Recipes

Along with my desire to clean and nest these days, I have an increasing desire to grow my culinary expertise.  As such, I have been searching for fun new recipes to try out.  Last week's challenge was to master a crockpot recipe -- and on Sunday, I accomplished my mission!

I've always been a bit hesitant to use our crockpot.  I don't really understand the concept -- I mean, why take eight hours to cook something when you could cook the same thing in less than an hour on the stovetop?  So, aside from barbecue meatballs, I've never cooked anything with our crockpot and it essentially lives in our basement with all the other unused appliances (bread maker, anyone?)  But on a quest for new recipes, I've been asking around for people's favorites, and while out to dinner with Bobby and Michelle last week, Michelle shared her friend's crockpot recipe for chicken tortilla soup:

1 pkg. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 packets reduced sodium taco seasoning
1 packed ranch seasoning
1 can each black beans, red kidney beans, white beans, vegetarian baked beans, medium chili beans, corn, diced tomatoes, green chilies
1 can Mexican tomato sauce (found in special Hispanic section of most grocery stores)

Garnish: sour cream, shredded cheese, pre-cut tortilla strips (typically found in salad dressing aisle)

Michelle's version also included garbanzo beans and olives, but I figured five types of beans were probably enough, and Stephen and I aren't huge olive fans.  We also used only one ranch packet instead of two (to cut back on salt).

It was super easy to make.  I just put the chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker, covered it with the seasonings, poured in all the cans (with HALF the liquid drained from each), and let the whole thing simmer on high all day!  After a few hours, the chicken was so tender it literally pulled apart.  The chilies (which I had never cooked with before) gave it a nice kick, and the sour cream on top made it really creamy and wonderful!  Best of all, it was SUPER filling, so we had tons of leftovers to save for dinners and lunches throughout the week.

With a baby on the way, I'm trying to find recipes that can be easily frozen and saved for later.  Soups and casseroles seem perfect for that -- so I'm trying to add a few to my recipe repertoire!  So far I've mastered chili, chicken noodle/matzo ball soup, beef barley soup, and now chicken tortilla soup -- next up is potato soup!  My friend Morgan just posted a great recipe on her family's blog, so I'll keep you posted on how it turns out!  Fingers crossed...