Chicken Tortilla Soup {She cooks}

I have aquired this strange habit of pinteresting myself to sleep... some people read, some people count sheep, some people watch TV... me? I pinterest. 

Then I dream of these wonderful concoctions. And usually wake up with ideas of what I'm cooking for dinner. Inspiration strikes me funny sometimes. 

I've been wanting to make Tortilla Soup for awhile but the roommate doesn't like beans, and I tend to overload my soup with beans. {But seriously, who doesn't like beans?!} Then she had decided try to live a gluten free lifestyle {which I think is great - and inadvertently I have too} however, when I used to make this soup the base was a cheddar cheese soup base. Not gluten free friendly. 

Then... inspiration struck. And I decided to give this baby a go with a new recipe I had brewing in my head... it's healthy, bean free {reluctantly}, and gluten free! #winning <-- that's not still a thing, huh? 

What you need:

1/2 sweet onion, finely diced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small can of diced green chilies

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

2-3 large chicken breasts {I used thighs and it turned out pretty yummy as well}

1 jar of any salsa of your choice

1 can rotel tomatoes

taco seasoning {store bought or homemade}

1 small container {6 oz.} plain greek yogurt

1 bag of frozen corn

Garnish:

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese

Tortilla chips

Or whatever your little heart desires

What you do:

The best part about this soup... it's a one pot wonder, and the longer it cooks on the stove the better. I started this soup as soon as I got home from work one evening and just let it simmer on the stove for probably over an hour until it was dinner time. Or... you can eat it right away. That's my favorite kind of meal. 

Anyways... you probably want to know how to make this, huh? 

In a large pot heat the olive oil on medium, add the diced onion, red pepper, can of chilies, and garlic and let saute for a few minutes. I probably let them go for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. While the veggies are sauteing - dice your chicken up in a bite size pieces. How much chicken you use it totally up to you! 

Pour the chicken broth into the pot and give it a good stir to loosen up anything stuck on the bottom. Add the chicken and up the heat a bit to medium-high. While this is cooking, get out your blender... pour the jar of salsa, can of tomatoes {and their liquid}, greek yogurt, and taco seasoning in the blender and let that puree until nice and smooth. This makes the base for the soup... and it's a darn good base if I do say so myself... pour that into the pot, dump the bag of frozen corn in there as well. Cover, turn the heat to low and let it go for about 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally. 

And that's it. Serve this bowl of healthy, yumminess up and you will have dinner and leftovers {at least for me} for a couple of days! 

**I would flavor check before you serve it to make sure it isn't too spicy. If it is... put a heaping spoonful of sour cream in the pot and stir.**

Serves 6 {ish}.

Happy Friday, buttercups!

Do you have anything exciting planned for the weekend? I gotta do some laundry and work... who wants to come do my laundry?!?!?! ;)

{She cooks comfort food} Four Cheese Mac.

Clearly I have a thing for comfort food. It may seem like that's all I cook... but rest assured, it's just all that's made it to the blog. But seriously, who doesn't love homemade mac & cheese? I think I've met one person in my entire life who doesn't absolutely love a bowl of this deliciousness. 

I think they need to seek therapy. Don't you?

Growing up it would always be such a treat when Mom would make the "real" mac & cheese. When she would bake it in the oven and cheese would get all gooey and crispy at the same time. {my mouth is watering and I'm not even hungry} It was one of my favorite meals then and is still one of my favorite foods. I wish I could eat it every day... 

However, since I shouldn't eat it everyday... I make sure when I do have it. That it's the good stuff. 

Four Cheese Mac. 

What you need:

Box of pasta - whichever shape you like. {I used gluten free pasta}

1 c. cheddar cheese 

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. Gorgonzola cheese

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

1 c. 2% milk

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour {I used gluten free all purpose flour}

salt, pepper, garlic - to your tastes

dash of paprika

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350. 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare the pasta according to directions of package. 

While the pasta is cooking start working on your cheese sauce. Begin by making a roux. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, once melted add the flour and whisk until combined and slightly browned {but not burnt}. Slowly whisk the milk into the roux, add seasoning at this time. Stir this frequently until it begins to thicken up - 5-10 minutes. Once it has thickened, remove from burner and whisk in the 2 cups {ish} of cheese. I always season again at this point. Once the cheese has completely melted into the sauce you are ready to combine the pasta and sauce. 

After the pasta has been drained, combine cheese sauce and pasta. You can either do this in the large pot you cooked the pasta in or you can do this in your greased casserole dish. Once combined, top it with a little handful of cheddar cheese and parm. Pop into the oven for about 25-30 minutes. 

Let rest for a couple minutes and then... ENJOY! 

**I have added all types of cheese to this when I make it... however, this is my favorite combination. Also, I think I've mentioned this plenty of times before - but, I really don't measure when I'm cooking so these are all approximations.** 

There you have it, loves... one of my favorite, favorite, favorite foods! 

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Happy Tuesday, dollfaces.