Only the pure in heart...

Today, I used my favorite piece of cooking equipment. My red Crockpot given to my by Mrs Dana Moldenhaur of Wisconsin. I someday will have a beautiful white and black kitchen with all the appliances being primary colors (on the color wheel, not the lighting scale, Husband) and silver. hence the reason I mentioned the lovely red color of the Crockpot.

Anyway, I made Chicken Tortilla Soup from my Pinterest Pin of this recipe: http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-chicken-tortilla-soup/

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast, trimmed
15 oz can sweet whole corn kernels, drained
15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
5 C chicken stock
3/4 C onion, chopped
3/4 C green pepper, chopped
1 Serrano pepper, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp ground pepper, divided
Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded, for garnish
Tortilla Strips, for garnish

Directions:

To your slow cooker add first 9 ingredients plus 1 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp ground pepper. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
 Prior to serving, remove chicken breasts. Transfer chicken to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for easy shredding. Alternately you may shred chicken by hand. Season chicken with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Return shredded seasoned chicken to slow cooker bowl. Stir gently.
If serving immediately, divide among bowls. Top off with a generous helping of shredded cheese and seasoned tortilla strips. Soup may be stored in the fridge for up to several days. If freezing, label containers well with soup name and date.

  

I, as normal, made just a few alterations to the soup for it to be less expensive and more accessible to my pantry.

I used chicken tenderloins verses chicken breast, simple because it was a good $8 cheaper at Costco.

I used Turkey Stock (homemade from Thanksgiving time) instead of Chicken stock as I had it in the freezer.

I used Colby Jack cheese, simple because I prefer it to Monterrey Jack to be kept in the home.

Finally, I used 1 jalapeno pepper instead of a Serrano because I had it in the fridge.

All in all, it has been well liked and I think a Serrano and Jalapeno would make this a perfect amount and combination of spicy.

Until the next meal...

**My father is probably extra proud of my choice in people to quote today. Ludwig van Beethoven: Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.**