Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is on our dinner menu tonight. Yum! The aroma in my house right now is just delicious. I know there are likely hundreds of variations of chicken tortilla soup. I like this particular recipe because it has ingredients that I usually have in my house, it is (almost) a dump and sit type crock pot recipe and it makes a huge batch so I can freeze half for a second meal. My sister-in-law Lori gave me this cookbook a couple years back. It is one of those compliation cookbooks where everyone gives their favorite/best recipes and then they're sold for a fund raiser. There are some great recipes in there. I'm sure I'll be sharing a few, but I told you why this one works for us. Here is what you need:

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans chicken broth
1 can enchilada sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 clove garlic (not pictured)
1 can/package corn
2 c cooked, shredded chicken (4-5 breasts)

The reason I say this is almost a dump and sit recipe is because of the chicken. I prefer to use boneless skinless chicken breasts, so you do have to cook it and shred it before adding to the crock pot. If you're in a pinch, you can use canned chicken, but I think it's so salty I don't use it. Anyway, get your chicken on the stove to cook and start adding the rest of the ingredients to your crock pot. Any order, just dump them in. Turn on low and let simmer for 5-6 hours. If you see in my picture, I actually used cannelinni beans instead of black beans this time because I didn't have any black beans (weird for me). I'm a big fan of "cook with what you got." I've had some darn good meals when I've been creative with what's in my pantry. Serve the soup with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips and (my favorite) avocado. It's also really good with corn bread on the side. It makes a ton, so you can easily freeze some for another meal. An easy meal for the first prep and a freezer meal?? You're welcome. :)