Chicken Enchilada Soup

Now that I feel like life is slowing back down to a reasonable pace, I can start blogging about the things I love to do again! Cooking for my family is a recent love for me - I really, really used to dislike it.  I think God is blessing my desire and efforts to do my best to be the wife and mom he created me to be!  I tried out a completely new recipe on my peeps yesterday, knowing for sure they would most likely turn their noses up. They don't care at all for soups or stews, BUT they do love Mexican. One certain male member of our family I was positive would not even taste it - but his reaction - - "This is AWESOME!!!" and he ate two bowls.  I never ever thought I would hear those words come out of his mouth regarding something I made..... from scratch..... that included vegetables.  So I thought I would share it here with you....

Start with three - four cups of chicken broth. This size container was perfect.  Bring to a simmer on the stove and add chicken until cooked through.

 Gather these spices while chicken is cooking.

 As well as the rest of the main ingredients.  (I discovered that cilantro keeps fresh in the fridge twice as long if you wash it very well, trim off the bottom and place in a cup of water, and place a large quart size baggy loosely over the top).

 Chop one green bell pepper and one large onion.

 And yes, I cheat and use garlic in a jar.  This is one of my best cooking secrets - it makes my life so much easier.

 After the chicken is cooked through, remove it and add in all other ingredients (listed below) and bring to a boil until peppers and tomatoes are soft.

I shredded the chicken while the vegetables were simmering and then added everything into the crock pot to cook on high for about four hours. You could probably just throw everything in together also and cook on low for eight hours and skip the simmering steps.  I use my crock pot probably 75% of the time for weekday cooking - with running kids around to various sports and after school activities, it lends itself well to being able to prepare dinner right after lunch while I still have time and energy to do so.  Dinner is ready when we all arrive home tired and hungry.   Just before serving, I used my Magic Bullet  (which I use almost daily) to puree about 1/2 of the soup, and then stirred it all back together.  I also substituted the cojita cheese which the recipe called for, with mozzarella cheese, knowing my family would prefer it - stirring that in to melt just before serving.  We added a sprinkling of pepper jack cheese to the top with a sprig of cilantro.  

Every one in the family liked it which was SOOO surprising! I have a brood of picky-eaters, so this was a rare treat!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

3 cups chicken stock
2 skinless, chicken breasts
3 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp  chili powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
4-6 jalapeno peppers, minced (I omitted these)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn (I used canned)
1/2 cup tomato paste
8 oz cotija cheese, crumbled (subsituted mozzerella)
8 oz pepperjack cheese, divided
1 cup cilantro, chopped
Tortilla chips