If you couldn’t tell from all the recipes I pin on Pinterest, I like to cook and bake. I guess my love for it started when I was younger and would spend hours watching cooking shows. Ok I’m a bit of a geek but I figure cooking at home is a lot healthier for you than eating fast food every night. I know that it is a lot easier after a long day of work just to go to McDonald’s of Chik-Fil-A, but some things are worth the effort.

The first recipe I am sharing here on the blog is one I am adapting from my friend, Lindsay, over at Pursuit of Pink with a few tips thrown in from The Pioneer Woman. It is pretty simple to make and very tasty.

Here is what you need:
-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 green pepper
-1 onion
-3 teaspoons chopped garlic. I used chopped because it is what I had. You are free to use minced.
-1 packet taco seasoning
-1 can rotel
-1 can diced tomatoes
-2 tbsps of tomato paste
-1 can corn
-26 oz chicken stock (I happened to have the unsalted version but you can get the regular if you like)

1. Boil chicken until cooked through (about 10-15 minutes) and shred. You can shred it with a fork or you can use a mixer like I did. I used a hand mixer because I don’t have a standing one and the hand mixer worked just fine.

Chicken all shredded

2. After the chicken is cooked all the way through, and while it is still warm, place it in a large bowl and use the mixer to shred it up. Be careful if you use a hand mixer, because it tends to get a bit messy with chicken flying everywhere. It also could be that I didn’t use a large enough bowl. After the chicken is shredded to your liking, set it aside.

3. Dice up the onion and green pepper. In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add in the pepper, onion and garlic. Cook until tender. Stir in taco seasoning until it is evenly distributed.

4. Add in the rotel, diced tomatoes, corn, chicken stock and tomato paste. Pioneer Woman suggests adding the tomato paste to add some “dimension” to the soup.

I don’t have any actual tablespoon measurerers. Don’t judge me.

5. Bring to boil. Add in chicken and simmer for 30-45 mins uncovered.

6. Put about 3 tablespoons of cornmeal in a little bit of water and mix well. Add the cornmeal mixture to the soup. This will thicken the soup slightly. Now simmer for another 15-30 mins. Taste to see if more salt or if any spice is needed. Mine needed a bit more salt. Pioneer Woman suggests waiting 15-20 mins before serving to let the flavors settle. We didn’t wait because we were hungry and practically burned our mouths in the process but it was still good.

You can do like we did and tortilla chips to your soup (I prefer white corn chips). We also tried cool ranch Doritos which was pretty good actually. You can also put sour cream, shredded cheese, and guacamole on theirs. The choice is yours.

Oh, and this soup tastes even better on the next day.

Let me know if you would like more recipes. I really enjoy sharing this one with you. And if you try this, let me know how it worked for you.

TTFN,

Elayna

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