
• 1 c. Celery
• 3 c. Potato
• 1 bag frozen Broccoli (OR 2 heads fresh)
  
• 1 bag frozen Cauliflower (OR 1 small head fresh)
• 2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 lb. Velveeta Cheese (cubed)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dice really small the onion, celery and potato. Boil in water and bouillon cubes for about 15-20 minutes.
   
2. Add Broccoli and Cauliflower. Cook another 10 minutes.
   
3. Add Cream of Chicken coup and Velveeta Cheese. Heat until smooth.
   

Onion Soup

If you like Onions then you will LOVE this soup! It has great flavor and smells so good!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c. Butter
• 1 T. Oil
• 2 c. Onions (sliced)
• 2 cans Beef Broth (10 oz)
• 1/2 t. Thyme
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 slices French bread
• 2 slices Provolone Cheese
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven for 425 degrees.

2. Saute sliced Onion in oil and butter until tender.

3. Add broth and seasoning. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Toast the french bread in the toaster and break into chunks.

5. Pour soup into soup bowl. Then place the bread over the soup, then the sliced cheese and top with Parmesan cheese.

6. Place bowl on cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Taco Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• beef
  
• onion
• 1 can tomato soup (10 oz)
  
• 1 pkt. Ranch Dressing
• 1 can Chili beans
• 1 can Kidney beans w/liquid
  
• 1 can Corn w/liquid
• 1 cup water or chicken broth
• 1 can Southern Style diced tomatoes
• 1 can Diced tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown beef in a pan with the taco seasoning.
2. Pour all ingredients into the Crock Pot and cook on low for 8 hours.
3. Top with sour cream and cheese and serve with tortilla chips.

TIP: If you like an extra kick to your soup you can add the Fiesta Ranch seasoning packet. It was almost a little too spicy for me, but my husband loved it!

Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• Cooked Chicken (cubed)
  
• FROZEN Home Style Egg Noodles
• diced Celery, Carrots and Onion
• Seasoning: Chicken Bouillon, Basil, Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring large pot of water to boil with the bouillon cubes.
2. Cook chicken in pot. Remove chicken from pot when cooked through.
3. Add the noodles, vegetables and seasoning to the same pot of water.
4. Cube the chicken and return to the pot when the noodles are tender.
   
5. Simmer on low for 10 minutes.
   

Comforting Chicken Noodle Soup

Tyson and I were both sick yesterday, so I made soup.
This is my favorite rainy day soup.... or anytime really! It is so simple to make and the perfect comforting soup.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 Quarts Water (10 cups)
• 8 Chicken bouillon cubes
• 6 cups WIDE Egg Noodles
• 2 cans Cream Chicken Soup
• 3 cups Chicken, cooked & cubed (3-4 chicken breasts)
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2-3 cups Carrots and Celery or any other vegetable you like (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring to boil water AND bouillon cubes in large pot. Cut up vegetables.
2. Add noodles and vegetables to boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes or until tender.
3. Do NOT drain the water from pot!! Add Soup and Chicken to the pot and heat through.
4. Stir in the sour cream and remove from heat.

* This soup is very good in a bread bowl or dipped with rolls!