Souuuup!!!!

My 2-1/2 year old kai loves to say the word "soup" but he says it all loud "ssouuuup!" Basically anything that is liquid is now called soup. I love this age. I picked Mr. Soup up from preschool and we needed gas so I went to the nearest gas station - costco. I always seem to forget how much i love costco, and today was no different. I didn't go in the store, I just got gas, and a whole tank for ONLY $46! I remember when I was learning how to drive, gas was going between 86 cents and 99 cents! well, i guess that WAS 20 years ago! LOL....

In celebration of Costco, I decided to post my new favorite self-made recipe of Chicken Tortilla Soup. The first time I'd made it, I had gone to costco and purchased one of those yummy $4.99 rotisserie chickens. My co-worker "Keif" as my son calls him, told me how you can just take the chicken and make all kinds of soups. It was a life saving conversation we had, because I've been struggling with coming home after 6pm and not having food ready or having to buy or try and come up with a recipe....I'm not a night owl nor am I organized so I decided it was going to be my goal to become one of those moms who actually has food planned for the week. I had to, as my life and schedule was in chaos with my children eating dinner at 7:30 or 8pm at night. 

I had also purchased the best salsa ever, Jack's Cantina Salsa - and as I was making the soup I decided to put two huge scoops of the salsa in the soup and it made it INCREDIBLE! So here's the recipe, as I've made it every week for the past 4 weeks, and it's been a hit with my kids. Not to mention it gets the veggies in. 

Mama Kara's Chicken Tortilla Souuuuuup! 

Ingredients: cooked chicken  (rotisserie, baked, boiled, whatever) I think it tastes best with rotisserie.

2 T of Olive Oil

2 T minced garlic

1 large onion chopped

3 - 4 roma tomatoes chopped or canned stewed tomatoes when really in a hurry

1/2 bag of baby carrots chopped (or 4 whole carrots chopped)

Corn (as much or as little as you'd like)

2 Huge scoops (about 1-1/2 cups) of Jack's Cantina Salsa

3-4 big shakes of salt (open the big part and just shake it back and forth)

3-4 small shakes of pepper

(optional) 1 small can of diced green chilis

Instructions: 

 Turn pot on to medium heat, add 2T of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Let warm. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onions become translucent and brown on the edges. Add tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are done, stirring every so often. The fragrance is amazing!

 Add Corn, Carrots, Chicken, 3-4 cans of chicken broth, 2 scoops of Jack's Cantina Salsa and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer until carrots are cooked all the way through. 

Add soup to a bowl. If you're watching your diet, you can eat as-is. 

If not, then add....

Garnish with crushed tortilla chips or baked tortillas or even those amazing brown rice tortillas baked in the oven (to make it gluten free) as they also taste awesome with it.

Little bit of shredded cheese on top.

TGIF. Makes a great, hearty meal. Or even a side dish with mexican food. 

Love.

Mama Kara