Friday, January 22, 2016

Soup Weather is Finally Here!

I love soup- chicken and rice, potato, roasted red pepper, vegetable, broccoli cheddar.. I'm getting hungry just writing this! A few days ago I had some chicken that needed to be cooked but I didn't have anything planned for it, and with a fussy baby I really didn't want to go to the store to buy anything to go with it.. So I headed to the pantry to see what I could come up with. I had plenty of chicken stock and canned veggies and beans , so I decided to create a soup. It tastes great, is very healthy, and feeds a crowd!
Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
(Dairy/egg/soy/nut free, low fat, no packaged seasonings!)

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs uncooked chicken breasts 
6 cups chicken stock of choice ( I use Swanson)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained 
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained 
1 can chili beans in sauce 
1.5 cups of frozen sweet corn or 1 can corn, drained
1-1.5 cups finely diced onion (depending on how much you like onion)
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons Penzeys Buttermilk Ranch seasoning  (it's dairy free, clean eating, and so good!) or ranch powder of choice
1 tsp garlic powder 
2.5 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
A pinch of crushed red pepper if desired

Directions: 
Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray ( check label) or lightly coat w olive oil. Trim fat off chicken breasts and cut each breast in half. Season each side liberally with salt and pepper. Place in crockpot. Place all other ingredients on top. Close the lid and cook for 4 hrs on high or 7 on low. When there is 30 minutes left of cooking time, remove all chicken and shred with a fork (meat should just fall apart. If not it needs more cooking time). Add meat back in the cooker and allow to cook last 30 minutes. 
Serve with tortilla chips and any desired garnishes