Helpful Hobbit: Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Welcome to the new series here at Bilbo's Hobbit Hole called "HELPFUL HOBBIT".  This series may or may not be helpful.  Some may be very sarcastic.  If you want to sound like a moron, call this series, "LIFE HACKS".  Either way, enjoy...

Handy!

I didn't set out to write about food on this blog.  I would point you toward my buddy, Richard for that.  His food blog is tasty. But, since I enjoy food and drink so much, people rave about my Kalua pork, and my family seems to love what I cook, here it is. A good recipe is always worth sharing.

I love my crock-pot.  I love it.  Call it a crock-pot.  Call it a slow cooker. Call it whatever you want.  I love it.  Throw in a roast and some veggies with water in the morning and boom!  Dinner is ready when you get home.  But the slow cooker can do so much more...

It's Fall, allegedly, and that means soup.  One of my go to soups is Chicken Tortilla Soup.  It's always delicious and pretty hard to screw up.  The problem is, I never made it myself.  The other day, I thought, "I'm a good cook.  I can do this."  Now, I am very lazy when it's hot and it comes to cooking.  I sweat easily so standing over a stove when it's 100 degrees out is not fun for me.  Slow Cooker to the rescue!

The best part of this is it requires zero prep work.  I will show you how to elevate your freezer items.

I am a home cook.  I don't really measure anything.  I cook with my nose and my palate.  I am sorry, but this recipe won't ever end up in a cookbook because it's a lot of flavoring to taste.  You need to be willing to trust your palate, not a book.  Experiment.  If you over-season, you can add water or white wine to mellow it out but it's better to start light and build up the flavors next time.  Here we go...

I plug in my simple 5 quart cooker and turn it on low.

I fill it up half way with tap water.  I add and dissolve 2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes and 2 Knorr tomato bouillon cubes.

Once dissolved, add a couple of spoonfuls of minced garlic, depending on whether you like garlic.  I also add my favorite salt-free seasoning.  I do this because I have to watch my blood pressure. Add whatever flavors you want.  My seasoning includes onion, black pepper, celery seed, marjoram, basil, mustard, cayenne pepper, parsley, garlic, carrot, citric acid, and oil of lemon and I find it at Dollar Tree.

It's a 2.5 ounce bottle and I poured about half into the slow cooker.  I then add a little cayenne pepper because this is chicken tortilla soup after all.  I stress that I add only a little.  It goes a long way.  If I had to guess, no more than a teaspoon.

I throw in 2-3 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts.  Yes, frozen.  I also add in a cup or so of frozen chopped white onions and an entire bag of frozen vegetables.  I prefer the "Italian Vegetables" bag but the "California Vegetables" bag would work too.  Give it all a stir.

Then I close the lid and walk away for 8 or 9 hours.  If I am home, I might give it a stir now and then, but it's not required.

Open the lid, give it a stir with a couple of forks which will effortlessly pull apart the chicken inside.  Serve it in a bowl and add shredded cheeses of your choosing and tortilla strips.  You can freeze the rest for a month or store in the fridge for a week.

VARIATION:

Instead of the mixed vegetables, just add frozen broccoli.  After cooking for 6-7 hours, add rice.  Cook two more hours.  Add a couple of cups of shredded cheese and stir until it thickens and you have delicious cheesy chicken and broccoli soup. The cheese thickens the broth into a creamy deliciousness.  This recipe requires you to be home to add the rice.  If you can't, cook the rice separately and add it in when serving.  This allows you to keep leftovers as if the rice is left in the broth too long, it will chunk up and you'll have cheesy chicken and broccoli oatmeal.

Hopefully this Hobbit has Helped you today!