Dinner!

Ok, I am not really a soup kind of person. For YEARS I only liked tomato soup, and only as long as I had grilled cheese sitting next to it. And it wasn't for poor options because if I'm gonna eat a soup (or a stew) its gotta be my mom's. I can actually make a pretty good stew myself, I just don't like it. Well, back up, I *did* like alphabet soup and chicken & stars kind of stuff when I was very little... Anyway, about eight years ago I found I like chili (which is darn close to a soup/stew!) And my MIL does a great cheesy potato soup... so my tastes are expanding. But, in the last month I made the potato soup, my friend brought over a very tasty minestrone kind of soup and then last night I made this:

Ohhh dreamy! Its Chicken Tortilla Soup, courtesy the grocery store samples!!! I've seen tortilla soup recipes before and thought they looked incredibly gross. I only picked this sample up because my daughter loves samples and is usually a very good eater and will taste whatever they have to offer...til that day. Sooo I had to eat it, since I took it! And oh my word it was goood! They had recipes sitting there so I grabbed one and have been waiting to make it! So, here's their recipe, plus the changes I made....

Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 1 can chicken with rice soup
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed
• 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
• 1 cup frozen or canned corn
• 1 cup diced cooked chicken
• 1 tsp ground cumin

crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese and sour cream

In large saucepan combine the first 8 ingredients. Cook over med-high heat for 5-7 mins. Serve with tortilla chips. Yield 5 servings.

Yeah, ok, I used a pot. First of all, I used pints of our own left over turkey stock. My husband had frozen it in pint jars, and two full pints had about a cup of turkey bites as well. So, I omitted the water and the chicken. I also cooked a half a cup of my own white rice (because we have a TON) instead of using the rice soup. I put in the full can of each bean, but only a cup of salsa and a cup of corn. Then, since we'd bought a nice big stack of corn tortillas for enchiladas, only they fell apart and are useless for enchiladas, I fried up my own chips. To serve, we sprinkled on the shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and then crumbled up a chip over the bowl. YUUUUUM!!!!!!!!! I had two helpings last night and two tonight. My kids were not fans, but too bad, we are adding this to our "regulars" list! LOL!