Tuesday, July 10, 2012

What's For Dinner Tonight?

Chicken Tortilla Soup
I often try to plan meals that are cheap and easy.  I have found it very helpful to get dinner ready during Wes' 4-5pm nap even though we don't usually eat until 7:00.  Once Wes gets up from his nap at 5:00 I feed him and try to spend time playing with him since he goes to bed at 7:30.  If I get dinner ready during his nap I am able to play with my boy during his last awake period of the day.  We eat as a family and Wes hangs out with us.  After dinner Brandon cleans up and I feed Wes and put him to bed.  I feel like having some sort of routine really helps make the dinner hour 100 times less chaotic!  I LOVE to use the crockpot and tonight I am making one of my all time favorites: Chicken Tortilla Soup. 

Ingredients:
Frozen chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 can tomato sauce
1 can black beans
1-2 cups of frozen corn
2 cans diced tomatoes

Directions:
Throw all ingredients into the crockpot (you can throw the chicken breasts in frozen) cook on high for 5-6 hours.  Take out the chicken, shread it with a fork and place it back in the crockpot.  Cook on high another hour and serve over tortilla chips and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

I bought all of these ingredients at Aldi and the total cost of the meal is $10.00. It is serving four people tonight! That's less than $3.00 a person!

ENJOY


4 comments:

  1. This is great Anna - I love it! I used to be SO into blogging and I remember thinking all the time about what I would post next! I wish I had more time to keep up with it more now, but it is a great way to make sure you are taking lots of pictures and recording memories! Have fun with it!!

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  2. Here's a good black bean soup recipe, if you are interested:

    2 cans pinto beans drained and rinsed (you could use black beans, but I wanted to try something different)
    1 lb lean ground beef
    1 chopped onion
    1 T minced garlic
    2 tsp Mexican oregano
    1 T cumin
    1 T dried cilantro
    4 cups chicken broth
    2 T tomato paste
    1 14.5 ounce can of petite diced tomatoes

    To stir in at end:
    1/2 cup sliced green onion
    1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
    2 T fresh squeezed lime (I used a whole lime and it was almost too limey..maybe start with just a half and go from there)
    We also added some Mexican cheese into our bowls, but the original recipe didn't call for it...you could also do sour cream or avocado...

    Brown beef: put into crock
    Cook onion, after a few minutes add the garlic, after a few more minutes add the rest of the spices. Transfer onion/spice mixture to crock.
    Add chicken broth to pan to get off any brown bits/leftovers and then add to crock (probably an unnecessary step but I did it anyway)
    Add bean, tomatoes and tomato paste to crock. Cook on low for 4 hours. Then add the last pieces at the very end before serving.

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