Slow Cooker Tuesday ~ Week 4 {Chicken Tortilla Soup}

I am delighted today to be sharing my little blog space with Dotsie who blogs at Podso! 

Dotsie writes about a number of things...from family history to grandchildren, from recipes to missions, from decorating to funny stories, from travel to photography...it's all there at Podso, and I love reading it all!  

But there is another topic that has piqued my interest. Dotsie is a part of a women's mentoring group, based on the Biblical admonition for the older women to teach the younger (Titus 2:1, 3-5). I love that! How exciting to be involved in such an important work! (You may want to read a little bit for yourself, perhaps ~here~ and ~here~.)

So, I'll stop and let Dotsie talk...

  

Meals on Ice 

Our mentoring group is gearing up to have an evening talking about "make ahead" meals. We all know how nice it is to have a meal in the freezer for those times when we just don't have time to cook. Personally I like having a frozen meal or two on hand to give when someone is sick or has a new baby. There is nothing quite like having a meal arrive at our door when we have such a need. 

We usually give our mentees a take-away and for this meeting we have made each one a freezer crockpot meal. The nice thing about preparing this meal is that there is no cooking involved! I decided to make four of them as long as I was making one. I made one for us to make sure it actually was good, and three to give away. I was glad I did because in no time I learned about two young moms that could benefit by a meal for her family.  All she has to do is defrost and dump the contents into a crock pot (along with the box of chicken broth I included on the side, and two cups of water). I wrote directions with a sharpie on the bag, including a reminder to remove the bay leaf. Can't be much easier! And it was delicious.

Chicken Tortilla Soup  Serves 5-6

1 pound chicken (3-4 chicken breasts)

1 (14-15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

~~For later use in crockpot: 1 14 oz. can of chicken broth 

Combine all ingredients into a Ziploc bag and freeze. When ready to use, thaw and put into a slow cooker with 2 cups water and one 14 oz can of chicken broth. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours. Shred chicken in crock pot after cooking is done. Serve with tortilla chips, and cheese if desired. (Recipe originally from a blog, Loving My Nest.)

Thank you, Dotsie, for inspiring us, not only with a new recipe, but with the concept of cooking with a mind to serve!